NAVIGATION & RADAR
FEATURE SPONSOR
CHANGING THE LANDSCAPE FOR WIND FARM DEVELOPERS
Detecting aircraft flying over wind turbines is a huge and growing problem – and one that current air traffic control radar systems are unable to solve. The inability of these systems to distinguish between flying aircraft and moving wind turbines means that air traffic controllers are often left with a patch of airspace above wind farms where they lose sight of aircraft, creating ‘no-go’ zones around airports which affect the safety and efficiency of airport operations. This has a knock on effect for wind farm developers as airports and other ATC radar sites can object to proposed wind farms, making it increasingly difficult for them to be built.
SOLUTION
However, radar technology is now available that has the ability to solve this issue and to ensure that wind farms and the aviation industry can co-exist. British technology company Aveillant has developed 3D Holographic Radar that has been independently tested and proven to provide an effective solution to the problems. It not only distinguishes between wind turbines and flying aircraft, but improves general visibility for air traffic control both inside and outside the wind farm – paving the way for safer air traffic management as well as development of more wind farms.
PROBLEMS WITH AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL RADAR SYSTEMS A typical air traffic control radar works like a lighthouse, sweeping the surrounding environment every four seconds and providing an intermittent trail of an aircraft’s flight path. The radar systems in use today only provide range and bearing information about the location of an aircraft (or more accurately a radar ‘return’) and not its altitude, meaning it cannot distinguish between moving turbines and aircraft. These problems are compounded by the issue of additional ‘clutter’, which can be caused by a range of objects including buildings, clouds, moving vehicles and terrain.
When built in the line of sight of air traffic control radars, wind farms create a great deal of interference or ‘clutter’ that can adversely affect the air traffic controller’s view of the surrounding airspace. To the air traffic controller, the tips of wind turbines can appear like aircraft on the radar display and the resulting radar returns can cause confusion between blade rotations and real aircraft. These returns or ‘false plots’ caused by the wind turbine can also generate the effect known as ‘track seduction’ on radar screens. Track seduction is when the false plots generated by the wind turbine create a false track for an aircraft. The turbines can also create a radar ‘shadow’ behind the wind farm, meaning that air traffic controllers could miss aircraft over large areas of air space. Overall, wind farms can create a large amount of uncertainty in the air traffic picture and a solution is needed to benefit all parties involved.
IMPROVING THE PICTURE FOR AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL The 3D Holographic Radar technology offers a major advance in surveillance radar. As opposed to ‘sweeping’ around every four seconds, it uses flat panel, phased array technology that identifies and differentiates every moving object’s signature by constantly measuring all the detailed characteristics of every individual radar return, providing a continuous and clear view of airspace. Not only does 3D Holographic Radar remove the turbine clutter from the display, but it increases the detection probability of aircraft both inside and outside the wind farm environment, increasing air traffic safety as a whole.
PROVEN TECHNOLOGY The technology has now been independently proven to clearly distinguish between wind turbines and aircraft, exceeding recommended targets set by aviation authorities. Experts in air traffic control, Helios, conducted analysis of Aveillant’s 3D Holographic Radar in trial operation at Glasgow Prestwick Airport. The team found that the solution had a probability of detecting aircraft of greater than 99% and a ‘false plot’ rate of less than 2%. It also did not lose any aircraft tracks once detected. This greatly exceeds the CAA and Eurocontrol safety recommendations and was found to give air traffic controllers a consistent and accurate view of the aircraft the entire time it is in the vicinity of the wind farm and also its shadow.
3D HOLOGRAPHIC RADAR TECHNOLOGY TAKING OFF Following successful trials at Glasgow Prestwick Airport, Aveillant is now in talks with many airports and wind farm developers and is currently in the process of obtaining a full Safety Case which will be assessed by the CAA. It has come a long way since Cambridge Consultants first began working on radar in 1980, when the initial focus was on short range radar systems specifically designed to provide maximum information on targets in a volume of interest. Aveillant was spun off from the business in October 2011 and since then 3D Holographic Radar Technology has been trialled and tested to great success. Having gained industry approval and independent verification, 3D Holographic Radar Technology is now set to revolutionise the renewable energy industry– and improve air traffic control and aviation safety in general.
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www.windenergynetwork.co.uk
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