Aero-Terms!

Aero-Terms are designed to be a daily reminder of the terms, names, acronyms and explanations of the unique language that populates the aviation world. Aerospace, sport aviation, fixed wing, helo, you name it... it's all fair game.

Aero-Terms should serve as a quick but intriguing reminder of the terms you may use every day, or an introduction to an aspects of the Aero-World you may not yet be familiar with. ANN also encourages readers to go beyond the FMI link, and further research any intriguing terms.

Suggestions for future Aero-Terms are ALWAYS welcome, as are additions or discussion of the explanations given for each Aero-Term.

Wide-Area Multilateration (WAM)

A distributed surveillance technology which may utilize any combination of signals from Air Traffic Control Radar Beacon System (ATCRBS) (Modes A and C) and Mode S transponders, and ADS-B transmissions. Multiple geographically dispersed ground sensors measure the time-of-arrival of the transponder messages. Aircraft position is determined by joint processing of the time-difference-of-arrival (TDOA) measurements computed between a reference and the ground stations’ measured time-of-arrival.

FMI: www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/media/pcg.pdf