Thu, Feb 17, 2005
Australian Company's New System Could Save Lives
Swan International based in Sydney, Australia has recently been
granted the Patent for an Airborne Wind Shear Detection System. The
US patent relates to a system for aircraft on-board detection and
alerting of dangerous atmospheric conditions including wind shears
which may occur during the landing and take off phase.
This unique Australian-developed technology is focused towards
an Eye-Safe, Laser Based Airborne Predictive Wind Shear Detection
System for use in fixed-wing, general aviation, business, regional
and transport type aircraft. Swan says the system will offer
improved operational capability in adverse conditions by detecting
windshears in aircraft not supported by current radar-based
technologies.
The Swan Laser System for Windshear Detection uses a range of
components found both in leading-edge fiber optic and solid state
systems. This system operates in the Eye-Safe 1.5µm
-1.8µm Band. A novel use is made of GPS for spatial
determination and of a fibre-optic demodulator to derive the
Doppler shift associated with the wind gradient.
Wind shears result from rapidly changing wind conditions. On
approach to landing, a performance-increasing headwind may be
replaced by a performance decreasing tailwind. The Wind Shear
Detector directs a Laser Beam in front of the Aircraft, receives a
backscatter response and detects changes in Wind Speeds to give a
Wind Shear Warning to the pilot.
The Swan Development was accepted for funding approval in 2003
by the Australian Government AusIndustry START Program. Swan
International says it will conduct on-going Ground and Airborne
Testing of the Laser Based Windshear Detection System from
it’s newly established facility at Bankstown Airport
Sydney.
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