Wed, Jun 20, 2007
Laser Radar System Detects Wind Hazards, Improving Aviation
Safety
Lockheed Martin announced Tuesday the Japan Meteorological
Agency installed a WindTracer Doppler lidar system at the Tokyo
International Airport, also known as Haneda Airport.
WindTracer provides air traffic controllers advanced warning of
wind hazards. The system monitors wind activity and low-level wind
shear that affect landing aircraft, according to the company.
According to Lockheed Martin, the WindTracer is a "Doppler lidar
(light detection and ranging) system that collects high-resolution
wind data over a broad volumetric area. (It) detects dangerous wind
hazards and wake vortices by sending out pulses of eye-safe
infrared laser light that reflect off of naturally-occurring
particles in the wind. The movement of these particles alters the
frequency of the light that is scattered back to the sensor.
"By... processing the return signal, the WindTracer is able to
detect the wind activity and provide immediate visual and audio
alarms when dangerous conditions exist."
"We collaborated with
the Kanematsu Corporation of Japan to introduce WindTracer to the
Japan Meteorological Agency," said Dr. Stephen Hannon, Products
Group director for Lockheed Martin Coherent Technologies.
"We're proud to work with Haneda Airport to improve its wind
hazard detection and increase air safety. Lidar is quickly being
recognized by the aviation community as a proven technology that
significantly enhances the ability to detect and alert air traffic
controllers to such meteorological events as wind shear, dry
microbursts, gust fronts, turbulence and crosswinds."
The Japan Meteorological Agency is the national government
weather service for Japan. The agency gathers and reports weather
data and forecasts and is part of the Ministry of Land,
Infrastructure and Transport.
Haneda Airport is one of the main airports serving the greater
Tokyo area, ranking fourth among the world's largest passenger
airports and is the busiest airport in Asia, handling 65.3 million
passengers in 2006.
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