Mon, Feb 02, 2015
WindTracer LIDAR System To Help Dubai Air Navigation Services Make Landings More Efficient
A system to measures the strength and behavior of wake vortices caused by arriving aircraft has been commissioned and put in place at Dubai International Airport.Bayanat Airports Engineering & Supplies collaborated with Lockheed Martin to put in operation three WindTracer systems. Dubai Air Navigation Services (DANS) is analyzing wake data from WindTracers to ensure that concepts to reduce aircraft separations and increase airport efficiency can be implemented while maintaining safety at the airport.
WindTracer is a LIDAR (light detection and ranging) system that measures the strength and behavior of wake vortices caused by arriving aircraft. The implementation of Lockheed Martin’s LIDAR systems will help DANS meet future aircraft traffic demands at Dubai International Airport, which has seen a significant increase in air traffic volume. The first two WindTracers were installed in 2013, and the contract originally awarded by Dubai Aviation Engineering Projects Corporation was extended to include a third system to collect wake information more quickly.
WindTracer wake measurements will be used for proving new concepts to reduce aircraft separations during arrivals, thereby increasing airport throughput. WindTracer data helps increase airport capacity while allowing the highest standards of air traffic safety.
“WindTracer has been a major enabler for similar wake mitigation efforts in the U.S. and Europe, increasing aircraft throughput at many airports by up to 30 percent," said Dr. Michael Margulis, Director of WindTracer Programs at Lockheed Martin. "That boost in efficiency not only enables more aircraft arrivals and departures, it also eliminates the need to build additional runways to accommodate heavy traffic volume.”
Dubai International, ranked the busiest airport in the world in terms of international passengers, is connected to over 260 destinations across six continents through more than 140 scheduled airlines.
(Image provided by Lockheed Martin)
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