Calgary International To Augment Surface Radar With Multilateration

NAV CANADA, the Air Navigation Service Provider for Canada, is deploying Saab Sensis Corporation’s multilateration system for surface surveillance, including VeeLo NextGen vehicle locators, at Calgary International Airport for improved all-weather surface situational awareness.

Calgary International currently uses radar for surface surveillance. As part of this project multilateration system data will be fused with radar data for seamless, continually updated surveillance. The location and identity of vehicles will appear on controllers' surface displays.

Saab Sensis multilateration uses multiple, low-maintenance, non-rotating sensors to triangulate aircraft based on transponder signals. It has a higher update rate and greater positional accuracy than traditional radar, uses advanced processing techniques to minimize the required number of sensors, and is ADS-B compatible.

VeeLo NextGen is a small, lightweight device in a rugged, weather-resistant enclosure that is attached to the exterior of an airport vehicle to provide controllers with situational awareness of vehicles operating on the airport surface. The vehicle locator attains its position from GPS and broadcasts location and identity using the Mode S Extended Squitter ADS-B message format. VeeLo NextGen automatically turns off when the vehicle travels outside of the movement area, ensuring an efficient use of available aviation spectrum.

Saab Sensis serves military, civil aviation, airport and airline customers in more than 35 countries across six continents.

NAV CANADA is the country's civil air navigation services provider, and is a private sector corporation.

FMI: www.navcanada.ca ; www.saabsensis.com