Flight Safety Technologies recently completed a three-week data collection experiment with its 'Socrates' wake vortex sensor. This experiment was part of the NASA-sponsored wake acoustics test at the Denver International Airport and is a part of NASA's continuing efforts to improve aviation safety and capacity.

The Socrates equipment was set up together with a microphone array provided by the German Aerospace Corp. (D.L.R.). NASA and DoT (Volpe) used a larger, 252-microphone array together with Continuous Wave and Pulsed Lidar systems and an array of supporting meteorological sensors to study the sound emitted from wake vortices.

The principal purpose of this NASA-sponsored test was to acquire adequate field data using carefully-calibrated microphone arrays to develop a firm scientific basis for the use of sound in detecting, tracking, and characterizing wake vortices created by arriving aircraft. FST noted that the operation of the Socrates sensor recorded acoustic emissions generated by wake vortices from over 1,000 aircraft, including Boeing 737 and 757 aircraft, Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft, and  smaller regional jets.

FST plans to perform preliminary analysis of the results and provide a "quick-look" report in the next few weeks. The Company is under contract with NASA and DoT to provide a more in-depth analysis and detailed report around the end of this year.

FMI: www.flysafetech.com