Enhancing Airport Airspace Safety: A Small Radar System for Mitigating Bird, Drone, and Wake Vortex Hazards

This paper presents the development of an integrated radar system designed to detect and classify multiple hazards within the airspace of Obstacle Limitation Surfaces (OLS) at airports, specifically targeting bird strikes, hostile drone threats, and wake turbulence interference. The complexities of these simultaneous hazards are examined, with a focus on their radar cross-section (RCS) and flight characteristics. A small radar system with low transmit power is proposed, capable of detecting targets up to 10 km away and employing advanced signal processing for real-time classification. Key features include a novel radar detector utilizing Doppler Signal-to-Clutter Ratio (DSCR) and groundbreaking radar Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) technology. The paper emphasizes the importance of four features of a radar system to ensure effective hazard mitigation: the ability to operate automatically 24/7, sufficient detection range to cover enough airspace of an airport, rapid detection response time (DRT) in milliseconds to enable real-time mode, and highly reliable Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) capability. Integrating these radar capabilities into a unified system offers a comprehensive solution for enhancing airport safety. The paper recommends that agencies review current projects involving radar technologies for targeting bird strikes, hostile drone threats, and wake turbulence interference, and consider promoting the integration of research on these three hazards into a unified approach.