Enhanced Weather Detection and Tracking Algorithms in Primary Surveillance Radar

A reliable and quick refresh rate of a weather picture is very important for an Air Traffic Control Officer (ATCO). Several decisions to ensure safety are made according to the information received, and such decisions can have an impact in the optimal operation of the Air Traffic Management (ATM); including flight delays, increase of the CO2 footprint among others. Therefore, enhanced techniques for weather detection and tracking algorithms can help the ATCO to optimize the decision taken, with the focus on the safety but also improving procedures thanks to the additional information obtained. The dedicated weather radars perform an exhaustive scanning obtaining a high quality and very detailed weather picture, but the update rate of such information is normally in the order of tenths of minutes or higher and this rate is excessive for fast moving storms. It is in such situations when weather picture reported from surveillance radars, less accurate but with an update rate in the order of seconds, are important for the ATCO in order to have quasi-real time weather information. Indra’s PSR sensors include a dedicated weather-processing channel, reporting accurate weather pictures, in a configurable rate, normally set to six (6) scans. In the latest versions, Indra is improving weather algorithms to include in the reported information two figures that can be especially important for the ATCO; the weather altitude ceiling, that is up to which extend in altitude is present the weather phenomena, and the velocity vector, presenting information of the speed and the course of the weather movement. Such information can help the controller in order to decide if it is necessary a diversion of the traffic in a for example different flight level according to the information received. This paper shows a summary of the techniques included in the weather detection algorithms to estimate its altitude and the adapted tracking algorithms considering the special cinematics of a storm.