Geo-Referencing Radar Plot Data for the Traffic Information Service Broadcast

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has gained some significant early operational experience with the traffic information service broadcast (TIS-B), both on the East Coast of the United States, and in the Anchorage, Alaska area. TIS-B, for the first time, puts geo-referenced radar data directly in the cockpit where, for a number of reasons, the customer can be more sensitive to inaccuracy and other anomalies than the traditional user (i.e., the air traffic controller). This paper describes the process of geo-referencing radar data, describes some real world limitations of the radar sensors, the anomalies that can be encountered and their cause, techniques for mitigating these anomalies, and finally, this paper discusses one of the radar alignment techniques used for the system providing TIS-B in Anchorage for the FAA's Capstone program. This paper will attempt to bridge the gap between the ground systems and airborne systems. Given the insight into the processing performed on the ground, the avionics developers may adapt or create new ways to overcome these issues