Evaluation of Passive Multi-Static Primary Surveillance Radar for Operational Use in Civil Air Traffic Control

The Primary Radar Technology based on passive utilization of analog and digital broadcast signals made significant improvements in the past years. This paper describes an activity jointly undertaken by industry and civil air-navigation-service-provider to elaborate the potential of this technology for the civil air traffic control. The terminology used and requirements postulated for legacy civil surveillance systems have been adapted to this technology to get a common understanding. Standards necessary for a smooth integration of Multistatic Passive Radar into the current system environment have been defined and implemented. Thereafter, a comprehensive measurement campaign in the vicinity of the Nuremberg International Airport was jointly realized. The paper lists the key performance values and gives an overview about the current performance capabilities of the Multi-static Primary Surveillance Radar (MSPSR) technology measured against civil air-traffic-control requirements.