PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION OF THE NAS STAGE A BACKUP CHANNEL AS RELATED TO THE RESOLUTION AND DETECTION OF AIRCRAFT.
Abstract
A preliminary investigation of the backup channel of the National Airspace System (NAS) at the Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) in Jacksonville, Florida, was performed to obtain advance information relative to the resolution characteristics and the target-detection-in-clutter capability of the backup channel. Equipment comprising the backup channel were the radar/beacon/common digitizer facility at Valdosta, Georgia, the modems and telephone data lines, and the data filter group/bright display equipment at the ARTCC. Test data were collected concurrently on the backup channel and the broadband radar system to permit a comparison between the two systems. The overall system resolution capability of the backup channel for radar, beacon and radar/beacon was comparable to that of the broadband radar system in that the two test aircraft were resolved 50 percent of the time, on both systems, when the aircraft were separated by approximately 1.5 miles. Target-detection-in-clutter (blip/scan ratio) for the broadband radar system was approximately 10 percent greater than that of the backup channel, but investigation revealed that the Air Traffic Control (ATC) Specialists had difficulty in distinguishing aircraft targets from weather-clutter targets on the backup channel. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 1968
- Accession Number
- AD0675779
Entities
People
- Clifford Chapman