Results of the Kansas City 1989 Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR) operational Evaluation Testing
Abstract
The Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR) testbed was used at the Kansas City International (KCI) airport during the summer of 1989. The objective was to test and refine previous tested techniques for the automatic detection of low-altitude wind shear phenomena (specifically microbursts and gun fronts) and heavy precipitation in a midwest weather environmental, as well as to assess possible new products such as storm movement predictions. A successful operation evaluation of the TDWR products took place at the KCI tower and terminal radar control room (TRACON). Several supervisor and controller display refinements were assessed as effective. The system was successful in terms of aircraft at KCI avoiding wind shear encounters during the operational period, and it was assessed as 'very good' in usefullness for continuing operation by the KCI air traffic control (ATC) personnel. The probability of detection for microbursts was substantially better than that in Denver. However, the false-alarm probability was found to be substantially higher in Kansas City due to a combination of weather and clutter phenomena. By optimizing the site-adaptation capabilities of the TDWR meteorological and data quality algorithms, the required false-alarm probability was achieved. The gust front performance was generally poorer than in Denver due to a combination of unfavorable radar- airport-gust front geometry of false alarms induced by low-level jets Gust front algorithm refinements which should provide improved performance are discussed. Keywords: Meteorological radar; Airport radar systems; Wind shear; Doppler radar.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 17, 1990
- Accession Number
- ADA228784
Entities
People
- J. E. Evans
Organizations
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology