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Federal Aviation Administration Acquires Lockheed Martin WindTracer Lidar

Written by thomas · Filed Under Aeronautics News 

November 3, 2008

thomas

Doppler Lidar System Improves Wind Hazard Detection at Las Vegas
International Airport

DENVER, Nov. 3 /PRNewswire/ — The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) has purchased a WindTracer(R) lidar system from Lockheed Martin
(NYSE: LMT), which is being tested at the Las Vegas McCarran International
Airport. The system is designed to improve flight safety and airport
operational efficiency by providing advanced warning of wind hazards and
wind shifts.

Developed and produced by Lockheed Martin Coherent Technologies, the
WindTracer system continuously scans the approach and departure corridors,
enabling air traffic control personnel to offer precise, timely direction
to pilots during their most critical phase of flight. The lidar system uses
pulses of infrared light and receives data when the light reflects off
naturally-occurring dust particles in the air. It complements radar by
excelling in dry and clear weather conditions.

In 2005, a WindTracer was installed at McCarran for a demonstration.
Data from the system and comparison to the onsite Terminal Doppler Weather
Radar (TDWR) showed a significant increase in wind shear detection rate.

More detailed testing is being conducted by the FAA which started in
August 2007, producing a larger set of sample events with expanded truth
data as well as air traffic operations input, human factors evaluation, and
system availability analysis. The results showed more than half of all wind
shear events and 91 percent of dry microburst incidents were detected by
the lidar. Because of these results, the FAA determined WindTracer lidar
was the solution to supplement the TDWR at dry climate sites where dry gust
fronts and microbursts occur more than wet wind shear.

At McCarran, the frequency of dry wind shear events is roughly three
times that of wet events. For microburst and gust front encounters, pilots
often perform a wind shear go-around to stabilize the approach for safe
landing. WindTracer lidar, coupled with TDWR, can considerably reduce the
costly go-around phase of flight by producing accurate warning signals and
weather alerts.

“More than 40 airports in the U. S. use TDWR systems to detect
microburst during rain. Airports located in a dry environment, including
Las Vegas, Denver, Salt Lake City and Phoenix, can significantly improve
wind hazard detection by implementing lidar capability,” said Dr. Steve
Hannon, director of Environmental Sensing for Lockheed Martin Coherent
Technologies. “It is gratifying to work with the FAA and other key
supporting organizations to use Doppler Lidar to improve the safety and
efficiency of airport and airline operations.”

The WindTracer system will operate at the temporary location used for
the 2007 test activities until the permanent site is ready. During the 2008
wind shear season, improved alerting software will be installed and tested
on additional wind shear events to further refine the sensing capability
and ready the system for full operational alerting in 2009.

Organizations involved in the WindTracer demonstration at McCarran
included the FAA (administration and meteorological support), Lockheed
Martin, Clark County Department of Aviation and McCarran International
Airport.

McCarran International Airport is the principal commercial airport
serving Las Vegas and Clark County, Nevada. In 2007, McCarran ranked 14th
in the world for passenger traffic, with 47,595,140 passengers passing
through the terminal. The airport was ranked sixth in the world for
aircraft movements, with 609,472 takeoffs and landings.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security
company that employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally
engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and
sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The
corporation reported 2007 sales of $41.9 billion.

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