Rockwell Collins has switched to installing WXR-2100 radars in both single- and twin-aisle Airbus aircraft, with windshear detection and advanced “MultiScan” functions, following certification of its hazard weather detection system on the A320, A330 and A340.
Although the WXR-2100 has been supplied to Airbus for the past 18 months, the MultiScan function will now be activated on new production systems. Earlier radars will also be upgradable through an Airbus service bulletin that is likely to be available by April 2006.
The WXR-2100 MultiScan radar is fully automatic and operates to ranges up to 590km (320nm). It also includes OverFlight protection, which helps crews avoid inadvertent penetration of thunderstorm tops, one of the leading causes of unexpected turbulence. The system uses a combination of lower and upper beams information and computer memory to keep the thunderstorm top in view until it passes behind the aircraft. The radar also incorporates real-time ground clutter suppression.
Ray Robertson, principal systems engineer for Rockwell Collins weather radar, says: “This is one of the key advantages to MultiScan technology, particularly at long ranges. If you have to raise the antenna to avoid ground clutter – and even in some automatic systems, the edge of the beam is not looking at the ground – the centre of the beam is overshooting potential weather. So with ground clutter suppression, you get much better weather detection.”
Further upgrades being evaluated for the WXR-2100 for 2007-8 include an enhanced turbulence (E-Turb) detection algorithm. Developed by Virginia-based systems specialist AeroTech, the E-Turb function was installed in a MultiScan radar for evaluation in August 2004.
The enhanced radar was flown for a year of in-service flights on a Delta Airlines Boeing 737-800 under the turbulence element of NASA’s Aviation Safety & Security Program. Recordings from the E-Turb radar have been downloaded routinely, enabling researchers at Rockwell Collins and AeroTech to evaluate the radar’s performance.
“The results of the analysis of the collected E-Turb radar data and the feedback from the Delta pilots have been very positive,” says AeroTech. Robertson adds: “We’re still getting in-flight data from the in-service bird and revising the algorithms accordingly.”
GUY NORRIS/LOS ANGELES
Source: Flight International
