Development of a radar simulator for monitoring wake vortices in rainy weather

A simulator for the evaluation of the radar signature of raindrops within wake vortices is presented. Simulated Doppler spectrum of raindrops within vortices let to think that it could be a potential criterion for identifying wake vortex hazard in rainy weather

Modeling the Radar Signature of Raindrops in Aircraft Wake Vortices

The present work is dedicated to the modeling and evaluation of the radar signature of raindrops within wake vortices. This is achieved through the computation of the motion equation of raindrops within the wake vortex flow. Based on the inhomogeneous distribution of raindrops within wake vortices, the radar echo model is computed for raindrops in a given pulse resolution volume. Simulated Radar Doppler signature of raindrops within wake vortices is illustrated to be a potential criterion for identifying wake vortex hazard in air traffic control. The dependence of the radar signature on various parameters, including the radial resolution, antenna elevation angle, is also analyzed

A radar simulator for monitoring wake turbulence in rainy weather

Wake vortices are associated to the generation of lift when an aircraft is flying. During the take-off and landing phases, wake vortices are hazardous if encountered by other flying aircrafts. In order to ensure flight safety and increase airports capacity as a constraining minimum distance between successive aircrafts has been defined to avoid them, wake vortex monitoring in real time has emerged as one of the key challenge in air traffic management. In this paper, the potential use of an X band Doppler radar for detecting and monitoring wake vortices in rainy weather is assessed by simulation. The Doppler signature measured by an X band radar in presence of a wake vortex in rainy weather is simulated accounting for the backscattering of each individual raindrop in the volume surrounding wake vortices. Starting from a given DSD and a homogeneous repartition of the raindrops in still air, their trajectory is computed assuming a generic air flow induced vortex and a simple model of drag. The descent velocity of the vortex due to the local reduction of buoyancy in the vortices is also taken into consideration in the computation of the trajectory. A scheme for computing the radar signals from the raindrops within wake vortices is described. The X band radar signatures in scanning mode are computed for raindrops in each concerned radar cell. According to the simulation results, the Doppler spectrum width of the raindrops disturbed by wake vortices is extended, thus providing a mean to identify the potential location of wake vortices in the scanned area and therefore to localize the hazards. The potentiality of this tool for the design of inversion algorithms from wake vortices signatures will also be addressed