Monitoring the introduction of Mode S

The introduction of Mode S is intended to provide civil air traffic control (ATC) with the radar capacity to cope with the growing demands on the surveillance ground network into the foreseeable future. This paper looks at the drivers for Mode S, and the programme for its introduction. The paper then goes on to look at the issues of introducing Mode S from a ground and airborne perspective - both in terms of benefits and potential difficulties. Methods of monitoring and evaluating Mode S systems are discussed. With the potential for obtaining considerably more information from aircraft than is currently feasible, the paper deals with the issues of confirming information integrity and highlights the need for an ongoing monitoring process. The paper illustrates these issues with observations made by QinetiQ based upon experience with the NATS/QinetiQ experimental Mode S radar at Malvern and with the latest state of the art Mode S test equipment.