Sensors and systems to enhance aviation safety against weather hazards

The authors describe the physics of adverse weather, the basics of Doppler engineering, and a host of advanced sensing systems-some with the ability to autonomously identify and track storm conditions-for all stages of airplane travel. Three major new Doppler radar systems are discussed: the next generation weather radar, the terminal Doppler weather radar, and the airport surveillance radar with a dedicated weather channel. Other relatively simple new instruments for aviation weather support include the low level wind shear alert system, the Doppler wind profilers, the automated weather observation system, and the automated surface observation system. These systems are designed to perform higher level functions such as detection, characterization, and hazard potential estimation of aviation-significant weather phenomena, as well as their communication and display automatically.