Title :
A passive millimeter wave camera for aircraft landing in low visibility conditions
Author :
Shoucri, Merit ; Davidheiser, Roger ; Hauss, Bruce ; Lee, Paul ; Mussetto, Michael ; Young, Steve ; Yujiri, Larry
Author_Institution :
Space & Electron. Group, TRW Inc., Redondo Beach, CA, USA
fDate :
5/1/1995 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
Fog and low visibility conditions have hampered aviation since its inception. Fog-related accidents are numerous, and canceled take-offs and landings due to fog and low visibility conditions (Cat III) have significant economic impact on airlines, parcel carriers and general aviation. Millimeter waves have good propagation properties in weather and give adequate spatial resolution when used to image the forward scene. Passive millimeter wave focal plane array cameras are new sensors which, integrated into future guidance and landing systems, promise to be an effective aid, or alternative, to existing technology for aircraft landings and take-offs under Cat III conditions. They can produce visual-like radiometric images at real time frame rates (up to 30 Hz), and are directly amenable to image fusion with infrared and visible images. TRW has been actively involved in developing and productizing this technology both at the hardware and the system levels
Keywords :
aerospace computing; aircraft computers; focal planes; fog; image processing; image processing equipment; microwave landing systems; microwave measurement; millimetre wave imaging; radiometry; real-time systems; sensor fusion; 30 Hz; Cat III; TRW; aircraft landing; economic impact; fog-related accidents; guidance; image fusion; landing; landings; low visibility; passive millimeter wave camera; plane array cameras; real time frame rates; spatial resolution; take-offs; visual-like radiometric images; Air accidents; Aircraft; Cameras; Layout; Millimeter wave propagation; Millimeter wave technology; Radiometry; Sensor arrays; Sensor systems; Spatial resolution;
Journal_Title :
Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine, IEEE
