Page 27 - AAA MARCH - APRIL 2013 ( CHINESE EDITION ) Online Magazine
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FEATURE WINDMILLS







                                            a  new  track  is  a  key  requirement,”  says   government is  due to release results  in
                                            Smith. “Where there are many adjacent   the coming weeks.
                                            wind farms,  you need to maintain  the   Meanwhile,  C  Speed  has  introduced
                                            probability of detection, and you still need   its LightWave S-Band solid-state primary
                                            three consecutive tracks.” Thales is using   radar to Europe, commencing wind farm
                                            the data collected during the trial to refine   trials in mid-2012. The first trial took
                                            its software algorithms and to advance   place  at  Whitelee  Wind  Farm  southeast
                                            the technology. The company is also   of Glasgow to test the performance of
                                            working with the UK Safety Regulatory   LightWave in-fill technology and included
                                            Group (SRG) and expects to start testing   stakeholders such as the UK CAA, MoD,
                                            production software by the end of 2012.  SRG, NATS and AOA (airport operators
                                                                                association). Further trials are also
                                            Raytheon’s new software             starting at Prestwick and London Manston
                                            Also due to begin operations in 2012,   in collaboration with airport owner Infratil
                                            Raytheon is currently installing new   Airports Europe. The radar operates
                                            processing software on the S-Band primary   in S-Band with a mitigation  range out
                                            radar system at Woensdrecht Air Base in   to 25 nautical miles, and an extended
                                            the Netherlands, in the first delivery of this   surveillance range of 60 nautical miles.
                                            technology. Successful modification of the   It provides standard Asterix output and is
                                            existing radar will allow the extension of   available as a stand-alone system or in a
                                            a nearby wind farm to go ahead without   multi-sensor configuration.
                                            impacting flying operations by the Royal   Further tests are underway at wind
                                            Netherlands Air Force. Raytheon has been   farm sites in Scotland using an in-fill
                                            working with UK NATS and a consortium   solution called CH-Infill. The solid-state
                                            of wind farm energy providers for the   3D radar is designed by Cambridge
                                            past three years to adapt its ASR-10SS   Consultants and is being developed by
                                            S-Band and ASR-23SS L-Band primary   spin-off company Aveillant. The CH-Infill
                                            surveillance radar systems to overcome   sensor is designed to detect aircraft
                                            radar interference issues associated with   flying over and around a wind farm, and
                                            wind turbine blades.                to reject returns from wind turbines, while
                                               Raytheon  reports  its  mitigation  continuing to transmit position data for
                                            solution significantly reduces the number   detected aircraft. The sensor distinguishes
                                            of false plots, achieving less than one   aircraft and wind turbine tracks using
                                            false report per scan even in areas of   advanced processing to compare the
                                            dense wind turbine concentrations. The   Doppler signature of returns with their
                                            advanced signal data processor combined   actual movement between updates. The
                                            with proprietary software algorithms is   high update frequency, close proximity to
                                            designed to be retrofitted into existing   the wind farm and 3D detection contribute
                                            ASR-10 and ASR-23SS radar systems   to the accuracy of this system.
                                            and is standard on new deliveries. The
                                            company says it is finalising plans with  High-speed processing
                                            several key customers to commence   Taking  a  different  approach,  UK  video
                                            implementation of system upgrades.  specialist Thruput has developed a
                                                                                mitigation solution based on technology
                                            MIT trials                          the  company  uses  for  the  training
                                            Raytheon also participated in US trials   simulator for the Merlin helicopter.
                                            designed by the Massachusetts Institute   MIDAS integrates multiple  video
                                            of Technology Lincoln Laboratory and   sources in real time into a single display to
                                            carried out in Tyler, Minnesota, in early   provide a hardware solution that compares
                                            2012. Raytheon was selected along   data pixel by pixel to create a composite
                                            with Lockheed Martin and C Speed to   image. The system uses parallel arrays
                                            demonstrate  mitigation  technology  of  field-programmable  gate  arrays
                                            including  new  processing  software  (FPGA) that operate independently to
                                            and gap-filler radar solutions. The US   ATC. Thruput was retained by BT Wind for
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