Airborne Wake Vortex Detection

227579828PDFTech ReportDOT-TSC-FAA-74-3FAA-RD-74-46DOT-TSC-522VorticesDoppler radarWeather radarWind factor (Air navigation)Aircraft exhaust gasesUSA use- United StatesUnited States. Federal Aviation AdministrationFridman, J.D.Raytheon CompanyJohn A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.)NTL-AVIATION-AVIATIONNTL-AVIATION-Aviation Safety/AirworthinessVolpe National Transportation Systems Center, Technical Reference CenterThe vortices generated by large aircraft can create dangerous encounter situations with other airplanes as a result of their slow dissipation rates or in conjunction with unfavorable meteorological conditions that prolong their presence over a runway. Active and passive remote sensing systems were assessed to determine the feasibility of detecting aircraft trailing vortices using instrumentation on-board an aircraft. It was found that a modification of the front-end receiver of a 10 GHz weather radar system or a change of frequency to 35 GHz may allow vortex identification over a range of several kilometers. The CO2 laser coherent Doppler radar technique and passive radiometric techniques show considerable promise