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In this publication we will talk about how the surveillance system of the Air Traffic Services worldwide and in Ecuador.
A system driven during World War II, took his civil application at the end of it to provide continuous surveillance of air traffic disposition, additional to the position report that was carried out by radio at that time.
This system that year by year evolves, allows greater safety and efficiency in the routes that thousands of planes carry out daily around the world.
primary radar
The azimuth orientation of the radar antenna provides the heading of the aircraft from the ground station, and the time it takes for the pulse to reach the target and return provides a measure of the target's distance from the ground station. The heading and distance to the target can then be converted to a ground position for display to the air traffic controller. The elevation of the target (altitude) not normally measured by ATC's primary radars.
The Advantage of Primary Surveillance Radar (PSR) is that it operates completely independently of the target aircraft, that is to say, no aircraft action is required to provide a radar return.
The disadvantages of the PSR are that, First of all, huge amounts of energy must be radiated to ensure target returns. In second place, due to the small amount of energy returned in the receiver, returns can be easily disrupted due to factors such as changes in target attitude or signal attenuation due to heavy rain. This can cause the displayed target to fade.
secondary radar
The disadvantages of PSR described above led to the employment of another aspect of wartime radar development.. This was the Friend or Foe Identification system (IFF), which had been developed as a means of positively identifying friendly aircraft from enemy.
The system that became known in civilian use as Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR), or in the USA. UU. as Air Traffic Control Radar Beacon System, se basa en un equipo a bordo de la aeronave conocido como «transpondedor».
The transponder is a radio receiver and transmitter that operates on the radar frequency.. The target aircraft's transponder responds to the ground station's interrogation by transmitting a coded response signal. The great advantages of the SSR are three: First of all, because the response signal is transmitted from the aircraft, it is much stronger when received at the ground station, offering the potential for much greater range and reducing signal attenuation issues; similarly, the required transmit power of the ground station for a given range is very small, which provides a considerable economy; and third, since the signals in each direction are electronically encoded, the possibility of transmitting additional information between the two stations is offered.
The downside of SSR is that it requires a target aircraft to carry a working transponder. Therefore, SSR es un sistema de vigilancia «dependiente».
This is the current system most widely used worldwide, although new technologies are already being applied based on satellite systems and ADS-B systems.
¿Qué pasa sí el radar primario o secundario fallan?
In view of the problems that have recently been made public on the Guayaquil radar, it is important to highlight that the air traffic controllers They are highly trained to be able to provide their service without this operating system.
If the secondary radar fails or goes into scheduled maintenance, the controllers will go to what is known as manual control and by standardized procedures, which means that the pilots will not receive vectors and must follow the procedures charts published for that airport.
Under these conditions below 7.500 feet in the area of Guayaquil airport, pilots must report their position, speed and course permanently and the controllers perform mental calculations and constant notes to safely follow each flight.
When this situation occurs, air operations are not suspended, but there could be delays in arrivals and departures, since the spaces between aircraft will increase to maintain safety at all times.
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?? Thanks
I only have 15 years, wanted to inform me.
Buenas tardes
A question, in the Inga sector, near the CELEC electrical substation, there is a large red rotating antenna, and beyond a VOR antenna.
They are from Quito airport?
if it is rotating, it's a radar.
Only the irresponsibility of the DAC can have the country in this situation both nationally and even worse internationally that Ecuador is a third world country
Serious irresponsibility playing with air safety by confessing that the useful life of the radar ended last year
Only the fact of saying it is to recognize their inability to foresee in time the unique solution according to them of a new one because due to the age of the current one there are no spare parts and its maintenance is very expensive, in addition to the fact that there are no spare parts on the market
Worse and even more serious is to declare that in full 2019 the solution is to do it manually, for which air traffic controllers are prepared to do it, that is, to go back in time 50 or more years to cook with csrbon or firewood that was not so serious and delicate depend on a watch a mental calculation a navigation chart and reports followed by the aircraft to know where it is and bring it safely to land
Even when the DAC plays aviation
Today there is a new Director, one more that changes from time to time, let's hope that he is with the service sheet that they have presented works for the good of our Ecuadorian aviation