CHAPTER 7

AirBorne Weather Radar ( AWR )

• AWR is an example of primary

radar operating on frequency of
9375 MHz in SHF band. It gives
range by echo principal and
direction by search light principal.

• AWR operates on SHF because

large water droplets, hailstones etc
give good reflections on this
frequency. 9375 MHz gives best
returns from rainfall associated with
CB .The antenna is parabolic or flat
plate since these shapes can.
produce both pencil & fan shaped
beams.

• Tilt control is ± 15° in horizontal

plane. The antenna swept is 90 but 60
is sufficient. Tilt has to be increased
when selected range is increased or when a/c descends to lower altitude.

• AWR wavelength is 3.2cm which gives a better range and more comprehensive
picture of the situation. At this frequency/wavelength reflections are obtained only
from large water droplets. If the frequency is higher then returns from smaller
droplets will cause unnecessary clutter and at the same time will not produce
sufficient returns from the area of high turbulence, So it can be said that the main
factors whether a cloud will be detected are the frequency/wavelength used and
size of the water droplets.

• Main functions of an AWR are- A) detect size of water droplets & hence deduce the
areas of turbulence within clouds B) determine the height of cloud top by tilting the
radar beam up & down. C) Map the terrain below the a/c to provide nav. Inf. And
high ground resolution. D) Provide fix from a permanent feature.

Types of AWR modes

• MAP mode- fan shaped beam (cosecant beam) used up to 60mm to 70mm In order
to obtain even presentation of surface features, the transmitted power is progressively
reduced as distance decreases so that the power directed to the closest object is
minimum. Cosecant beam in mapping mode enables scanning of large ground zone
producing echoes whose signals are independent of the distance.

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• MAN mode - Used for cloud detection between 70mm- 150nm. Uses conical pencil
beam.

• WEA mode- uses conical pencil beam. Operates up to 25nm and ensures that
intensity of display of a particular cloud is independent of range. As such all , clouds
up to 25nm are compared on equal terms. This is also called swept gain.

• CONT mode- selected for black and white display. Black holes indicate dangerous
areas of concentrated rainfall and turbulence.

• STAB off- Antenna locked to the aircraft axis

• Hold mode-

• A false indication of water may be given by AWR display while flying over
mountainous terrain.

• Turbulence is greatest where hail and large size rain drops are present. Heavy point
is shown by red colour.

• AWR uses conical beam which is directed slightly downwards at long range (over
50mm) to scan large ground zone. The signals produce echoes and are practically
independent of distance.

• At short range AWR uses a pencil/weather cosecant square beam. It is so called

since the power required is directly proportional to the Cos of the square of the angle
from the horizontal.

• Theoretically minimum R is half of pulse length. Max practical range of A WR is

150nm.

• CB is readily detected by the weather beam.

• Below 20000 feet the pilot should avoid weather by 5nm, 20000-25000 feet by
10nm and 20nm when flying above 30000 feet.

• Turbulence is associated with following shapes on the display- U -shape, fingers,

hooks & scalloped edges. These areas are to be avoided.

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• In weather mode intensity of rain in increasing order is as follows- black, green,
yellow and red or magenta. Greatest turbulence is where there is a rapid gradient
change from magenta to yellow.

• Magenta - turbulence with ppt within 40nm.

• Map mode black indicate nothing , Green water and amber cities and mountains

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• Main purpose of hold switch of an AWR is to assess storm movement.

• For long pulse width more power is required.

• For long range, radar requires long pulse width and narrow beam width.

• Ideally minimum target size = wavelength size.

• Two targets must be 0.5 µsec pulse widths apart to be distinguished in Range.

• AWR cannot detect CAT & snow.

• Accuracy of resolution of A WR depends upon beam width.

• In ISO-echo display of AWR the hole indicates clear sky. It is used to detect areas of
possible severe turbulence in clouds.

• AWR identifies the coast the since very less energy come back from sea as
compared to land.

• In order to have narrow beams it is essential to use shorter wavelength.

• The main factors which determine whether a cloud will be detected are the size of
water drops and freq/wavelength used.

• On general the operation of AWR on ground is permitted with certain precautions to

safeguard the health of the personnel.

• Tilt generally used is 2.5. In order to ascertain the cloud is at or above the a/c
height, the tilt should be set 2.5 down.

• The advantage of using slotted antenna in modern radar is to eliminate lateral lobes
and as a consequence concentrate more energy in the main beam.

• When on switching on the Wx radar after start up, a single very bright blue line
appears on the screen, which means that the scanning of the antenna is faulty.

• AWR antenna is stabilized in pitch and roll.

• Hail causes echo on A WR.

• Height ring is used to determine whether AWR is functioning or not.

• AWR when set to 100nm and shows a squall at 50nm. When we change to 50nm
scale the return of radar will increase in area and move to the top of the screen.

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• Strong returns on the screen indicate areas of high concentration of large water
droptets.

• Before takeoff if AWR is to be used then it should be on WEA mode with tilt up.

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 CHAPTER 8
Secondary Surveillance Radar ( SSR )

► SSR is ground station radar; interrogator sends a rotating beam of pulses in all
directions which the airborne transponder recognizes. The interrogation signal is sent
in 1030 MHz (#.2mhz) and transponder signal is returned on 1090 MHz (± 3 MHZ).

► Advantages of SSR- a) less power b) not dependant on the echo of the a/c c)
clutter free since echo principle not used d) positive identification of a/c giving track,
altitude, destination and speed

► Disadvantages of SSR- a) garbling which is caused by overlapping replies

from 2 or more transponders. This happens within a distance of 1-7 nm from each
other measured in a line from the antenna. b) fruiting- (also known as FRUIT - False
Replies Unsynchronized In Time) refers to a phenomenon in Secondary Surveillance
Radar (SSR) where an aircraft's transponder replies to multiple interrogations from
different radar stations, causing false or garbled target reports. c) only 4096 codes
available on mode all modes.

► SSR transponder is in the sky.

► Squawk code:-

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* 7500 - Hi-Jack
* 7600 – Communication failures
* 7700 - Aircraft in Distress
* 2000 - When no transponder code has been allotted.

► SSR display: the SSR information is displayed in combination with primary

radar and give call signal flight no, FL, ground speed and destination.

► Mode S operates in the following modes:-

* All call → to get the replies for acquisition of mode S transponder.

* Broadcast → to transmit information to all mode S station.
* Selective →for surveillance and communication with individual mode S
transponder.
* Intermodal → all call would be used to elicit replies for surveillance and for
acquisition of mode S transponder.

► SSR when IDENT button is pressed the identification pulse is automatically

and , continuously transmitted for 20 sec, 4.35 µsec after the last framing
pulse ( F1 & F2 )

► Then allowable reportable height discrepancies in ±50 feet.

► Mode A and B for identification, C for automatic height information(w.r.t.

1013.2) and S for communication and surveillance.

► SQUAWK is a 4 digit number allotted to an A/c by ATC between 0000 and

7777 except those figures which contain 8 and 9. In computer terminology the
coding is based on the odd system which uses 0 to 7so numbers 8 & 9 is not
used.

► SSR is capable of providing service in all weather conditions in all bearings at

distances upto 200 Nm.

► SSR requires a target which will respond to the interrogation and this target
may be a/c or a ground based transponder.

► In SSR information is exchanged in the form of group of pulses but in primary

radar it is by individual pulses.

► The two main functions of mode S are air to ground & ground to air data link
communication and improved ATC surveillance capability.

► Mode C gives flight level in increment of 100ft.

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► 0 SSR code is used to indicate transponder malfunction.

► The spacing between 2 pulses transmitted by an SSR interrogator decides what

mode is to be used.

► De fruiting in SSR means removal from display of random responses.

► The R of SSR mainly depends on a/c height and height of ground interrogater.

► SSR uses aperture aerials to reduce vertical beam width.

► In ATC SSR is used as complimentary to primary radar.

► Accuracy of SSR is ±50 feet.

► In area navigation system the VOR/DME switches to DR mode when system is

receiving information from only one VOR.

► In FMS data related to cruising speed is given in performance database.

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