MPAR Trade Studies

1. MPAR Trade Studies Mark Weber 12 October 2007

2. Lincoln Laboratory ATC Program History 1970 1980 1990 2000 Mode S Discrete Address Beacon System Surveillance and Communications Microwave Landing System Beacon Collision Avoidance System TCAS UAS Moving Target Detector Communication, Navigation and Surveillance Airport Surface Detection Equipment Proc. Augmentation Card ASR-9 SLEP Parallel Runway Monitor GPS Applications Runway Status Lights ADS-B Mode S Surface Comms Airport Surface Traffic Automation GCNSS/SWIM Automation Terminal ATC Automation NASA ATM Research Storm Turbulence Terminal Doppler Weather Radar SLEP ASR-9 Wind Shear Processor NEXRAD Enhancements Weather Multi Function Phased Array Radar Integrated Terminal Weather System Aviation Weather Research Wake Vortex Corridor Integrated Weather System

3. ASR-8 ARSR-1/2 ARSR-3 ASR-9 ASR-11 NEXRAD TDWR ARSR-4 National Air Surveillance Infrastructure Future Today ADS-B MPAR FAA transition to Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) dictates that the nation re-think its overall surveillance architecture. Needs: Weather (national scale and at airports) ADS-B integrity verification and backup Airspace situational awareness for homeland security

4. Today’s Operational Radar Capabilities Weather surveillance drives requirements for radar power and aperture size Aircraft surveillance functions can be provided “for free” if necessary airspace coverage and update rates can be achieved Active array radar an obvious approach, but only if less expensive and/or more capable than “conventional” alternatives

5. Outline • Perspectives on operational needs • A specific MPAR concept • Summary

6. Key Questions • What are the operational driver’s for the “next generation” ground weather radar network? • Improved low altitude coverage, particularly at airports? • Volume scan update rate? • Capability to observe low-cross section phenomena (e.g clear air boundary winds)? • High integrity measurements, devoid of clutter, out-of-trip returns, velocity aliasing, etc.? • What are requirements for the ADS-B backup system? • Are additional non-cooperative aircraft surveillance capabilities needed to maintain airspace security?

7. U.S. Airport “Weather” Radars Current WSR-88D network does not provide the near-airport low altitude coverage or update rate (30 – 60 sec) needed by terminal ATC

8. Airport Weather Radar Alternatives Analysis TDWR NEXRAD ASR-9 Airplane Lidar LLWAS Sensors Considered Without TDWR With TDWR Wind Shear Detection Probability ITWS “Terminal Winds” Accuracy

9. Preliminary Findings • Easy to make the case for high capability airport weather radar at pacing airports (e.g. NYC, ORD, ATL, DFW, ....) • Large delay aversion benefits associated with high quality measurements of adverse winds and precipitation (>$10M per year per airport) • Business case for “TDWR-like” capability at smaller airports less convincing • Alternative solutions may provide adequate safety margin • Weather related delay benefits small • Implications for MPAR • Scalability key to realizing cost-effective solutions • Airport-specific integrated observation system configurations will be appropriate in some cases (e.g. western U.S. “dry sites”)

10. ADS-B Backup Separation Services Map Airspace Type Separation Altitude Range Coverage Area Airspace Type Separation Range Coverage Area Altitude En Route SSR 5 nm Yes 250 nm 2,820,000 nm2 En Route SSR 5 nm Beacon 200 nm 2,820,000 nm2 Beacon 60 nm 314,000 nm2 Terminal SSR 3 nm No 60 nm 661,000 nm2 Terminal PSR 3 nm Yes 40 nm 314,000 nm2 Terminal SSR 3 nm Pilot 40 nm 661,000 nm2 Terminal PSR 3 nm No coverage No coverage

11. Required Surveillance Performance (RSP) Methodology

12. RSP Derived from En Route Radar Capabilities* *Only applies for multiple sensors *Supports 5 nmi separation

13. RSP Derived from Terminal Radar Capabilities* *Only applies for multiple sensors *Supports 3 nmi separation

14. MPAR RSP Analysis 20:1 Monopulse 4.4 antenna beamwidth meets Terminal RSP Separation Error 4.6 antenna beamwidth meets En Route RSP Separation Error

15. Enhanced Regional Situation AwarenessSystem Elements Hi-Perf EO/IR and Warning Systems Ground Based Sentinel Radars Wide Area 3-D Visual SENSORS Mode-S RCVR FAA Radars And Data Bases NORAD TADIL-J Hi-Res EO Sites Elevated Sentinel Radars Redundant Networks FUSION • Lincoln facilities provided infrastructure for rapid system development • Radar and camera sites • FAA data feeds and fusion • Network connectivity • Lincoln developed Integrated Air Picture, Decision Support, ID, and Visual Warning deployed for operational use in NCR Primary Facility Fusion and Aggregation Evidence Accrual and Decision Support Redundant Networks Fan-out to Multiple Users USERS Air Situation Decision Support Display and Camera Control Portable Air Situation Display

16. Lincoln Perspectives on Role of FAA Surveillance Systems • Current primary/secondary radars “as is” will provide an essential backbone to homeland air picture and decision support system • Enhancement recommendations • “Network compatible interface” • External access to unfiltered target detections (amplitude, Doppler velocity, …) • Target height information would be very valuable • DoD/DHS will deploy ancillary sensor as necessary to meet specific operational needs

17. Outline • Perspectives on operational needs • A specific MPAR concept • Summary

18. Concept MPAR Parameters • Active Array (planar, 4 faces) • Diameter: 8 m • TR elements/face: 20,000 • Dual polarization • Beamwidth: 0.7 (broadside) • 1.0 (@ 45) • Gain: > 46 dB • Transmit/Receive Modules • Wavelength: 10 cm (2.7–2.9 GHz) • Bandwidth/channel: 1 MHz • Frequency channels: 3 • Pulse length: 30 s • Peak power/element: 2 W • Architecture • Overlapped subarray • Number of subarrays: 300–400 • Maximum concurrent beams: ~160 Aircraft Surveillance Non cooperative target tracking and characterization Weather Surveillance 334 MPARS required to duplicate today’s airspace coverage. Half of these are scaled “Terminal MPARS”

19. Concept MPAR Capability Summary • Airspace coverage equal to today’s operational radar networks. • Angular resolution, minimum detectible reflectivity and volume scan update rate equal or exceed today’s operational weather radars • Ancillary benefits from improved data integrity and cross-beam wind measurement • Can easily support 3-5 nmi separation standards required for ADS-B backup • Can provide non-cooperative aircraft surveillance data of significantly higher quality that today’s surveillance radars • Altitude information • Substantially lower minimum RCS threshold

20. 2W Dual Mode T/R Module Parts Costs v Item Quantity Unit Cost Total Cost HPA 2 $2.37 $4.74 SP2T 3 $4.00 $12.00 LNA 1 $1.69 $1.69 BPF 1 $3.00 $3.00 Diplx 1 $1.50 $1.50 Vect Mod 3 $2.14 $6.42 Load 1 $2.00 $2.00 Board 1 $20.00 $20.00 Total = $51.35 • Parts costs driven by SP2T switches and multi-layer PC board fabrication • Packaging / test costs not included

21. Preliminary Parts Cost Estimates Equivalent Cost per Element - Parts Only Totals: $455.75 $164.50 * Assumes 8W module incl RF board with sequential polarization ** Assumes 2W module and sequential polarization (updated 18 Sept 2007) *** Assumes standard beamformer in azimuth **** Assumes hybrid tile/brick architecture with RFIC overlapped subarray beamformer

22. Summary • As a community, we are making substantial progress in exposing requirements for the Next Generation surveillance radar network • Multifunction, active array (MPAR) approach continues to be a leading candidate • Low cost is the key to success of MPAR • ‘Commercial’ approach needed to achieve extremely low cost goals • We are ready to solicit input from industry on specific design concepts and cost • Need to sell concept to policy makers • Compelling operational application demonstration • Business case substantiating agency cost savings