A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/624148
the concern. However, there is additional concern over the decision to possibly del aying the Terra removal implementation as it may cause unnecessary false targets during the testing/transition to TAMR and eventually impact operations. This is similar to SCT where we were successful in vastly improving performance - with regards to false target elimination - by removing the Terra Fix at LXS and LXN radars. o Radar Accuracy at SCT: One of the main residual issues at SCT is poor tracking performance due to inaccurate r adar reports in certain areas. However, the outlier radar reports are due to the surrounding environment and are not a maintenanc e or radar optimization issue. The radars are displaying very good accuracy overall, yet some radars are inaccurate in very specific localized areas. These localized areas correlate to a structure (tr ees, towers, hotels, office buildings, etc) in the path f rom the radar to the aircraft. The obstacles are corrupting the aircraft returns thus causing the positional inaccuracies of all aircraft at and below the elevation angle impacted by the tops of the buildings. A radar analysis tool has been modified to help identify thes e precise areas automatically. This information can then be used by STARS to make better tracker decisions and/or eliminate the "bad areas" from these radars into t he tracker. · O perational Support Facility (OSF) Lead is Candy Barr - Multi Unit o The OSF ' s biggest challenge as we move forward in the TAMR deployment is the replacement of Sof tware Management System (SMS). The SMS is the tool used for creating STARS adaptation. The SMS replacement is 3 years behind schedule and is now threatened further by being incompatib le with future software builds. TERMINAL FLIGHT DATA MANAGER (TFDM): Matt Baugh (IAH) represents the membership as the Article 48 Represen tative for TFDM. Mr. Baugh's report to the membership is below. · The TFDM Implementation Strategy and Planning Document was approved and signed by Teri Bristol (FAA ATO COO) just prior to Thanksgiving. · The program is in the Final Investment Analysis phase of the Acquisit ion Management System life cycle, with the Final Investment Decision still planned for March 16, 2016. · TFDM PM briefed Airlines for America (A4A) rep. on Nov. 23, a follow - up meeting for a larger group is being scheduled for early 2016. · Advan ced Electronic Flight Strips (AEFS) o Cleveland (CLE) § Build 5.3.0.2 was re - tested from Dec . 5 - 9 with no major issues, the build is currently still up and running. § CLE tech ops is now providing first - level support of the AEFS system. o San Francisco (SF O) § Training sys tem was installed on Nov 17th. Training dates have been finalized: Operational Try Out (OTO) March 1/3, 2016 and First Course Conduct (FCC) April 5 - 6, 2016. IOC planned in the new tower in Oct 2016.