A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/865677
GIM - S: ZDV plans on goi ng live with ZKC on Sept 12th. ZDV is also working on an agreement with ZAB to use GI M - S on the SE stream into ZDV. MEARTS Fusion: 3nm Fusion in MEARTS is a complex undertaking, and involves bringing multiple Tower, Approach, and En route sectors online with Fusion at the same time. The lessons learned in this undertaking will help the effort with future MEARTS and ERAM sites. Significant progress toward a return to Fusion at HCF was made the week of July 17. An OSD was cond ucted after software and adapt ation changes were introduced. NATCA, HCF Air Traffic, and many others agreed that the system is operationally suitable. HCF re - started Fusion operatio ns on August 1, 2017. With over three weeks of use, the feedback from fa cility perso nnel continues to be positive. SBS remains in a monitoring po sture for the month of August. Plans are being made for the continued deploying 3NM Fu sion in MEARTS at ZSU and ZUA. A Technical Interchange M eeting is planned with ZSU on Septem ber 6. Surveillance Portfolio Analysis Work Group Eric Labardini and James Keith (NATCA AJV - 7) have been working closely with the Agency's multifaceted analysis of post 20 20 radar infrastructure needs. The ADS - B business case was built on an assumption t hat today's robust radar infrastructure could be reduced once ADS - B becomes the predominant surveillance source. The Agency built their business case on an assumption that 100+ secondary radar sources could be removed throughout the NAS. This causes conc ern in airspace that does not require ADS - B (many Class D or other Approach Controls). NATCA has been pointing toward another option, removing overlapping radar sources completely rather than harming operational capabilities nationwide. There seems to be an awakening to this idea and analysis of the benefits is underway. An SRM Panel was held August 1 - 3 to analyze the risks associated with partial or complete removal of radar syste ms in a post 2020 environment. The conclusions of the Panel were that par tial removal actually resulted in highe r risks than com plete removal. This assumes that complete removal would only occur where the effects were minimized by other overlapping radar sources nearby. Terminal Fusion: The Fusion Focus Group continues to tra ck and resolve facilit y reported issues with Fusion. These are largely issues with the underlying surveillance infrastructure, and experts from all f ields are available to assist. Please report any issues to your OSF and our NATCA SBS group for assistanc e. It is critical that actual data is recorded for evaluation and resolution. NATCA remains very focused on the Common Terminal Digitizer (CTD) effort necessary to incorporate numerous ASR - 8 sites into STARS Elite as well as Fusion. The CTD schedule is the driver for TAMR Elite rollout and therefore the drive for the follow up ADS - B/Fusion rollout.