A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/889675
business case was built on an assumption that 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 concern in airspace that does not require ADS - B (many Class D or other Approach Controls). NATCA has been pointing toward another option, remo ving overlapping radar sources completely rather than harming operat ional 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 systems in a po st 2020 environment. The conclusions of the Panel were that partial removal actually resulted in highe r risks than complete removal. This assumes that complete removal would only occur where the effects w ere minimized by other overlapping radar sources nearby. Terminal Fusion: The Fusion Focus Group continues to track and resolve facility reported issues with Fusion. T hese are largely issues with the underlying surveillance infrastructure, and experts fro m all f ields are available to assist. Please report any issues to your OSF and our NATCA SBS group for assistance. 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. SCT issues continue to be a large focus. NATCA SBS is heavily involved in the Surveillance Automation Analysis Team (SAAT), which is examining long - term alternatives to help improve overall sur veillance in the SCT airspace. Their efforts are aimed at mitigating tracking issues in the LA Basin, includin g the effec t of the new Stadium near LAX. NATCA and the Agency have agreed to move forward wi th raising the LGB radar site. This was thought to be one of the easier solutions to put in place, but the Agency cannot seem to get out of their own way to do so. Current target date for completion according to Western Service Area is October to November 2017. SCT is also awaiting agreements with the military to ensure availability and performa nce of the North Island radar. Adding this additional surveillance s ource shows promise for tracking issues around SAN airport. The first phase of WAM achieved an IOC on Aug . 10. Feedback from SCT per sonnel has been very positive. WAM has been promoted to the h ighest priority in sort cells. Analysis of formerly identifi ed tracking issues with radar showed much im provement with WAM implemented. Feedback from NAT CA SCT has been very positive. Former issues seen frequently in the LA Basin area hav e been greatly reduced by WAM. This first Phase of WAM at SCT is a limited configuration of Radio Stations; this makes it vulnerable to outages due to limited overlapping Radio coverage. The system has