Airport surface surveillance system

• US 5,374,932 A
• Filed: 08/02/1993
• Issued: 12/20/1994
• Est. Priority Date: 08/02/1993
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Original Assignee: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Inventors: Wood, Loren, Wyschogrod, Daniel, Marquis, Douglas V., Sasiela, Richard J., Daly, Peter M., Schultz, Hayden B., Harman, William H. III, Eggert, James R., Sturdy, James L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Sotomayor, John B.
• Application Number:
  US08/101,448
• Time in Patent Office: 505 Days
• Field of Search: 342/29, 342/36, 342/37, 342/39, 342/41, 342/455, 342/456, 342/457
• US Class Current: 342/36
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/723 by using numerical data
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/765 with exchange of information between interrogator and responder
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/89 for mapping or imaging
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/91 for traffic control G01S13/93 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/933 of aircraft or spacecraft
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/062 in which different colours are used
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/20 Stereoscopic displays; Three-dimensional displays; Pseudo-three-dimensional displays
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/22 Producing cursor lines and indicia by electronic means
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/2806 Employing storage or delay devices which preserve the pulse form of the echo signal, e.g. for comparing and combining echoes received during different periods
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/2923 based on data belonging to a number of consecutive radar periods
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0026 located on the ground
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0082 for monitoring traffic from a ground station radar or analogous systems specially adapted for traffic control G01S13/91
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/065 Navigation or guidance aids, e.g. for taxiing or rolling

Abstract

An airport surface traffic surveillance and automation system addresses a wide variety of airport surface conflict scenarios using a combination of runway-status lights, controller alerts, and enhanced controller displays. Runway-status lights, composed of runway-entrance lights and takeoff-hold lights, provide alerts directly to pilots and vehicle operators, to prevent runway incursions before they happen. Controller alerts are used to direct a controller'"'"'s attention to existing conflicts between aircraft on or near the runways. Enhanced displays present symbology to describe aircraft position, size, direction and speed of motion, altitude, aircraft flight number, and equipment type. Aircraft on approach to runways are also depicted on the displays. The invention features an airport surveillance system, having a radar data interface for receiving radar data from a radar source at a first data rate and for outputting radar data at a second data rate less than the first data rate, and a radar target processor coupled to the radar data interface. The radar target processor includes a clutter rejecter for generating a clutter map of the clutter signals in the radar data, and for substantially removing the clutter signals from the radar data using the clutter map, a morphological processor to receive radar data from the clutter rejecter and for detecting from the radar data target objects using the morphology of the target object, a multipath processor to receive radar data from the morphological processor and for detecting and removing from the radar data false targets resulting from multipath radar reflections, and a target tracker to receive radar data from the multipath processor and for tracking the path of target objects on or near the airport surface.

Claims

1. A surveillance system, comprising:

a radar data interface for receiving radar data from a radar source at a first data rate and for outputting radar data at a second data rate less than the first data rate; and

a radar target processor coupled to the radar data interface, comprising;

a clutter rejecter for generating a clutter map of the clutter signals in the radar data, and for substantially removing the clutter signals from the radar data using the clutter map, the clutter rejecter further determining a threshold level for each radar pixel from the clutter map, comparing the radar data returned from a transmitted pulse to the threshold level for each corresponding radar pixel along a radial direction, and recording the pixel positions both where the radar data first exceeds the threshold and where the radar data first drops below the threshold to define a run;

a morphological processor to receive runs from the clutter rejecter and for associating a plurality pixels of runs together to define a component by performing a morphological opening operation on the runs to eliminate small components and then forming a chain code of the outline of clustered adjacent runs, and for associating one or more components to define a target object; and

a target tracker for receiving target objects from the morphological processor, for tracking paths of target objects, and for detecting and identifying in the radar data false tracks resulting from multipath radar reflections and other sources.