Directed sequential hazard assessment weather radar
First Claim
1. A weather radar system on board an aircraft, the weather radar system comprising:
- a transmitter for generating radar pulses in a predetermined pulse pattern in a first mode;
an antenna system for radiating the radar pulses and scanning over a volume in front of the aircraft in a hazard detection mode and for receiving return pulses from a weather pattern;
a receiver for receiving the return pulses reflected from the weather pattern;
a processor for determining a region of reflectivity in the weather pattern associated with the return pulses received by the receiver in the first mode, wherein said processor automatically changes the weather radar system to an assessment mode to determine presence of a detectable hazard after detecting the region of reflectivity, wherein the weather radar system uses a different pulse pattern or scan pattern in the assessment mode from the pulse pattern or scan pattern used in the first mode; and
a display connected to the processor and for displaying the weather pattern.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A directed sequential hazard assessment weather radar system detects weather and hazards with low latency and high confidence in a hazard detection mode to detect a region of reflectivity and changes to an assessment mode after detecting the region of reflectivity. The weather radar system scans a volume in front of an aircraft to detect the region of reflectivity in the hazard detection mode using a multiscan process and a reflectivity pulse pattern. The weather radar system determines presence of a hazard in the region of reflectivity after detecting the region. The weather radar system changes to a turbulence pulse pattern in the assessment mode and scans the region of reflectivity with an auxiliary sweep to determine turbulence. The directed sequential hazard assessment weather radar system performs a qualification process by scheduling an additional radar scanning auxiliary sweep to determine if the turbulence is real.
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Citations
35 Claims
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1. A weather radar system on board an aircraft, the weather radar system comprising:
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a transmitter for generating radar pulses in a predetermined pulse pattern in a first mode; an antenna system for radiating the radar pulses and scanning over a volume in front of the aircraft in a hazard detection mode and for receiving return pulses from a weather pattern; a receiver for receiving the return pulses reflected from the weather pattern; a processor for determining a region of reflectivity in the weather pattern associated with the return pulses received by the receiver in the first mode, wherein said processor automatically changes the weather radar system to an assessment mode to determine presence of a detectable hazard after detecting the region of reflectivity, wherein the weather radar system uses a different pulse pattern or scan pattern in the assessment mode from the pulse pattern or scan pattern used in the first mode; and a display connected to the processor and for displaying the weather pattern. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A weather radar system on board an aircraft for operation in a hazard detection mode and an assessment mode said weather radar system comprising:
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a transmitter for generating radar pulses in a predetermined pulse pattern; an antenna system for radiating the radar pulses and scanning over a volume in front of the aircraft in the hazard detection mode and for receiving return pulses from a weather pattern; a receiver for receiving the return pulses reflected from the weather pattern and providing a IF output; a processor for determining a region of reflectivity in the weather pattern from the IF output from the receiver wherein said processor changes mode of the weather radar system to the assessment mode to determine presence of a detectable hazard after detecting the region of reflectivity; and a display connected to the processor and for displaying the weather pattern, wherein the predetermined pulse pattern changes to a turbulence pulse pattern in the assessment mode and said antenna scans the region of reflectivity with an auxiliary sweep to determine if the detectable hazard includes the presence of an area of turbulence. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A weather radar system on board an aircraft for operation in a hazard detection mode and an assessment mode said weather radar system comprising:
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a transmitter for generating radar pulses in a predetermined pulse pattern; an antenna for radiating the radar pulses and scanning over a volume in front of the aircraft in the hazard detection mode and for receiving return pulses from a weather pattern; a receiver for receiving the return pulses reflected from the weather pattern and providing a IF output; a processor for determining a region of reflectivity in the weather pattern from the IF output from the receiver wherein said processor changes mode of the weather radar system to the assessment mode to determine presence of a detectable hazard after detecting the region of reflectivity; and a display connected to the processor and for displaying the weather pattern, wherein the weather radar system in the hazard detection mode detects the region of reflectivity region that is a thunderstorm cell and changes to the assessment mode with an auxiliary vertical sweep scheduled and optimized for detection of a storm top. - View Dependent Claims (10)
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11. A weather radar system on board an aircraft for operation in a hazard detection mode and an assessment mode said weather radar system comprising:
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a transmitter for generating radar pulses in a predetermined pulse pattern; an antenna for radiating the radar pulses and scanning over a volume in front of the aircraft in the hazard detection mode and for receiving return pulses from a weather pattern; a receiver for receiving the return pulses reflected from the weather pattern and providing a IF output; a processor for determining a region of reflectivity in the weather pattern from the IF output from the receiver wherein said processor changes mode of the weather radar system to the assessment mode to determine presence of a detectable hazard after detecting the region of reflectivity; and a display connected to the processor and for displaying the weather pattern, wherein in the hazard detection mode the antenna uses a horizontal polarization to detect a region of high radar reflectivity and in the assessment mode the antenna uses a dual polarization to examine the region of high radar reflectivity to determine whether hazardous hail is present.
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- 12. A directed sequential hazard assessment weather radar system for detecting and displaying weather and hazards with low latency and high confidence wherein said weather radar system operates in a hazard detection mode to detect a region of reflectivity and operates in an assessment mode to determine the presence of a detectable hazard after detecting the region of reflectivity, wherein a change to the assessment mode is made by the system in response to detection of the region of reflectivity wherein the assessment mode uses a different pulse pattern or scan pattern from the pulse pattern or scan pattern used in the hazard detection mode.
- 16. A directed sequential hazard assessment weather radar system for detecting and displaying weather and hazards with low latency and high confidence wherein said weather radar system operates in a hazard detection mode to detect a region of reflectivity and changes to an assessment mode to determine the presence of a detectable hazard after detecting the region of reflectivity, wherein the weather radar system in the assessment mode changes to a turbulence pulse pattern and scans the region of reflectivity with an auxiliary sweep to determine the presence of the area of turbulence.
- 21. A directed sequential hazard assessment weather radar system for detecting and displaying weather and hazards with low latency and high confidence wherein said weather radar system operates in a hazard detection mode to detect a region of reflectivity and changes to an assessment mode to determine the presence of a detectable hazard after detecting the region of reflectivity wherein the weather radar system in the hazard detection mode scans a volume in front of an aircraft to detect a region of reflectivity using a multiple scan process, wherein the weather radar system in the hazard detection mode detects the region of reflectivity that is a thunderstorm cell and changes to the assessment mode with an auxiliary vertical sweep scheduled and optimized for detection of a storm top.
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23. A directed sequential hazard assessment weather radar system for detecting and displaying weather and hazards with low latency and high confidence wherein said weather radar system operates in a hazard detection mode to detect a region of reflectivity and operates in an assessment mode to determine the presence of a detectable hazard after detecting the region of reflectivity, wherein the weather radar system in the hazard detection mode uses a horizontal polarization to detect a region of high radar reflectivity and in the assessment mode uses a dual polarization to examine the region of high radar reflectivity to determine whether hazardous hail is present.
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24. A method of detecting weather and hazards with low latency and high confidence in a directed sequential hazard assessment weather radar system comprising steps of:
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operating in a hazard detection mode to detect a region of reflectivity; and changing to an assessment mode to determine presence of a detectable hazard after detecting the region of reflectivity, wherein the changing is performed by the system in response to detection of the region of reflectivity, wherein the assessment mode uses a different pulse pattern or scan pattern from the pulse pattern or scan pattern used in the hazard detection mode. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A method of detecting weather and hazards with low latency and high confidence in a directed sequential hazard assessment weather radar system comprising steps of:
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after detecting the region of reflectivity; detecting a region of high radar reflectivity in the hazard detection mode using a horizontal antenna polarization; and examining the region of high radar reflectivity in the assessment mode using a dual antenna polarization to determine whether hazardous hail is present.
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Specification