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1. VERIFEYETM:
Mitigating the effects of wind farms on radar
Increased detection, highly configurable, easy to integrate, and low cost
Challenge
Eliminate the effects of wind
turbines on radar:
• Assist the UK Government in
attaining renewable energy
targets
• Remove interference for ATC
and AD operations
• Maintain radar operator
confidence
• Provide zero degradation to
existing radar services
• Provide cost effective solutions
Solution
VERIFEYE is a novel patch-in
solution using multiple navigation
radars aimed at providing a zero
degradation mitigation technique.
Other benefits include:
• Low cost compared to a new
radar patch-in solution
• Increased detection confidence
of aircraft
• Highly configurable system to
meet the needs of any size
development
• High redundancy system
• Readily integrated with existing
radar set-ups
Results
Initial trials for VERIFEYE have
shown that:
• Aircraft can be tracked within the
Civil Aviation Authority
specifications, CAP 670
• In many cases, the quality of air
surveillance can be improved
• Quick and easy to implement,
and can be patched in to any
type of affected radar system
Due to their sheer size and
reflectivity, wind turbines can have
a detrimental impact on radar and
navigation systems. The UK has
many airports and military sites
spread across the country that
provide air traffic control (ATC) and
air defence (AD) services, which
the wind turbines can interfere with.
The radar interference from
turbines can lead to a number of
issues, including:
• False aircraft like tracks
• Loss of detection of aircraft over
and around the wind farm area
• Increased clutter levels
• Distraction to radar operators
These issues have led to a
significant increase in objections to
wind farm developments from the
aviation and defence stakeholders.
This is a major reason why the
development of wind energy is held
up in the planning process, thus,
causing the UK to fall short of its
energy targets.
Technical mitigation solutions have
so far either fallen short of the
industry requirements, or do not
solve enough issues to be
considered useful.
VERIFEYETM is a mitigation technique
that aims to eliminate the impact that
wind farms can have on any type of
radar. The solution utilises low cost
navigation radars, which can be
modified for air surveillance, to
mitigate the effects of wind farms.
Multiple navigation radars, along with
a centrally located high elevation
scanning radar, sited within the wind
farm, can provide improved elevation
coverage above and around the wind
farm itself, ensuring excellent radar
coverage for all areas.
The information from the navigation
radars is combined using advanced
plot fusion techniques to form an
accurate surveillance picture of any
object, e.g. aircraft, which are flying
over or around a wind farm.
This information is fed back into the
affected radar to 'fill in' to the display
as a patch-in solution. Alternatively, if
the currently affected radar cannot
accept patch-in solutions, a separate
VERIFEYE display could be set up, to
accept and display the patch-in feed.
VERIFEYE aims to be the first zero
degradation mitigation solution on the
market, and in many cases, could
provide improved radar coverage
around the wind farm area.