Aircraft Radar Terrain Imaging for Precision Landing Guidance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Bad weather conditions, such as fog, rain, and snow, reduce visibility and hinder aircraft landing operations, requiring costly ground infrastructure for guidance, which is not feasible in all regions, and existing solutions lack accurate aircraft position information for precision approaches without instrument landing systems.
Innovation Solution
A method and device using an embedded radar on the aircraft to acquire and process radar images of known terrain patterns, determining the aircraft's position relative to these patterns, and transmitting this information to user systems, allowing for accurate and cost-effective landing guidance without ground infrastructure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If ground infrastructure is deployed for aircraft guidance in bad weather, then guidance capability is improved, but cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The aircraft uses its own onboard radar to perform guidance functions independently, without requiring external ground infrastructure. The radar images the terrain and the system automatically processes these images to determine aircraft position and guide landing, making the system self-sufficient and eliminating costly ground installations.
Solution Approach 2:
The onboard radar, originally designed for weather detection, is repurposed to perform both weather detection and terrain imaging for navigation. This multi-functionality allows the same hardware to serve multiple purposes, eliminating the need for dedicated guidance infrastructure and reducing costs.
2Measurement precision
If ground infrastructure is deployed for precision approach, then positioning accuracy is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The guidance function is extracted from the ground infrastructure and transferred to the aircraft itself. By removing the need for external guidance systems and using only onboard equipment, the solution simplifies the overall system while maintaining positioning accuracy through radar image processing.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using complex ground-based electronic guidance systems, the system creates a visual copy of the terrain through radar imaging. This radar image serves as a replica of the physical terrain, allowing the aircraft to navigate by matching the image pattern with stored reference data, thereby achieving precision without complex infrastructure.
3Ease of manufacture
If existing aircraft radar is used for terrain imaging, then cost is reduced, but measurement precision may be affected
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes the operational parameters of the existing radar by adjusting its frequency modulation and pulse repetition rate to optimize it for terrain imaging rather than weather detection. This parameter adjustment allows the existing radar hardware to achieve the precision needed for navigation without requiring new equipment.
Solution Approach 2:
The radar system dynamically adjusts its operating mode between weather detection and terrain imaging based on flight phase and requirements. The system can switch between different pulse repetition frequencies and power levels to optimize performance for different functions, allowing existing hardware to meet multiple precision requirements.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables accurate aircraft positioning in adverse weather conditions, reducing costs by utilizing existing aircraft radars and extending landing capabilities to more airports, while providing reliable landing assistance through precise position determination and attitude estimation.
Implementation Method 1
a radar image acquisition step, implemented by at least one radar mounted on the aircraft, the acquisition step comprising taking at least one radar image of the terrain in front of the aircraft
Data Source
AI summary
A device comprising a radar for taking at least one radar image of the terrain in front of the aircraft in a zone containing at least one characteristic pattern, the position of the characteristic pattern being known, an image processing unit for detecting, on the radar image taken by the radar, a characteristic symbol representing the characteristic pattern, a computation unit for determining, from at least the position of the characteristic symbol in the image and from characteristics of the radar image acquisition, relative position information illustrating the position of the aircraft in relation to the characteristic pattern, and for determining the position of the aircraft, from the relative position information and from the known position of the characteristic pattern, and a unit for transmitting at least the position of the aircraft to at least one user system, for example a landing aiding system or an SVS display.