GWSP

Weather signal extractor for your air traffic control radar

GAMIC’s weather signal extractor GWSP is designed to augment ASR/ATC radars with a comprehensive weather data output. It uses the existing surveillance radar data to detect and report severe weather situations in the surrounding area. The GWSP has been installed over 50 times and is operating successfully for more than 10 years by German, Swiss, and Canadian Air Forces, and at Schiphol airport (Amsterdam, NL).

Seamless integration into existing infrastructure

Airport Surveillance Radar

GSWP extracts information from ASR (Air Search / Airport Surveillance Radars) or ATC (Air Traffic Control) radars in parallel to their tracking function and does not conflict with the radar’s main functions. It simply makes use of the already existing but previously discarded radar signal of the surrounding weather. GAMIC’s weather signal extractor is available for radars with magnetron, klystron, or solid-state transmitters.

Setup and functionality

The GWSP constists of three parts. The adaption box (ABOX) captures IF or I/Q data from any type of primary radar and transforms it into WSP data format. The weather signal processor (WSP) corrects and processes the signal to meterological moments (Z, V, W). Last part is the weather data processor (WDP) which generates weather products for prediction and tracking of weather events. GAMIC’s comprehensive weather radar software suite FROG-MURAN can be used optionally to get the full potential out of your weather data.

Block diagram of GAMIC weather signal extractor GWSP
Seamless integration of GAMIC’s weather signal extractor into existing ASR/ATC radar infrastructure

Output of critical weather data

GWSP provides fast and precise weather data by processing and identifying severe precipitation, wind shear, and other critical weather events like microbursts and gust fronts. The corrected and processed output data are displayed in real-time and color-coded weather parameters: reflectivity (Z), radial velocity (V) and turbulence (W). The data can be sent in suitable formats to operating stations, i.e. ASTERIX CAT008 or other high resolution formats.