Dulles Airport Gets Satellite Technology
Washington Dulles is the latest airport to use satellite technology to move ground safety beyond the limits of radar. A new state-of-the-art system gives air traffic controllers in the Washington, D.C.-area airport tower a more complete picture of activity on the ground, closing visual gaps and helping to prevent accidents.
Controllers started using Airport Surface Detection Equipment, Model X (ASDE-X), on April 1, making Dulles the 12th U.S. airport with the system.
"ASDE-X is light years ahead of the old system," said Dulles Tower's Assistant Air Traffic Manager Charlotte Happle. "The accuracy is very good and it helps us with our ground movements, especially during times when visibility is low."
Radar can return false targets on the ground, and is less reliable in inclement weather. But by incorporating radar data with signals from aircraft and vehicle transponders, ground sensors and satellite technology, ASDE-X bridges ground and space technology.
Controllers see the more detailed information on color monitors located in the tower cab.
The new system is also designed to work with future components of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen), a long-term process to improve safety, efficiency and capacity in U.S. aviation.
Originally intended to be installed at 25 airports when the FAA awarded the ASDE-X contract to Sensis Corporation in October 2000, the agency later expanded the project to include 35 airports. The FAA estimates it will cost over $806 million to procure, deploy and operate ASDE-X over a 30-year life cycle.
Other ASDE-X-equipped airports include Chicago O'Hare, Atlanta and Orlando. Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport is scheduled to operate its ASDE-X this June, followed by New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport in August.
The FAA has shifted extra attention to improving runway safety following a "call to action" issued last August. Since then, government and industry leaders have developed several hundred short-, medium-, and long-term initiatives to reduce runway incursions and wrong runway departures.