What it does

ASSC improves surface surveillance and situational awareness in all kinds of weather. ASSC is similar to another system deployed in the U.S. called the Airport Surface Detection Equipment, Model X (ASDE-X), which is deployed at 35 airports.

With ASSC/ASDE-X, controllers see aircraft and ground vehicles on the airport surface, and on approach and departure paths within a few miles of the airport. ASSC correlates flight-plan information with targets displayed, providing surveillance data with an accuracy and update rate suitable for:

• Situational awareness in all weather conditions
• Departure queuing
• Conflict detection and alerts
• Taxi route conformance monitoring

Benefits

• Helps prevent runway collisions
• Improves situational awareness leading to fewer surface delays

How it works

The ASSC system receives input from:

• ASDE-3 Surface Movement Radar
• ASSC multilateration remote units
• ADS-B
• Airport Surveillance Radar/Mode-S
• Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS)

ASSC fuses this data to produce a highly accurate display for controllers to show aircraft and ground vehicles on the surface movement area, and on arrival and departure routes. Pilots with TIS-B and cockpit displays can also receive data derived from ASSC.

ASSC data is also transmitted to other FAA systems listed below.:

• Surveillance Broadcast Services (SBS)
• Data Distribution via SWIM/STDDS
• Runway Status Lights (RWSL)
• Terminal Flight Data Manager (TFDM)

Availability

ASSC is operational at the locations below:

• Anchorage (ANC)
• Cincinnati (CVG)
• Cleveland (CLE)
• Kansas City (MCI)
• New Orleans (MSY)
• Pittsburgh (PIT)
• Portland (PDX)
• San Francisco (SFO)
• Joint Base Andrews (ADW)