Lasers track airplane wake vortices
Staff -- Test & Measurement World, 2/1/2004
Lockheed Martin (Syracuse, NY) recently implemented some improvements to a laser-based technology that aims to "hear" the sound generated by aircraft wake vortices. Part of Project SOCRATES (Sensors for Characterizing Ring-eddy Atmospheric Turbulence Emanating Sound), the Lockheed improvements enabled the detection and tracking of aircraft wake vortices, which previously were undetected. Wake vortices, which are formed by airplane wings, are turbulent—and potentially dangerous—winds that resemble small horizontal tornadoes. If these vortices can be detected and tracked, airplanes will take off and land more safely and airport delays can be reduced.
Project SOCRATES is an FAA program for developing wake turbulence standards. The program leverages declassified military technology previously used for the acoustic detection of submarines.
Recently, technicians installed SOCRATES acoustic equipment employing four separate laser beams in a field about 2 miles from the Denver airport. This equipment detected a regional jet wakes at a range of over 0.06 mile.
Plans call for Lockheed Martin to add more capability to the system by adding more sensing beams, perhaps as many as 16 total. With more beams, the system will be better able to determine where wake vortices are located. www.lockheedmartin.com.
