This information is further distributed to non-governmental organizations and companies such as Weather Underground. So far, the SLEP eliminated outages due to antenna gear failure and maintained service by replacing parts of the system that are difficult to maintain and support.Īlso, FAA has an agreement with the National Weather Service to provide TDWR data. The TDWR SLEP will address issues of obsolete and unsupportable parts to maintain required service levels and remain operational until NextGen capability replaces it. TDWR SLEP will support safety by sustaining operations of terminal weather and wind shear services at target levels. The main purpose of the various individual projects funded by the TDWR SLEP funding stream is to improve TDWR’s availability. The TDWR SLEP program is an ongoing effort to modernize the existing TDWR capability so that the TDWR continues to benefit the NAS and the FAA's Enterprise Architecture. TDWR Service Life Extension Program (SLEP)
FAA automation systems and 34 National Weather Service forecast offices receive TDWR weather data. No wind shear accidents have occurred at any TDWR-protected airport since TDWR was commissioned in 1994. Two additional systems at the FAA's Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City provide engineering support and training.
Current Statusįorty-five TDWR systems protect 46 high-capacity airports, throughout the United States and Puerto Rico, which are prone to wind shear events. The program will continue to deploy improvements that will lower TDWR operations costs and improve its reliability. Operational benefits of the system include the real-time detection of microburst, gust fronts, wind shifts, and precipitation, as well as prediction of wind changes that allow improved airfield efficiency when making runway changes. In addition, weather related delays have been reduced, allowing savings in aviation fuel consumption. The last wind shear related accident occurred at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport on July 2, 1994, before its TDWR was installed and operational (Aircraft Accident Report 95-03). It has a large number of proprietary software and hardware parts, many of which have become obsolete and present significant supportability problems that worsen with time. The TDWR system has been in service since 1994. Until then, we must properly maintain the TDWR system to comply with service availability requirements. We anticipate that NextGen Surveillance and Weather Radar Capability, a NextGen capability, will replace TDWR. TDWR also provides warnings of sustained wind shifts and hazardous weather, including turbulence, to ATC supervisory employees to improve airport operation. TDWR's primary purpose is to timely and accurately detect hazardous wind shear in and near terminal approach and departure corridors as well as to report this information to pilots and local air traffic controllers. Wind shear is common in thunderstorms due to microbursts, which are downward rushes of air. The crashes occurred because of wind shear, a sudden change in wind speed and direction. Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory developed TDWR, a Doppler weather radar system, in response to several disastrous jetliner crashes in the 1970s and 1980s.