Integrating onboard weather radar data with satellite-fed Doppler radar

[[email protected]]

A friend brought up an interesting question. If a plane is big enough
to support onboard weather radar, and also has the XM satellite weather
link from ground Doppler radar, is it possible to integrate the two
sources into a single display?

Related question: If you could choose only onboard radar or XM weather
link, which would you prefer?

BF

[Orval Fairbairn]

In article om>,
wrote:

> A friend brought up an interesting question. If a plane is big enough
> to support onboard weather radar, and also has the XM satellite weather
> link from ground Doppler radar, is it possible to integrate the two
> sources into a single display?
>
> Related question: If you could choose only onboard radar or XM weather
> link, which would you prefer?
>
> BF


Technically, it should be possible to integrate the two (or more)
sources of information. All you really need is to integrate GPS position
and heading information with onboard radar and satellite radar. All it
takes is cubic $.

[Juan Jimenez]

IMO, the choice between radar and nexrad info comes down to whether or not
you have the choice to make the flight or postpone until you have better
weather. :)

> wrote in message
ups.com...
>A friend brought up an interesting question. If a plane is big enough
> to support onboard weather radar, and also has the XM satellite weather
> link from ground Doppler radar, is it possible to integrate the two
> sources into a single display?
>
> Related question: If you could choose only onboard radar or XM weather
> link, which would you prefer?
>
> BF
>

[Frank Ch. Eigler]

writes:

> A friend brought up an interesting question. If a plane is big
> enough to support onboard weather radar, and also has the XM
> satellite weather link from ground Doppler radar, is it possible to
> integrate the two sources into a single display?

My Aztec has an Avidyne MFD (with its weather downlink) plus a little
weather radar in the nose. The MFD lets me pick which one of the two
image sources to overlay on the map. I suspect seeing them both would
be confusing, given the difference in resolution, noise, rate of change.

> Related question: If you could choose only onboard radar or XM
> weather link, which would you prefer?

I've found them complimentary: the nexrad for a strategic large-scale
view, and the weather radar for tactical cell circumnavigation.
Having to choose just one, I'd go for nexrad, especially if I always
flew close enough to the States to use the overlapping coverage in my
native Canadian airspace.

- FChE