Anomalous Propagation Ground Clutter Suppression with the Airport Surveillance Radar (ASR) Weather Systems Processor (WSP)

Ground-elutter breakthrough caused by anomalous propagation (AP}----ducting of the radar beam when passing through significant atmospheric temperature and/or moisture gradients-is a significant issue for air traffic controllers who use Airport Surveillance Radar (ASR) weather channel data to guide aircraft through the airport terminal area. At present, these data are often contaminated with AP, leaving the controller unsure about the validity of information on storm location and intensity. The Weather System Processor (WSP), which is scheduled for deployment at 33 airports in the U.S., includes an AP-Editing algorithm designed to remove AP based on its Doppler-spectrum characteristics in ASR-9 data. This report provides a description of the algorithm currently used in the FAA/Lincoln Laboratory WSP prototype and a measurement of the performance of the algorithm during nine episodes of AP and/or true weather in Orlando, Florida in 1991 and 1992.