Enclosing Shapes for Single-Doppler Radar Features

Abstract

The primary function of the Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR) system is to issue microburst alerts when a microburst hazard endangers aircraft. The steps of the algorithm process include 1) determining that a microburst hazard is present, and 2) composing a microburst-alert message when it is determined that the hazard region encroaches on the runway corridor. The microburst hazard region is described as a family of simple, stylized shapes. This paper presents the computational procedure used to generate these shapes from primitive TDWR microburst algorithm products and describes the generation of alert messages from the shapes.