|Publication number||US7411541 B2|
|Application number||US 11/621,932|
|Publication date||Aug 12, 2008|
|Filing date||Jan 10, 2007|
|Priority date||Jan 10, 2007|
|Also published as||EP1944621A1, US20080165051|
|Publication number||11621932, 621932, US 7411541 B2, US 7411541B2, US-B2-7411541, US7411541 B2, US7411541B2|
|Original Assignee||Honeywell International Inc.|
|Export Citation||BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan|
|Patent Citations (12), Referenced by (10), Classifications (13), Legal Events (3)|
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet|
The RDR-4000 Weather Radar System provides very useful display information based on volumetric weather information stored in a three dimensional buffer. Currently, the RDR-4000 provides presentation of relevant weather (primary returns) and non-relevant weather (secondary returns). The primary returns are shown as solid and the secondary returns are displayed with a crosshatched pattern. The display does not indicate whether the returns are above or below the current aircraft altitude. In order for the pilot to determine whether the weather pattern is above or below the aircraft, the pilot would need to switch to viewing the weather in a vertical view display mode, such as that shown in
Therefore, there exists a need for providing more information in a plan view display with regard to vertical location of existing weather patterns.
Aircraft weather radar display systems and methods are provided. An example method retrieves weather radar return information stored in a volumetric buffer and determines if a weather anomaly of the retrieved weather radar return information is above or below a predefined threshold from a present flight altitude of an aircraft. If a weather anomaly is determined to be above the threshold from the aircraft's present flight altitude, a first image is generated in a first geometric pattern and displaying the first image on a plan view display. If the weather anomaly is determined to be below the aircraft's present flight altitude, a second image is generated in a second geometric pattern and displaying the second image on the plan view display. The first geometric pattern is different from the second geometric pattern.
In one aspect of the present invention, the first geometric pattern includes dots of a first size and the second geometric pattern includes dots of a second size that is smaller than the first size.
In another aspect of the present invention, the first geometric pattern includes one or more lines within the image that have a positive slope and the second geometric pattern includes one or more lines within the image that have a negative slope.
In still another aspect of the present invention, at least one of a top value or a bottom value of a weather anomaly is determined based on the data stored in the volumetric buffer and the determined at least one top value or bottom value is displayed adjacent to the associated image on the plan view display.
Preferred and alternative embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the following drawings:
The radar system 40 transmits radar signals from the antenna 56 into space and receives return signals (reflectivity values) if a target 60 is contacted by the transmitted radar signal. Preferably, the radar system 40 digitizes the return signals and sends the digitized signals to the display processor 42. The display processor 42 translates the received return signals for storage in a three-dimensional buffer in the memory 43. The display processor 42 then generates a two-dimensional image for presentation on the display device 44 based on any control signals sent from the user interface 48 or based on settings of the processor 42.
The translated return signals (return data), as determined by the radar system 40 or processor 42, identify certain weather targets, such as rain/moisture, wind shear, or turbulence. The type of weather target identified is based on a corresponding present algorithmic interpretation of the reflectivity values. The pilot selects the type of weather identified using the user interface 48.
As shown in
While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, as noted above, many changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is not limited by the disclosure of the preferred embodiment. Instead, the invention should be determined entirely by reference to the claims that follow.
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|U.S. Classification||342/26.00R, 342/176, 342/182, 342/179, 342/26.00B|
|International Classification||G01S7/12, G01S13/95|
|Cooperative Classification||G01S13/953, G01S7/22, G01S7/12|
|European Classification||G01S7/22, G01S7/12, G01S13/95B|
|Jan 10, 2007||AS||Assignment|
Owner name: HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL INC., NEW JERSEY
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:KHATWA, RATAN;REEL/FRAME:018741/0492
Effective date: 20070110
|Jan 27, 2012||FPAY||Fee payment|
Year of fee payment: 4
|Jan 25, 2016||FPAY||Fee payment|
Year of fee payment: 8