Raytheon [RTN] will implement its mitigation program for reducing windmill interference with air traffic control radar at four additional sites for the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF).
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| Photo by Raytheon. |
The company recently completed its first successful mitigation project at the RNLAF’s Woensdrecht air base, according to a release on Friday.
With more than 1,000 windmills, the Netherlands has adopted the energy technology as cultural symbol as much as a power source. The movement of the prolific mills’ blades, however, makes it difficult for air traffic controllers to distinguish between false and actual air targets. The rotating turbines can produce Doppler frequency offsets that are the same as aircraft, according to Raytheon’s website.
The problem has received considerable research attention, Raytheon said, but past attempts have yielded limited success with considerable costs.
“This program represents the culmination of nearly three years of research and development,” said Richard Daniel, Raytheon UK’s managing director of Defense and Air Traffic Management.
Raytheon said the project is a combination of software and hardware improvements. The simultaneous use of multiple radar receiver beams for the both near-range and long-range targets has reduced interference. The company has also improved the way that radar systems assess the baseline amount of interference in a given area. Additionally, Raytheon has implemented a “tracker” that can sense areas of high-turbine activity and update algorithms used to process targets.
Raytheon said it is assessing where the turbine interference mitigation program will be useful outside of the Netherlands, particularly elsewhere in Europe, the United States and Canada.