Airways New Zealand Selects Era for Surveillance Applications

Airways New Zealand has selected Era Corporation to provide wide-area surveillance surrounding Queenstown and the airport surface at Auckland.

MSS by Era is a modular system that is easily adaptable to any wide area or surface requirement.  Its sensors, which provide higher accuracy, greater update rates, better coverage and improved reliability, than conventional radar, will be strategically placed at Queenstown and Auckland to provide optimal surveillance coverage.

Its technology uses the TDOA (time difference of arrival) multilateration principle to provide an accurate and reliable real-time location and identification of all aircraft, vehicles and other objects equipped with a Mode S or A/C transponder.  The system also decodes ADS-B (automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast) signals and can be configured as a stand-alone network of redundant ADS-B ground stations.

Queenstown's international airport is surrounded by extremely mountainous terrain that limits both its arriving and departing flight paths in all weather conditions, and radar hasn't been very useful in dealing with the problem. "Traditional secondary radar was an impractical solution for Queenstown surveillance," said Andrew Griffith, Airways New Zealand's group manager for technology and support.

ANZ believes the accuracy and reliability of Era's solution will enhance the safety and efficiency of services by ensuring compliance with flight procedures and the positions of other flights about the airport.

Auckland will also use Era's Squid tracking units to give controllers immediate knowledge of where surface vehicles are operating on the airport.  Squid's vehicle transponders use a 1090 MHz spontaneous squitter with a unique Mode S transmission.  03-11-2008.

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