Airport Surface Detection Equipment, Model X (ASDE-X)

ASDX multilateration

Airport Surface Detection System – Model X (ASDE-X) is a surveillance system using radar and satellite technology that allows air traffic controllers to track surface movement of aircraft and vehicles. It was developed to help reduce critical Category A and B runway incursions.

ASDE-X enables air traffic controllers to detect potential runway conflicts by providing detailed coverage of movement on runways and taxiways. By collecting data from a variety of sources, ASDE-X is able to track vehicles and aircraft on the airport movement area and obtain identification information from aircraft transponders.

The data that ASDE-X uses come from surface surveillance radar located on the air traffic control tower or remote tower, multilateration sensors, ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast) sensors, the terminal automation system, and from aircraft transponders. By fusing the data from these sources, ASDE-X is able to determine the position and identification of aircraft and transponder-equipped vehicles on the airport movement area, as well as of aircraft flying within five miles of the airport.

Controllers in the tower see this information presented as a color display of aircraft and vehicle positions overlaid on a map of the airport’s runways/taxiways and approach corridors. The system essentially creates a continuously updated map of the airport movement area that controllers can use to spot potential collisions. It will be especially helpful to controllers at night or in bad weather when visibility is poor. The FAA is in the process of enhancing ASDE-X with visual and audio alarms that will alert controllers to possible collisions.

Status

By the end of fiscal year 2006, there were eight commissioned ASDE-X systems. Two additional systems will begin operations in fiscal year 2007, 17 systems are in various implementation stages and the FAA is expediting the deployment of ASDE-X to Chicago O’Hare International Airport. Seven more systems will begin the implementation process in fiscal year 2007.

The 35 major airports that will receive, or have already received, ASDE-X include:

Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (Baltimore, MD)
Boston Logan International Airport (Boston, MA)
Bradley International Airport (Hartford, CT)*
Chicago Midway Airport (Chicago, IL)
Chicago O’Hare International Airport (Chicago, IL)
Charlotte Douglas International Airport (Charlotte, NC)
Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport (Dallas, TX)
Denver International Airport (Denver, CO)
Detroit Metro Wayne County Airport (Detroit, MI)
Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood Airport (Ft. Lauderdale, FL)
General Mitchell International Airport (Milwaukee, WI)*
George Bush Intercontinental Airport (Houston, TX)
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (Atlanta, GA)*
Honolulu International-Hickam Air Force Base Airport (Honolulu, HI)
John F. Kennedy International Airport (New York, NY)
John Wayne-Orange County Airport (Santa Ana, CA)
LaGuardia Airport, (New York, NY)
Lambert-St. Louis International Airport (St. Louis, MO)*
Las Vegas McCarran International Airport (Las Vegas, NV)
Los Angeles International Airport (Los Angeles, CA)
Louisville International Airport-Standiford Field (Louisville, KY)
Memphis International Airport (Memphis, TN)
Miami International Airport (Miami, FL)
Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport (Minneapolis, MN)
Newark International Airport (Newark, NJ)
Orlando International Airport (Orlando, FL)*
Philadelphia International Airport (Philadelphia, PA)
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (Phoenix, AZ)
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (Arlington, VA)
San Diego International Airport (San Diego, CA)
Salt Lake City International Airport (Salt Lake City, UT)
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Seattle, WA)*
Theodore Francis Green State Airport (Providence, RI)*
Washington Dulles International Airport (Chantilly, VA)
William P. Hobby Airport (Houston, TX)*
*ASDE-X is operational at these sites