Chapter 9. Surveillance

General

Radar coverage in the NAT Region is limited. As in most oceanic areas, there is a lot of airspace and no place to put a radar site. Nevertheless the importance of an operable transponder cannot be over emphasized.

Some radar sites that do cover portions of the NAT are secondary radar equipped only. Unlike primary radar, secondary radar can only "see" aircraft that have an operating transponder: it cannot "paint" a target based on a radar echo from the aircraft's skin. At this point you may be asking yourself, "If radar coverage is limited, what purpose would an operable Mode C transponder serve?"

It is important to note that many search and rescue (SAR) missions occur within radar coverage. In any emergency situation (lost, out of fuel, engine failure, etc.) your chances of survival are vastly increased if you are radar identified and SAR services can be radar vectored to your position.

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