Volpe National Transportation Systems Center

Surveillance and Assessment Division

Center of Innovation for CNS and Traffic Management Systems

Welcome to the Surveillance and Assessment Division web site. Our technical activities are concentrated primarily in the development, improvement, and enhancement of enroute, terminal, and airport area surveillance and in the development and improvement of various types of meteorological sensors for airport applications and sensors used in the detection, tracking, and characterization of aircraft wake turbulence.

Most of our work in turbulence research is in support of the Federal Aviation Administration as part of the National Airspace System improvement program and continuing support of airport capacity enhancement efforts through modification of operational procedures based on a better understanding of both wake turbulence and jet blast. We are also participating in a cooperative effort with the NASA Langley Research Center for the development of automated systems to safely mitigate the adverse impact of aircraft wake turbulence on airport capacity.