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IntuVueRDR-7000 Weather Radar Pilot's Guide 

 

 

D201911000094 Introduction 
Rev 0, Feb 2020 

5

 

 

Differentiation of weather in and out of path of the aircraft 

o

 

In WX ALLmode, weather that is far above or below the aircraft’s 
flight path (Off Path) is displayed in a different pattern than On 
Path weather. 

o

 

In WX PATH mode (if installed), the display of weather that is 
Off Path is suppressed. Only the weather that is relevant to the 
flight path is shown. 

o

 

In WX MAN (manual altitude)mode, view horizontal slices 
through the weather in 1,000-foot increments, from ground 
level to 60,000 feet. 

o

 

In MANUAL AZIMUTH mode, view the weather along a selected 
azimuth on the vertical display. 

OPERATIONAL LIMITATIONS AND CONSIDERATIONS 

The RDR-7000 is a technologically advanced system. As with any 
such system, the limitations of the technology and the constraints of 
the operating environment come into play. The limitations of the 
radar system have been consolidated here because of their 
importance. This section should be read thoroughly and frequently 
as a reminder of weather radar limitations. 

 

Aviation weather hazard detection, analysis, and avoidance are the 
primary functions of the radar system. Airborne weather systems 
are not intended as a terrain or traffic collision avoidance system. 

 

Your radar is a weather avoidance tool. It should never be used for 
weather penetration. It will help you see and plan avoidance 
maneuvers around significant weather encountered during flight. 

 

Radar detects raindrops, hail, and ice particles. It does not detect 
clouds or fog. 

 

Radars detect the presence of precipitation. Storm-associated 
turbulence without precipitation can extend several thousand feet 
above a storm and outward more than 20 nm. 

 

Turbulence detection requires the presence of precipitation. Clear-
air turbulence is not detected or displayed. 

 

The weather display corresponds to the selected range, while the 
turbulence display is overlaid for the first 40 or 60 nm in the WX 
ALL and WX PATH modes (regardless of range 
selected).Turbulence isshown in the WX ALL, WX PATH, and WX 
MAN modes. 

 

Hail and lightning icons indicate that conditions are conducive to 
the development of hail or lightning. Since this technology is 

Summary of Contents for IntuVue RDR-7000

Page 1: ...IntuVue RDR 7000 IntuVue 3 D Automatic Weather Radar System For Fixed Wing Aircraft Pilot s Guide ...

Page 2: ...Diversion contrary to U S law is prohibited COPYRIGHT NOTICE Copyright 2020 Honeywell International Inc All rights reserved The information contained in this manual is for reference use only If any information contained herein conflicts with similar information contained in the Airplane Flight Manual the information in the AirplaneFlight Manual shall take precedence ...

Page 3: ...UVERS SECTION 3 EXPANDED OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS TURN ON SYSTEM SELECTION AUTOMATIC RADAR ACTIVATION WX PWS QUALIFIERS GROUND OVERRIDE WEATHER DETECTION AUTOMATIC WEATHER MODES WX ALL WX PATH TURBULENCE DETECTION PREDICTIVE HAIL AND LIGHTNING REACT WEATHER AHEAD INDICATION PREDICTIVE WINDSHEAR PWS DETECTION WEATHER ANALYSIS MANUAL ALTITUDE WEATHER MODE MANUAL AZIMUTH WEATHER MODE FULL COVERAGE GROU...

Page 4: ...PLES STORM CELL CHARACTERISTICS PLANNING A PATH AZIMUTH RESOLUTION ANGULAR RESOLUTION EFFECT ON VERTICAL RESOLUTION SHADOWED AREAS EFFECTS OF INTERFERING RF SOURCES RADAR WINDSHEAR DETECTION WINDSHEAR MICROBURST DESCRIPTION WINDSHEAR MICROBURST DETECTION PROCESS WINDSHEAR AVOIDANCE FLYING SECTION 6 RDR 7000 TECHNICAL OPERATION 3D VOLUMETRIC MEMORY SCANNING PROCESSING GROUND CLUTTER EXTRACTION ON P...

Page 5: ...o Honeywell sIntuVue 3 D Automatic Weather RadarSystem the RDR 7000 The RDR 7000 introduces several innovative technologies not found in previous generation Radar Systems Some of the major operational differences arehighlighted here Note that the availability of some features will depend on the installation configuration ...

Page 6: ...tion Technique o Indicates areas where attenuation of the radar signal is severe enough to degrade the ability to display weather behind significant intervening weather Vertical Display if supported by display system o Indicates reflectivity along the flight plan or a selected azimuth Weather Turbulence Ahead Indication if installed o Annunciates situations where significant weather or turbulence ...

Page 7: ...d be read thoroughly and frequently as a reminder of weather radar limitations Aviation weather hazard detection analysis and avoidance are the primary functions of the radar system Airborne weather systems are not intended as a terrain or traffic collision avoidance system Your radar is a weather avoidance tool It should never be used for weather penetration It will help you see and plan avoidanc...

Page 8: ...th previous radars low lying stratus weather may be difficult to discriminate from ground returns The radar may not show this sort of weather on the display The use of the internal topographical information results in a significant reduction in ground returns However the radar is not aware of man made reflectors such as buildings at airports and cities Therefore it is possible that not all ground ...

Page 9: ... WX ALL WX PATH and WX MAN modes Hazard Detection if installed First 160 nm WX ALL WX PATH and WX MAN modes REACT Provided in WX ALL WX PATH and WX MAN modes WX Turb Ahead Indication if installed Annunciation provided when turbulence or hazardous weather exists ahead of the aircraft WX AHEAD or TGT Predictive Windshear Detection if installed Automatic below 1 800 feet Detects windshear conditions ...

Page 10: ...selected OFF on the radar controller The Radar is ON Transmitting when The WX PWS Qualifiers are satisfied while the aircraft is on the ground See AUTOMATIC RADAR ACTIVATION on page15 Or Ground Override has been selected See GROUND OVERRIDE on page16 Or the aircraft is in the air Radar data is shown on the display when The radar is on and selected for display Or on some systems the radar is on and...

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Page 12: ...s D201911000094 10 Rev 0 Feb 2020 WEATHER RADAR TEST PATTERN EXAMPLES The artifacts shown on the test pattern reflect the installation status of each feature For example if Hail and Lightning indications are not installed the sample icons will not display on the test pattern ...

Page 13: ...IntuVueRDR 7000 Weather Radar Pilot s Guide D201911000094 Simplified Operating Procedures Rev 0 Feb 2020 11 CONFIGURATION AND STATUS INFORMATION EXAMPLES FAULT DISPLAY EXAMPLES ...

Page 14: ...bility of weather that may have to be avoided If there is weather in the area ensure that the radar has been turned on in time to allow pilot s to evaluate any threats prior to takeoff See PLANNING A PATH on page48 for more information CLIMB UP TO FL200 Mode WX ALL or WX PATH Turbulence On Hazard if provided On REACT On Gain AUTO or as required to assess threats Refer to GAIN CONTROLon page 31for ...

Page 15: ...th Hail or Lightning Icons see page 21 In areas where the REACT field is shown expect the possibility of weather that may have to be avoided See PLANNING A PATH on page 48 for more information DESCENT AND APPROACH Mode WX ALL or WX PATH Turbulence On Hazard if provided On REACT On PWS On Gain AUTO or as required to assess threats Refer to GAIN CONTROL on page 31for more details Range Pilot Flying ...

Page 16: ...torm cell when planning avoidance o Avoid all green yellow red and magenta areas of cells taller than 28 000 feet by at least 20 nm o Cells exceeding 35 000 feet should be considered extremely hazardous and additional separation in addition to the 20 nm should be used o WX MAN mode can be used to evaluate the heights of storm cells As with previous radars low lying stratus weather may be difficult...

Page 17: ...y that is near the aircraft s altitude This data is displayed as soon as it is available As data is gathered from the remainder of the sky in front of the aircraft the display quickly fills in with any additional information It takes no more than 30 seconds for the complete picture to become available AUTOMATIC RADAR ACTIVATION WX PWS QUALIFIERS When on the ground the radar is in Forced Standby Mo...

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Page 19: ... only the On Path weather is displayed Note that while the use of the internal topographical information results in a significant reduction in ground returns the radar is not aware of man made reflectors such as buildings at airports and in cities Therefore it is possible that not all ground clutter will be eliminated from the weather display There are several potential sources of false weather in...

Page 20: ...ted flight path These boundaries are expanded in areas where convective activity is detected The upper boundary for the relevant weather envelope is never less than 10 000 feet OR 25 000 feet if potentially hazardous convection is detected and never greater than 60 761 feet The lower boundary of the relevant weather envelope is 4 000feet below the altitude of the intended flight path of the aircra...

Page 21: ...IntuVueRDR 7000 Weather Radar Pilot s Guide D201911000094 Expanded Operating Instructions Rev 0 Feb 2020 19 ...

Page 22: ...e information is limited to the first 40 or 60 nm configured at installation Turbulence within this range and inside the flight path weather envelopewill be displayed in magenta The turbulence data is represented in a blocky shape helping to visually differentiate it from reflectivity data The turbulence detection feature of the RDR 7000 is quite sensitive as compared to previous radar functionali...

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Page 25: ...rt function on other radars except that if this feature is installed it is always available whenever the radar is scanning The area within 20 nmof the current flight plan if active or aircraft track and from 0 to 100 nm ahead of the aircraft is constantly monitored to detect the presence of red weather or turbulence If red weather or turbulence is detected within this area but is beyond the select...

Page 26: ...ion Typical trigger conditions include one or more of the following RAAS indicates On Runway Groundspeed is greater than 30 knots Longitudinal acceleration is greater than 0 15 If the display is showing radar data other than weather such as gmap or standby when a windshear event takes place the display automatically switches into the WX ALL mode and the windshear icon is overlaid on the weather da...

Page 27: ...ural annunciations in addition todisplaying the windshear icon s New Caution Alerts are inhibited below 50 feet AGL if airspeed is greater than 100 knots on takeoff or greater than 60 knots on approach These inhibit speeds and altitudes may vary depending on installation choices On approach new Caution Alerts may be inhibited from as high as 400 feet AGL if specified during installation WARNING AL...

Page 28: ...IntuVueRDR 7000 Weather Radar Pilot s Guide Expanded Operating Instructions D201911000094 26 Rev 0 Feb 2020 WINDSHEAR ALERT REGIONS HORIZONTAL ...

Page 29: ...tions may vary by display system The following information is typical but your system may differ Consult the display system user guide for details VISUAL TEXTUALPWS ALERT ANNUNCIATIONS Visual textual Caution and Warning Alerts are annunciated on the Electronic Displays Caution Visual Alert Amber W S AHEAD or similar Warning Visual Alert Red W S AHEAD or similar AURAL PWS ALERT ANNUNCIATIONS Cautio...

Page 30: ...X MAN Weather Modeprovides a means to assess storm cell height and development by providing selectable altitude slices These slices from the 3D memory are corrected for the curvature of the earth providing a view at a constant altitude level The altitude control is used to select the desired altitude slice from 0 to 60 000 feet in increments of 1 000 feet ...

Page 31: ...ER MODE The vertical profile view when available shows a vertical slice of weather from the 3D memory By default the weather along the unwrapped current flight plan is shown or along the aircraft track if flight plan information is not available The azimuth control is used to select weather along a specific azimuth line instead ...

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Page 35: ...T is the main unit It contains the electronics thattransmit receive and process the radar pulses used to detect turbulence windshear weather and terrain targets It also contains system integrity monitoring and self test electronics It controls the modes of the radar and formats the radar data for display The ART 7000 is located within the radome The integrated antenna drive scans a 120 degree sect...

Page 36: ... the installation Although the location and appearance of the controls may vary the functionality is the same and is described below Refer to yourplatform specific user s guide for detailed information Some examples of typical control panels are shownbelow The RDR 7000has the ability to show two different radar display views simultaneously The flight crew can operate each side independently withou...

Page 37: ...IntuVueRDR 7000 Weather Radar Pilot s Guide D201911000094 Equipment Description Rev 0 Feb 2020 35 ...

Page 38: ... is shown on both displays If OFF is selected on both sides or if there is only one controller it turns the RDR 7000 radar and all associated functions off The radar will not transmit Predictive windshear detection will not be available STBY The RDR 7000 works by continuously monitoring the entire sky and automatically displaying the weather ahead of the aircraft This works best if the radar is al...

Page 39: ...es out to 1 000 nm are available In this mode the radar continues to scan to keep the 3D memory filled so that the most up to date weather information is always available The Weather Ahead TGT function is active if installed If installed predictive windshear detection is active If a windshear event is detected and PWS annunciations are not inhibited the radar will provide both aural and lamp or te...

Page 40: ...up to 5 nm in front of the aircraft will be indicated VERTICAL DISPLAY Shows an unwrapped view of the weather along the flight plan or along a selected azimuth This is only available on displays that support vertical display of weather GMAP Displays Full Coverage Ground Map If the predictive windshear feature is installed windshear events up to 5 nm in front of the aircraft will be indicated The W...

Page 41: ...decluttering the display when necessary It is recommended that these features be turned on at all times as they indicate the weather conditions that are most important to avoid When selected on these features will be overlaid on the weather display in WX ALL WX PATH and WX MAN modes Turbulence Magenta Turbulence indications are overlaid on the weather display Hazard Display Hail and or Lightning i...

Page 42: ...r Pilot s Guide Equipment Description D201911000094 40 Rev 0 Feb 2020 DISPLAY ANNUNCIATIONS Actual annunciations are display dependent The following images are provided as examples only DISPLAY COLORS WEATHER RADAR DISPLAY COLORS ...

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Page 44: ...IntuVueRDR 7000 Weather Radar Pilot s Guide Equipment Description D201911000094 42 Rev 0 Feb 2020 HAIL AND LIGHTNING ICONS REACT INDICATIONS ...

Page 45: ...NNUNCIATIONS VISUAL TEXTUAL PWS ALERT ANNUNCIATIONS Visual textual Caution and Warning Alerts are annunciated on the Electronic Displays or via lamps Caution Visual Alert Amber W S AHEAD or similar Warning Visual Alert Red W S AHEAD or similar PWS ICONS WINDSHEAR ICONS WITH SEARCH LINES The windshear icon shown on the display represents the location of the event in both range and azimuth In the le...

Page 46: ... display changing to amber Some faults will result inalldisplayed radar data to go away entirely or the radar may change to Standby mode Actual fault annunciations depend on the display in use and the type of fault When in TEST mode any fault information is displayed on pages that are shown after the test pattern A PWS failure is annunciated either via text on the electronic display or a lamp in t...

Page 47: ...een the storms and maintain visual separation from them Weather radar detects droplets of precipitation size The strength of the radar return echo depends on drop size composition and amount of water Water particles return almost five times as much signal as ice particles of the same size This means that rain is more easily detected than snow although at times large wet snowflakes may give a stron...

Page 48: ... severe turbulence near the high reflectivity core downwind of the core and at the top of the storm The strength of the convection can be judged by the vertical size of the convective cell and the extent of high reflectivity portions of the storm The RDR 7000 uses these characteristics to automatically determine the presence of turbulence At ranges less than 40 or 60 nm depending on installation c...

Page 49: ...er does not indicate any significant hazard with the exception of any potential for icing or takeoff and landing performance issues associated with high rainfall rates ICING Updrafts in thunderstorms support abundant water when carried above the freezing level this water becomes supercooled As the temperature in the upward current cools to about 15 C much of the remaining water vapor sublimates as...

Page 50: ...in intensity you can reduce the distance by which you avoid them The lightning and hail icons provide additional clues as to whether reflectivity indications are associated with convective developments and provide an indication that the convection may be generating hail and or lightning As with any weather radar system the crew must integrate all possible information including information from sou...

Page 51: ...he icon and the presence of the hazard in the vicinity of the icon must be assumed Cells with hail icon indications should be assumed to also be producers of lightning Convective cells should be avoided by 20 nm Characteristics of convective cells include one or more of the following o Cells with large vertical structure as can be determined using the manual mode o Hail icons o Lighting icons o Tu...

Page 52: ...nditions In the example shown to the right the short range returns show an obvious corridor between two areas of heavy rainfall but the long range setting shows a larger area of heavy rainfall Thunderstorms build and dissipate rapidly Therefore you SHOULD NOT attempt to pre plan a flight plan course between closely spaced echoes or under or over convective cells Avoid individual storms in flight e...

Page 53: ...the radar system to resolve these targets is a function of the antenna s beam width and the range of the target The limited azimuth resolution also results in storm cells that will tend to show being wider in azimuth than the actual width The increase in apparent azimuth width increases with increasing range ANGULAR RESOLUTION EFFECT ON VERTICAL RESOLUTION Beam width also has a range dependent eff...

Page 54: ...hind the strong weather echo With very heavy intervening rain the ground returns behind the echo will not be present but rather will display as a shadow This may indicate a larger area of precipitation than shows on the weather display Corresponding GMAP display The lack of radar returns in the circled areas indicates that terrain or very heavy rain in front of those areas prevents the radar signa...

Page 55: ...hese returns but they cannot always be completely suppressed Once the source of interference is no longer active the spots will typically be removed after the antenna re scans the area and updates the memory approximately 30 seconds Adjusting the manual gain may help alleviate the effect of the interfering source but the effect will not completely go away until the interfering source is no longer ...

Page 56: ...r Use D201911000094 54 Rev 0 Feb 2020 In this figure the interference is a bit more subtle as it is mixed in with real weather However a close look reveals several radialspokes The two most obvious ones have been circled These figures show more examples of RF interference ...

Page 57: ...d characteristics are identical When the downward moving airflow becomes a horizontal flow at the base of the airshaft the outflow winds have front to back velocities ranging from 20 to 80 knots WINDSHEAR MICROBURST DETECTION PROCESS When the airshaft of a microburst encounters the ground it mushrooms outward By measuring the horizontal velocity of the associated water droplets the RDR 7000 is abl...

Page 58: ...y the wing is related to the relative velocity of air traveling over the wing If the air velocity suddenly changes so does the lift When the lift is reduced the aircraft descends As an aircraft enters a microburst depending on the point of entry it will experience at least one of these conditions and most probably both The key to surviving a microburst is to enter it at a high enough aircraft ener...

Page 59: ...s synchronized to the antenna tilt angle and sweep Only the data required for immediate display is collected and processed In contrast the RDR 7000 system has eliminated this limitation The mechanical scanning pattern of the antenna is de coupled from the weather images shown on the displays The radar system continuously scans the entire 3D space in front of the aircraft and stores all reflectivit...

Page 60: ...ares the collected reflectivity data with the terrain database Reflectivity data that correlates to terrain data is considered ground clutter and is suppressed from the weather images However the data that is suppressed from the weather images is retained for display when the radar s GMAP Mode is selected CONVENTIONAL RADAR RDR 7000 IMPROVED CLUTTER REJECTION ENHANCED WEATHER PRESENTATION ALBUQUER...

Page 61: ... crew workload The separation of On Path from Off Path weather is based on several parameters Aircraft altitude Flight phase climb level flight or descent Flight path if available or slope of aircraft climb or descent if not Presence of convective weather The separation is done by applying an envelope around the intended flight path weather within the envelope is considered On Path weather weather...

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Page 63: ...evation view provides a plan view that represents a thin slice through the volumetric memory of weather reflectivity data This view is corrected for the curvature of the earth i e it is a view at a constant MSL altitude level or constant Flight Level The elevation slice is selected by the WX MAN control The elevation is selectable between zero and 60 000 feet in 1 000feet increments On activation ...

Page 64: ...s been selected This is an elevation slice at the current aircraft altitude 20 000 feet MSL The remaining pictures show the returns at different elevations Observe that the cell tops exceed 25 000 feet MANUAL ALTITUDE MODE EXAMPLE USING VARYING ELEVATIONS WX ALL MODE MANUALMODE SLICE AT 20 000FT e g AT A C ALTITUDE MANUAL MODE SLICE AT 15 000 FT MANUAL MODE SLICE AT 10 000 FT MANUALMODE SLICE AT 5...

Page 65: ...Radar Pilot s Guide D201911000094 Safety Information Rev 0 Feb 2020 63 APPENDIX SAFETY INFORMATION CAUTION MAINTAIN PRESCRIBED SAFE DISTANCE WHEN STANDING IN FRONT OF A RADIATING ANTENNA Reference FAA Advisory Circular 20 68B ...

Page 66: ...e antenna that it takes for the beam to form The second is the distance where the radiation level exceeds the U S Government standard of 10 milliwatts per square centimeter In TEST mode the system transmits two 550 microsecond pulses at the beginning of the test sequence For the RDR 7000 these distances depend on the size of the antenna in use The table below summarizes the various safe distances ...

Page 67: ...IntuVueRDR 7000 Weather Radar Pilot s Guide D201911000094 Safety Information Rev 0 Feb 2020 65 ...

Page 68: ...D201911000094Rev 0 Feb 2020 2020 Honeywell International Inc Honeywell International Inc 15001 N E 36th Street P O Box 97001 Redmond Washington USA 98073 9701 CAGE 97896 ...

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