ENAIRE will invest more than 1.8 million euros on a new, state-of-the-art radar in Almería
Air traffic surveillance will be improved in the south of the peninsula
ENAIRE, the company of the Fomento Group that manages air navigation in Spain, and which is responsible for designing the airspace, will invest more than 1.8 million euros on a new radar in Turrillas, in the Almería province, replacing the existing one.
This is a commitment to technological innovation, under the framework of the Ministry of Public Works' Innovation Plan, and as part of the 2020 Flight Plan, ENAIRE's strategic plan that lays out an investment of 300 million euros in the 2017-2020 period.
The new, state-of-the-art radar, which will come into operation in 2019, will provide coverage and surveillance to flights that enter our airspace from the south of the peninsula, from the African content and from the southern Mediterranean. It will also help to monitor the aircraft that land at and take off from Almería Airport.
All in all, it will help to monitor the airspace with a radius of 250 nautical miles (the equivalent to a surface area of approximately 562,000km2).
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More information on aircraft
This monopulse secondary radar will be equipped with digital receivers, Mode-S technology and ADS-B, which will be able to provide more information on aircraft, manage traffic in a smoother way and increase safety, minimising the occupation of the radio spectrum.
These types of sensors are used to track and monitor air traffic, as they provide information regarding the position of each aircraft, their identification and the altitude they are flying at, revealing the location and identification of all traffic in their coverage area.
ENAIRE will carry out the renovation of the Turrillas radar through the technological update of this station, which was built in 1999 and began operation in 2000.
This radar is connected to the other thirteen Mode-S radars already set up in Spain, improving surveillance in the most important airport zones on the peninsula and the islands.
Secondary 'Mode-S' radars
The secondary surveillance radar is a system that puts out an information request via a radio signal at a specific frequency received by the aircraft. When this signal is received, the aircraft responds through a piece of equipment called a transponder, which decodes the signal and sends the requested information so that it can be identified on land, along with its position, parameters like the company it belongs too, the route it is on and its altitude.
Another of the improvements provided by Mode-S technology is that it provides a link channel to transmit information between the radar and the aircraft, whereby the aircraft can provide information regarding its flight plan, its intention with respect to destination and altitude, and other parameters of the vehicle's flight management system.
Out of all the technology available for improving the provisions of the Spanish surveillance system, Mode-S is the most mature and established, allowing for improved operations in various European countries.
About ENAIRE
The public corporate entity ENAIRE is a company designated by the Ministry of Public Works to manage the fourth largest airspace in Europe in terms of traffic through 5 control centres, 22 control towers and a network of air traffic infrastructure and equipment. The air traffic managed by ENAIRE transports over 250 million passengers in 2 million flights per year.
Number of the Department of communication +34 912 967 551
Communication department email address comunicacion@enaire.es