TABLE OF CONTENTS The preceding discussions should have served to convey a picture of the extreme diversity of the aviation weather scenario in terms of the types of phenomena encountered and their spatial and temporal characteristics. There is also a considerable degree of geographical variability of these phenomena in respect of their characteristics, intensity, frequency of occurrence, and their diurnal and seasonal distribution. Further, there is a gradation of atmospheric phenomena from the consideration of the seriousness of their hazardous effects on aviation. Yet again, the cost of surveillance equipment and systems is a highly variable parameter, depending not only on the generic type, but also on the desired performance level. Finally, airports and airways vary widely in their traffic patterns and densities, and the equipment configuration that is optimum for one situation will, in general, not be so for another.
All these variable factors make the specification, design and selection of electronic equipment for aviation surveillance rather complex. It is therefore necessary to evolve the requirements of aviation weather surveillance systems of different types and match them, as optimally as possible, with the requirements of modern aviation and the needs of the particular installation under consideration. This chapter is devoted to evolving the attributes and characteristics desired of electronic weather surveillance systems designed in support of modern aviation. In addition to technical parameters, there are considerations of human factors such as the skill level and availability of human operators and data interpreters, environmental factors such as restrictions on electromagnetic spectrum...
