ATC Radar Displays

[Col. Walter E. Kurtz]

Do ATC radar displays also display Weather returns overlaid on the display?

If so, which stations do this eg Approach, Departure, Director, Tower enroute etc. And how far out (eg range etc)

OR is it a seperate wx radar system and how is that accessed by the controllers??

Any and all info well appreciated!!

[topdrop]

Civil ATC has a weather channel available, however, it's not used.
We have a computer screen beside the radar which displays metrad/rapic - it's met's radar and updates every 10 minutes. You can get this from the internet.
The metrad is not brilliant for translating to the radar screen.
topdrop

[18-Wheeler]

I use & recommend this - http://mirror.bom.gov.au/products/IDR503.shtml

[Knackers]

Our civil radar screens are weather suppressed, Colonel. We have a small met radar screen which displays weather based on rainfall intensity. This can give us some idea of where aircraft are likely to track to avoid CBs.

But it's seems that aircraft wx radar equipment may provide different information to the pilot, because it's not unusual for aircraft to track through areas which our screen indicates has bad wx.

It doesn't help, either, that our radar screens are calibrated in nautical miles and the wx radar in km's! Makes it hard to sort out, sometimes, just where the CB cells are.

[*Lancer*]

Why don't you have access to the BoM dopplar radar at Kurnell? It's a bunch more accurate and up-to-date than the radar freely available on the internet... It would make vectoring around storms easier, and provide more accurate windshear/microburst indications.

Lancer