Brought to you by CANSO: Assessing the Impact of Wind Farms on Aeronautical Radar Systems

As wind energy projects expand, so do concerns about their impact on airport air traffic control (ATC) radar systems. Wind turbines can generate clutter, false targets, and tracking instability, creating operational challenges for air navigation service providers, regulators, and airport authorities.

This webinar will explain the technical mechanisms behind wind turbine–radar interference and examine how it affects the performance of primary and secondary surveillance radars (PSR/SSR), particularly in airport environments. It will outline when quick assessment methods, including the EUROCONTROL PSR/SSR framework, are appropriate and when detailed technical modelling is required.

The session concludes with practical mitigation strategies to help balance renewable energy development with airspace safety, radar integrity, and operational resilience.

Speaker:

Yahya Khaled, General Manager, ATDI Limited (Middle East)

Agenda

• Introduction and Context – Wind energy expansion and the growing focus on radar impact assessment
• Radar Fundamentals – Receiver behaviour, clutter processing, Doppler effects, and target discrimination
• Mechanisms of Wind Turbine Interference – Radar cross section (RCS), blade rotation, multipath reflections, and Doppler signatures
• Operational Impact on Air Traffic Surveillance – False targets, tracking errors, detection degradation, and controller workload
• Assessment Approaches – Screening methodologies versus detailed technical analysis
• Modelling Techniques – PSR/SSR interaction modelling, terrain considerations, and cumulative impact evaluation
• EUROCONTROL PSR/SSR Quick Assessment Framework – Application, strengths, and limitations
• EUROCONTROL PSR/SSR Quick Assessment Framework – Application, strengths, and limitations
• Mitigation Options – Technical solutions, operational procedures, radar optimisation, and siting considerations