Synthetic Vision-a view in the fog

A program called the Synthetic Vision Technology Demonstration Program, which is aimed at evaluating and demonstrating technologies permitting aircraft to land in very low visibilities over a wide range of airports, is described. The idea is to provide an electronic image of the runway to the pilot on a head-up display with an overlay on the display of symbology providing all the navigation and performance information needed to fly and land the aircraft. Millimeter-wave radar, infrared sensor, head-up display, and airborne computer processing technologies are being tested. The theoretical performance of the system concept at 35 GHz is compared to the actual performance of the 35-GHz experimental demonstration system for typical approach and runway intrusion detection conditions.<>