10x Timelapse: Flight 1549 Radar Data

View realtime version (long) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so_m_RMs9U0

This animation depitcts the raw radar data regarding the accident at a 10x timelapse rate. The reconstruction is not intended to simulate the radar display that the controller would see, but rather serves as a tool to visualize the data. The flight numbers and altitudes (100's of feet) are shown for most aircraft. Primary radar returns are shown with open boxes, beacon only returns are shown with triangles and beacon reinforced data is depicted with small plus symbols. Data for JFK and EWR radar facility are both displayed. Data with altitude information has been slant range corrected, whereas primary returns are not corrected for altitude (and thus do not project accurately when overlaying data from the two radar facilities). Time is shown in Zulu (UTC) and audio captions are displayed as well, although at 10x speed, they have much less meaning. A small 3D view of the aircraft flightpath is included. Teterboro (at mid left) and La Guardia (lower right) runways are highlighted to help in orientation. A high resolution satellite image serves as the basemap to this animation. The movie is displayed at half resolution on this webpage, and can be downloaded in flash format for offline playback.

In this movie, the raw radar returns (primary returns) are displayed and clearly show the movement of several flocks of birds in the mapped area. The radar controllers typically have these primary returns filtered from display, for various operational reasons. A great deal of research has gone into new avian radar systems in the hopes that an automated recognition and warning system could be created.

For more info: http://www.exosphere3d.com/pubwww/pages/project_gallery/cactus_1549_hudson_ri...

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• flight
• 1549
• radar
• data
• visualization
• accident
• reconstruction
• 3d
• animation

[fly44d]

This is very cool... I noticed that N152TA almost had a mid-air right over where 1549 ditched as she circled over the site.

[exosphere3d]

if you watch the reconstruction with alternate audio to it, you'll see in the open captions that the helicopter had the aircraft in sight. so it may have looked like a possible collision but certainly wasn't. another great observation!

[zakooldude]

Excellent reconstruction. Many people don't know how to read it, but I found it interesting how radar shows Cactus 1549 going from 200ft back to 300ft before he went down into the Hudson. Radar reliability issues?

[exosphere3d]

they extended the flaps and traded airspeed for altitude, you can see that happening better on the full reconstruction video. great observation!

[Soaronex]

@exosphere3d Yes, because that was just a few seconds before ditching. ...Great Skills!

[romkyns]

@zakooldude The altitude data would be from the Cactus' transponder, wouldn't it, and hence pretty accurate.

[pacallen]

Very cool video. watch?v=gjXCulRjPas is the same compilation from a different view and in real time.

The 200-300ft gain occurred after AWE1549 extended its flaps - a result of the extra lift generated by doing so. Also, radar does not determine altitude, but is transmitted by an altitude-encoding transponder on the aircraft.