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Reporter situation of target strength degradation when snow and ice are on the asde 3 radar. Some targets would disappear and then reappear at a different location on the airport.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 365222 |
| Time | |
| Date | 199703 |
| Day | Mon |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201 To 1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | airport : bos |
| State Reference | MA |
| Altitude | agl bound lower : 0 agl bound upper : 0 |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | IMC |
| Light | Dusk |
| Person 1 | |
| Affiliation | government : faa |
| Function | controller : local |
| Experience | controller radar : 6 flight time total : 50 |
| ASRS Report | 365222 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | other anomaly other |
| Independent Detector | other controllera |
| Resolutory Action | none taken : unable |
| Consequence | Other |
| Supplementary | |
| Primary Problem | Navigational Facility |
| Air Traffic Incident | other |
| Situations | |
| ATC Facility | other physical facility |
| Navigational Aid | Unspecified |
Narrative:
Beginning of blizzard conditions. There was a buildup of snow and ice on the asde 3 radar causing a degradation of strength of the target returns on all traffic on active runways. The targets for runway 4R arrs would disappear (for smaller aircraft, eg BE02) and fade prior to the runway 9 intersection and reappear. Runway 4L departure targets disappeared after beginning takeoff roll and reappear about 1000 ft later.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: RPTR SIT OF TARGET STRENGTH DEGRADATION WHEN SNOW AND ICE ARE ON THE ASDE 3 RADAR. SOME TARGETS WOULD DISAPPEAR AND THEN REAPPEAR AT A DIFFERENT LOCATION ON THE ARPT.
Narrative: BEGINNING OF BLIZZARD CONDITIONS. THERE WAS A BUILDUP OF SNOW AND ICE ON THE ASDE 3 RADAR CAUSING A DEGRADATION OF STRENGTH OF THE TARGET RETURNS ON ALL TFC ON ACTIVE RWYS. THE TARGETS FOR RWY 4R ARRS WOULD DISAPPEAR (FOR SMALLER ACFT, EG BE02) AND FADE PRIOR TO THE RWY 9 INTXN AND REAPPEAR. RWY 4L DEP TARGETS DISAPPEARED AFTER BEGINNING TKOF ROLL AND REAPPEAR ABOUT 1000 FT LATER.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.