Sensis Provides Multilateration System for Airport Surface Surveillance at Brussels Airport

Multistatic Dependent Surveillance
Helps Belgocontrol Accomplish Mission

DEWITT, NY – February 18, 2003 – Sensis Corporation today announced that it will partner with Park Air Systems to deploy Sensis’ Multistatic Dependent Surveillance (MDS) system at Brussels Airport, Belgium. Belgocontrol is procuring the latest surveillance technology for Brussels Airport to complement an additional air traffic control tower currently under construction and a new terminal completed last year. Sensis’ flexible MDS system will be configured to accommodate the changing landscape at Brussels Airport and provide users with advanced surface surveillance for increased safety, capacity and efficiency.

“The Sensis MDS system is a key contributor to one of Belgocontrol’s primary missions – to control movements at Brussels Airport,” said Manuel De Klerck, manager responsible for CNS/ATM investments and program manager for the Brussels Airport Advanced-Surface Movement Guidance and Control System (A-SMGCS) procurement to which Sensis is subcontracting. “Through our A-SMGCS program, we are substantially improving the quality of the air traffic systems surveillance at Brussels Airport. Three surface movement radars and the Sensis MDS system, along with approach and en-route radar data, will be fused by Park Air Systems. The result will be a highly reliable surveillance picture in the new control tower. This will help us to meet our clients’ expectation of a safe and efficient airport.”

MDS, a transponder multilateration system, interacts with an aircraft or airport vehicle’s transponder to determine position and identity. The system uses a minimum of three low-cost, non-rotating sensors to triangulate and track the movement of an aircraft or vehicle based on their transponder signals. With precision comparable to global positioning systems, the ability to positively identify targets, and consistent surveillance performance regardless of weather conditions, the MDS system provides significant operational benefits such as reduced voice communication resulting from improved situational awareness. Further, through its compatibility with developing concepts such as Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B), multilateration provides a bridge to future technologies.

“The selection of our system by another sophisticated air traffic service provider is further validation of the quality and maturity of the world-leading MDS system,” says Marc Viggiano, president of Sensis’ Air Traffic Systems Division.

In addition to supplying MDS to Brussels Airport, Sensis’ multilateration technology is in operational use at London Heathrow Airport and is being installed at six additional European airports – Charles de Gaulle Airport (France); Frankfurt Airport (Germany); Geneva International Airport (Switzerland); Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (The Netherlands); Vienna International Airport (Austria); and Zurich Airport (Switzerland). Further, Sensis supports the multilateration requirement for the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s ASDE-X program, which will be deployed at more than 33 U.S. airports.