Story ID: 694 Terma lights
Terma Tests Obstruction Light Control
By: David Donald
Caption: System automatically switches on obstruction lights as aircraft approach the hazardous area and turns them off again as it departs.
Word Count: 148
Terma has recently demonstrated a system to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration that automatically switches on obstruction lights as aircraft approach the hazardous area, and turns them off again as it departs. The demonstration included a Terma Scanter 5202 radar operating in the vicinity of a 1,500-turbine wind farm at Tehachapi, California. 
  
Scanter 5202 is claimed to be the only radar on the market that can detect small aerial targets, including ultralights, operating in the turbulence and radar interference caused by wind farms. In the two-day tests, a small aircraft was tracked while operating in the vicinity of the wind farm at varying altitudes and on different flight paths. 
  
The system, which successfully turned on and off the obstruction lights as appropriate, provides a solution that balances the requirements of aviation safety with the need to minimize light pollution in the Tehachapi area.