In-runway sensors

Instead, industry standard noncorrosive glycol solutions are sprayed both preventatively and proactively to decontaminate hard surfaces at far greater cost, resulting in challenging judgment calls for airports about when exactly to deice for maximum effectiveness without wasting material.

Traditionally, condition monitoring is achieved through a mixture of pilot-reported braking action and regularly scheduled inspections, which are performed by airport operations specialists in vehicles. However, these methods have inherent inaccuracies as they are reliant on the observer’s perception of current conditions, and are unable to take into account accurate runway surface temperatures. In-runway sensors serve to solve both problems.

Often installed off centerline in each third of a runway, they upload live surface temperature, contaminate material or type, ice percentage, and in some cases runway core temperature to a “master screen” in the airport operations control room and air traffic control tower. Additional data serves to aid operations staff in issuing accurate ficon notams (field condition notice to airmen), especially when field conditions differ between each third of the runway because of an incline or snow drift. In poor weather it is especially challenging to visually identify if a wet runway is slick with water, deicing solution, slush, thin ice, or a mixture of all. In-runway sensors solve this issue by determining the exact composition at each sensor location.

Most critically, live temperature reporting allows operations teams to better determine when it is appropriate to deice a runway. By observing the changes between a runway’s surface and core temperature as outside conditions vary, specialists can more accurately judge if the surface is likely to freeze any precipitation and preemptively apply deicing agent. In-runway sensors serve not only as small metal plates to test your aircraft’s suspension, but also are critical pieces of airport infrastructure that help keep runways safer with accurate condition measuring.

Anthony Stagnito is a recent graduate of Purdue University who started his first job in airport operations at Syracuse Hancock International Airport (SYR).