QinetiQ's new day or night camera puts the eyes on Vancouver's runways

Tarsiers high-resolution radar and advanced day and night camera work in tandem to provide continuous runway monitoring and safety. The cameras innovative illuminator helps produce FOD images in all light levels, turning night into day and giving operators greater confidence and certainty. The camera allows us to determine quickly whether the FOD is a two inch worm that poses no threat, or a broken zipper from a suitcase that does, said Brett Patterson, Director, Airside Operations, Vancouver Airport Authority. QinetiQs innovative Tarsier system is an integral part of our safety management programme that enables us to monitor the runway continuously with no disruption to runway operations. FOD as small and seemingly innocuous as a bolt, discarded plastic bag or clamshell dropped by a bird on the runway can cause serious damage to aircraft and poses a potential safety risk. Each year, loose objects on airport runways, taxiways and aprons cost the global aviation industry an estimated US $12-billion. Tarsiers networked high-frequency, high-resolution radars sweep the runway around the clock. When FOD is detected, an alarm is triggered in YVRs Operations Centre where the user display highlights the objects location. The camera zooms in, sending a live image for visual confirmation and the objects GPS coordinates are provided, enabling accurate location and retrieval of the object in a matter of minutes. We have provided YVR with a valuable safety tool that helps guard against the dangers and costs associated with runway debris, said Dr. Dominic Walker, Product Development Director, QinetiQ Airport Technologies. The benefits are clear and were thrilled to be helping airports such as Vancouver deliver the highest levels of passenger safety and experience. Developed by QinetiQ, the technology based services and solutions company, and trialled at YVR for one week in June 2004, the Tarsier system detected potentially dangerous objects that were retrieved from the runway in less than five minutes. In 2005, Vancouver Airport Authority was the first airport operator in the world to purchase the system, which went into full operation at YVR in late 2006. The recent addition of the day and night camera to the radar system has increased the efficiency of debris retrieval and further reduced runway closures and operational disruptions.