Advanced Display Setup

The images below show precipitation being observed using three display panes simultaneously. NEXRAD is displayed in a pane on a PFD (Fig. 10), along with airborne weather radar being displayed as an overlay on a Navigation Map on side-by-side display panes on an MFD (Fig. 11). The display pane on the left side of the MFD (Fig. 11) has a range setting of 40 NM with tilt set to DOWN 4.25°, which helps to monitor close-in returns that may be beyond the beam width for the display pane on the right side of the MFD. The display pane on the right side of the MFD (Fig. 11) has the radar range set at 100 NM and the tilt set at DOWN 2.00°, which allows for monitoring at further distances. Note that these tilt settings would be higher if over land, to reduce ground clutter.

NOTE: Airborne weather radar may be displayed on several panes simultaneously, however, the scan rate within each frame will be reduced.

Using several panes to display weather information, along with moving maps, allows us to more easily determine where weather threats are likely to exist. This type of setup also allows us to determine if returns are from terrain or from precipitation, by cross-referencing the location of terrain features and the returns. This is especially helpful when operating near large cities, as these tend to be strong reflectors of radar energy that may appear to be a thunderstorm cell.

KEY POINT: Using several panes to display weather, as well as moving maps to display terrain features, helps to differentiate precipitation from terrain features.

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