Technical Report - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

aircraft. The advisory service given to VFR traffic is referred to as Stage II and Stage III service. Stage I is no longer being used. Stage II service provides vectoring and sequencing; Stage III service consists of sequencing and separation. The Minneapolis terminal airspace has four arrival gates and four depazture comdors to accommodate aircraft flow. The arrival gates aze based on afour-corner post concept, with flows coming from the northwest, northeast, southwest, and southeast. The majority of traffic into the Minneapolis terminal airspace comes from the southeast and southwest: 40 percent and 25 percent, respectively. The northeast generates 20 percent of the traffic and the northwest 15 percent of the flow into Minneapolis. Departures use corridors to the north, east, south, and west, with the majority also going to the. east and south gates to Chicago and other eastern destinations. Approach control receives radaz handoffs of high-performance IFR aircraft from the ARTCC at or descending to 10,000 feet. Approach control then establishes an orderly sequence of aircraft to their respective final approach courses utiliurrg radaz vectors and speed control Slower general aviation aircraft aze similazly vectored to their destination airport approach courses at altitudes below the high-performance flight tracks. IFR departures from all airports in the terminal azea aze given headings and vectors to the departure corridors most neazly aligned with their intended route of flight. The objective of this process is to segregate arrival and departure flows into the area. VFR aircraft are given headings and/or altitude assignments in and out of the terminal area that avoid the IFR departure and arrival flows. The approach control facility at Minneapolis-St. Paul International is equipped with a radar system known as an ASR-8. This system provides radaz coverage for the entire 40- nautical mile terminal area. A preliminary review revealed the presence of tall structures to the north that restrict the radaz rnverage to a lower limit of 2,200 feet in the northern segment of the area at appro~dmately 20 nautical miles and beyond. Amore indepth analysis would be needed to determine other restrictions on radaz rnverage. 'This means that much of the traffic operating below 2,200 feet in the vicinity of Anoka County-Blaine, III-25