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Update to the Airport Thunderstorm and Lightning Alerting System (ATLAS)

ATLAS is designed to assist the issuance of airport lightning warnings for the protection of ground staff from lightning. It generates an AMBER warning whenever lightning is affecting or predicted to affect the area within 5-km from the aerodrome. A RED warning is generated whenever lightning is affecting or predicted to affect within 1-km of the airport island. During a RED warning, all personnel on the apron are advised to take protective shelter from the storm. With effect from midnight on 2 April 2013, the warning area for ATLAS red alert has been further divided in to Zone A which only covers 1km around the passenger and cargo aprons, and Zone B which covers 1km around rest of the airport island (see Figure 1).

 

 Sample layout of updated ATLAS display on AMIDS. Area enclosed by blue line is the Zone A, and area inside the red line is Zone B.  The yellow circle marks the 5 km range from the airport.

Figure 1  Sample layout of updated ATLAS display on AMIDS. Area enclosed by blue line is the Zone A, and area inside the red line is Zone B. The yellow circle marks the 5 km range from the airport.