In an effort to make flying safer, more than a dozen NASA, airline, industry, and government pilots are testing technology to synthetically give pilots a clear view of their surroundings.

Technicians equipped a Boeing 757 jet with sophisticated cockpit displays and radar equipment that give pilots clear electronic pictures of what’s outside, regardless of weather or time of day. The jet is based at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. The Airborne Research Integrated Experiments System is flying over NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility at Wallops Island, Va., to test the Synthetic Vision and Enhanced Vision Systems.

Synthetic Vision combines Global Positioning System satellite signals with an on board photo-realistic database to paint a picture of terrain for the crew. Also on board the jet is an enhanced weather radar capability that can help pilots spot traffic and obstacles that aren’t part of the Synthetic Vision terrain computerized atlas, NASA officials say. Developed by NASA researchers, the system is being tested to determine whether “enhanced vision” can effectively fill in the gaps and help pilots see hazards, such as traffic on the runway or even a cellular tower recently added to the landscape.

“We’ve added new software to the X-band weather radar that’s already on many airliners to produce a more detailed picture of what the radar would normally see,” says Steve Harrah, Synthetic Vision sensors lead. “This helps verify the accuracy of the Synthetic Vision terrain display and gives the pilot a more complete picture of what’s on the ground.”

Included in the flight tests are Synthetic Vision and Enhanced Vision cockpit displays developed by BAE Systems in Los Angeles, and Nav3D Corp. in San Carlos, Calif. These displays use Enhanced Vision technology presented on a head-up display directly in front of the pilot’s eyes.

It supplements the on-board computerized terrain atlas provided on the head-down display. BAE Systems is assessing the effectiveness of fusing forward-looking infrared images with active millimeter-wave radar pictures for enhanced vision. Millimeter wave radar produces a more detailed image than X-band radar, but the system doesn’t have as much range.

Other industry partners participating in the research include Boeing in Hampton, Va.; Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and RTI in Research Triangle Park, N.C. Synthetic Vision Systems research is funded by the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate’s Aviation Safety and Security Program.

For information about NASA’s Aviation Safety and Security Program on the Web, visit avsp.larc.nasa.gov.