UC2014
- 1. 3D Solar Glare Analysis & Impacts to Airport Operations
- 2. About Valley Metro • Public transit agency for the Phoenix, AZ area • Operates bus, light rail, and bus rapid transit (BRT) services
- 3. Operations & Maintenance Center (OMC)
- 4. Airport Connection • Roughly 1 mile from the end of the runway • Property owned by the Sky Harbor Airport and leased to Valley Metro
- 6. Solar Energy in Arizona • Average 306 days sunny days per year • Agua Caliente Solar Photovoltaic Facility
- 7. OMC Solar Project Background MOE MOW
- 9. Glare Analysis Background • Air Traffic Control Tower at Boston Manchester Airport • $3.5 solar array had to be covered by a tarp • Closer FAA scrutiny and analysis for any future solar projects near airports
- 10. Sandia Labs SGHAT Model • Calculates any possible solar glare between two points for an entire year • One glaring problem- no site factors considered
- 11. 3D GIS Analysis of Glare to the Air Traffic Control Tower (ATCT) April 9th 6:11 AM Glare to the ATCT
- 12. Glare Calculation Setup Trimble SketchUp
- 14. 3D Flythrough Video- Glare
- 15. Site Factors • AZ State Route 143 On Ramp • Building Shadows
- 16. 3D Flythrough Video- Shadows 16
- 17. Glare to the Pilots • 3 Runways – 2 places for arrivals and departures for a total of 6 runways to be analyzed • Arrivals and departures are at different heights 1 2 3 4 5 6
- 18. Departures
- 19. Arrivals
- 20. Summary • Glare to ATCT is eliminated with keeping some arrays at original orientation with building shadows • Visualization of the angles the glare travels in relation to the aircraft eliminates many problems • 3D GIS Visualization can paint a more complete picture of the potential glare from a solar project
- 21. Cory Whittaker, GISP GIS Administrator cwhittaker@valleymetro.org ValleyMetro.org