Weather Radar

Price	25,995 CR
Restrictions	Unrestricted
Average weight	8.1 kg
Average MTBF (maintained)	Not specified

Weather Radar is an avionics inventory item that scans precipitation ahead of an equipped vehicle and displays colored returns on the cockpit moving map. The beam can also receive ground echoes. Sufficiently deep heavy weather or intervening terrain can hide returns farther away.

This display requires a compatible client and server weather feed; older clients may behave differently.

Purchase and installation

Available from the Accessories menu at Rusty's Rentals for 25,995 CR. Installation requires a free avionics bay, and a vehicle cannot have a second Weather Radar installed. Aircraft and aerospace vehicles are supported; the T-27 Mammoth is the permitted ground-vehicle exception.

The equipment weighs approximately 8.1 kg (17.8574 lb). The cargo manifest rounds the installed weight to 8 kg. No maintained MTBF is specified for this item.

Operation

1. Supply cockpit electrical power and open the cargo/manifest display.
2. Use Shift+Up or Shift+Down to select Weather Radar under the avionics entries.
3. Press Shift+U (Use) to toggle its power. The manifest shows ON or OFF.
4. View the moving map and allow the forward sector to scan. Change the map range to change the radar range.

The radar continues scanning while powered even when the moving-map page is closed. Switching it off restores the ordinary map background.

Scan and range

• A narrow cyan sweep scans a 120-degree forward sector: 60 degrees left and right of the vehicle's heading.
• Each one-way sweep takes four seconds, reversing at either end; a complete out-and-back cycle takes eight seconds.
• Returns update when the sweep crosses their bearing. Between visits they retain their geographical position as the vehicle moves or turns.
• Radar range is twice the selected map inner-ring range, up to a maximum of 64 km. For example, a 20 km inner ring gives a 40 km scan; the 40 km and larger inner-ring settings reach the 64 km radar cap. A larger map scale does not extend radar range.
• Received weather and terrain coverage can limit useful range before that maximum. Reaching a normal coverage edge does not produce WX DATA LIMITED. The area beyond that edge is shaded dark blue-gray within the scan sector; no returns are drawn beyond the 64 km radar cap. Changing range starts a fresh scan.

Reading the display

Weather replaces the ordinary land/water shading or Remote Assay fill. Navigation fixes, labels, compass, range rings, airspace and traffic remain visible.

The colors represent relative Rise return strength. Weather returns use automatic path attenuation compensation: usable returns keep their intensity color as range increases, so red weather ahead should appear red before the vehicle reaches it. Terrain can also paint green, yellow or red; a colored return is not proof of precipitation. These levels are not calibrated rainfall rates or dBZ measurements.

Green or yellow weather alone does not exhaust the scan within its supported 64 km range. A sufficiently deep red or purple cell can exhaust compensation and cast a dark-gray shadow behind it. Purple is not required for attenuation; both intensity and the path length through heavy weather matter.

Color	Return level	Meaning
Black / no colored return	Below 2.5	No detectable return at this level.
Green	2.5 to below 7	Lower return strength.
Yellow	7 to below 11	Increasing return strength.
Red	11 to below 15	Strong return.
Purple	15 and above	Highest return band.
Dark gray	Shadow	The path is blocked by terrain or sufficiently attenuated by weather.
Dark blue-gray	Missing coverage	Weather or terrain data is unavailable along the path.

A dark area is not proof of clear weather. A strong nearby cell can cast a radar shadow and conceal another cell behind it. Missing coverage also leaves an incomplete picture.

Indication	Meaning
WX	A scan is available without a current limited-data or initial-acquisition indication.
WX SCAN	The first sector scan is still being acquired.
WX DATA LIMITED	Weather or terrain samples are missing or invalid inside the available coverage. This can remain visible when another part of the beam has valid returns. A normal coverage edge or the 64 km radar range limit does not trigger this indication.
WX NO DATA	No usable scan is available.
WX ATTEN	The central radar path on one or more scanned bearings has lost usable transmission through precipitation. Another part of the beam may still show a return. Terrain blockage alone does not trigger this indication. This can accompany another WX indication.

GPWS terrain/obstacle alert displays and self-test take priority over weather. TCAS advisory/test decluttering also temporarily suppresses the weather layer. Scanning continues behind these displays and the weather layer returns when they clear. Weather Radar adds no aural alerts.

Ground returns

The radar can receive echoes from the ground in the same display as precipitation. Slopes facing the radar generally return more strongly than shallow grazing surfaces. Water has a weaker diffuse return in the current model; coastline returns can include both land and water.

The antenna is automatically stabilized to the local horizontal. Its beam has vertical width: the lower part can strike terrain while the upper part continues to detect weather above it. The modeled antenna has an approximately 5.6-degree weather beam, with a weaker ground response extending to approximately 10 degrees. There are currently no manual tilt or gain controls.

A ridge can paint a ground return followed by a dark-gray shadow where it obstructs the radar. Weather visible above the ridge may still paint beyond it. An empty upper part of the beam does not make the obstructed region below it known clear. Terrain obstruction alone does not produce WX ATTEN. Heavy precipitation can hide both farther weather and ground returns.

Ground-return strength is an approximation based on the available terrain. Small buildings, surface objects, sea state and fine terrain features are not individually resolved. This instrument does not replace the separate terrain-warning system.

Operating limits

The scan can operate on the ground, in VTOL/hover and during atmospheric flight. Low indicated airspeed and Autoflyte engagement do not disable it. Terrain can reflect and obstruct parts of the beam, particularly on the ground or below nearby higher ground. The display can contain both ground clutter and weather visible above terrain; obscured regions remain unknown. Terrain blockage alone does not produce WX ATTEN; genuine weather attenuation can still produce it on the ground. Indications and shadows update as the sweep revisits each bearing; allow up to eight seconds for the whole sector to be revisited.

The current local weather feed suspends above 10 km MSL and begins reacquiring below 9.5 km MSL. High-altitude ascent, suborbital coast and orbit therefore normally show WX NO DATA. Re-entry requires fresh weather and terrain data before scanning resumes.

Loss of power, equipment removal or loss of the weather feed clears the previous scan. A vehicle change, relocation or major discontinuity also starts fresh acquisition. Weather data that has not changed revision for six minutes expires. In the in-world simulator, Weather Radar is suppressed and the baseline moving map is retained.

Rise uses a simplified, horizontally stabilized beam with vertical width and a precipitation-column model. There are no pilot tilt/gain controls, Doppler wind measurements, turbulence detection or predictive windshear alerts from this radar. The colors and attenuation are simulation approximations for Vieneo, not a calibrated model of a particular real-world radar or Earth's atmosphere.

See also

• Weather
• Doppler Radar — colony equipment supplying the portal weather layer.
• Remote Assay
• GPWS
• TCAS