US Aerial Surveillance Impaired Off The East Coast Until October 1st Due To "Military Activities"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 09/08/2015 20:45 -0400
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-09-08/us-aerial-surveillance-impaired-east-coast-until-october-1st-due-military-activities

Submitted by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog, 

A notam issued Sept. 1 announced that, beginning Sept. 2, both ADS-B surveillance and TCAS may be unreliable in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, as well as in airspace extending approximately 200 nautical miles off shore. The situation is expected to last through Oct. 1 as a result of military exercises in the area.

But similar military exercises in the past have caused no interference with civilian ADS-B or TCAS, and AOPA is asking the FAA to explain both why the notam was issued so late and what has changed to raise these new concerns.

“We are working to get answers for our members,” said Rune Duke, AOPA director of air traffic and airspace. “This notam has caused considerable alarm and much confusion, while giving pilots little time to prepare. The long duration, ambiguous language, and short notice of this notam are all cause for serious concern. We have spoken with representatives of the FAA and the Department of Defense and will continue to pursue this until we get the answers pilots need.”

– From the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association release: AOPA Seeks Answers About ADS-B Notam

This is not my area of expertise, so I encourage readers to do their own research and decide for themselves whether or not this concerning. Given the fact so many people are extremely skittish about “something happening” this month, I thought it was curious enough to share.
In a nutshell, it appears that aerial surveillance across much of the East Coast will be impaired until October 1 due to “military activities.” We learn from the NBAA (National Business Aviation Association) that:

TCAS, ADS-B Unreliable in Southeast U.S. Beginning Sept. 2
Sept. 1, 2015

Due to military activities, the TCAS and ADS-B surveillance may be unreliable in the airspace over Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, and extending approximately 200 nautical miles offshore, from 1 a.m. EDT (0500z) Sept. 2 until midnight EDT (0459z) on Oct. 1.

Pilots are advised that the traffic alert and TCAS may fail to establish tracks on nearby aircraft and may fail to receive traffic alerts (TA) or resolution advisories (RA). Operators should be aware that tracks may first appear within close proximity to their aircraft, and may immediately go into TA/RA status.

Pilots are advised to maintain an increased visual awareness in this area. If operators believe that an aircraft should have triggered an alert, the incident should be reported to air traffic control as soon as possible.

This is due to a late notice Department of Defense exercise, and NBAA has voiced its concern to the FAA that these sort of significant impact tests need much more notice to operators in the NAS.
The NOTAM numbers are as follows:

• 5/2817 New York Center (ZNY)
• 5/2818 Washington Center (ZDC)
• 5/2819 Jacksonville Center (ZJX)
• 5/2820 Miami Center (ZMA)
• 5/2834 NY Oceanic (ZWY)

Text from the ZNY NOTAM:

FDC 5/2817 (KZNY A0369/15) ZNY VA..SPECIAL NOTICE…DUE TO MILITARY ACTIVITIES ON 1030/1090 MHZ, THE TRAFFIC ALERT AND COLLISION AVOIDANCE SYSTEM (TCAS) AND AUTOMATIC DEPENDENT SYSTEM BROADCAST (ADS-B) SURVEILLANCE MAY BE UNRELIABLE IN THE AIRSPACE OVER THE STATES OF VIRGINIA, NORTH CAROLINA, SOUTH CAROLINA, GEORGIA, AND FLORIDA, AND EXTENDING APPROXIMATELY 200NM OFFSHORE. PILOTS ARE ADVISED THAT THE TRAFFIC ALERT AND COLLISION AVOIDANCE SYSTEM (TCAS) MAY FAIL TO ESTABLISH TRACKS ON NEARBY AIRCRAFT AND MAY FAIL TO RECEIVE TRAFFIC ALERTS (TA) AND/OR RESOLUTION ADVISORIES (RA). FURTHER, PILOTS ARE ADVISED THAT TRACKS MAY FIRST APPEAR WITHIN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO THEIR AIRCRAFT AND MAY IMMEDIATELY GO INTO TA/RA STATUS. FALSE ALERTS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE GENERATED BY THIS MILITARY ACTIVITY AND ANY ALERTS SHALL BE TREATED AS REAL. PILOTS ARE ADVISED TO MAINTAIN AN INCREASED VISUAL AWARENESS IN THIS AREA. IF THE PILOT BELIEVES THAT AN AIRCRAFT SHOULD HAVE TRIGGERED AN ALERT, THE INCIDENCE SHOULD BE REPORTED TO AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL AT THE EARLIEST OPPORTUNE MOMENT. SFC-FL500 1509020500-1510010459

Apparently, this is concerning enough that AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association) is asking for answers. From AOPA.org:

September 4, 2015 

By  Elizabeth A Tennyson

AOPA is trying to get to the bottom of ambiguous notam language and determine why the aviation community was given just one day’s advance notice of military exercises that could make Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) and TCAS unreliable along a significant portion of the East Coast for a month.

A notam issued Sept. 1 announced that, beginning Sept. 2, both ADS-B surveillance and TCAS may be unreliable in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, as well as in airspace extending approximately 200 nautical miles off shore. The situation is expected to last through Oct. 1 as a result of military exercises in the area.

But similar military exercises in the past have caused no interference with civilian ADS-B or TCAS, and AOPA is asking the FAA to explain both why the notam was issued so late and what has changed to raise these new concerns.

“We are working to get answers for our members,” said Rune Duke, AOPA director of air traffic and airspace. “This notam has caused considerable alarm and much confusion, while giving pilots little time to prepare. The long duration, ambiguous language, and short notice of this notam are all cause for serious concern. We have spoken with representatives of the FAA and the Department of Defense and will continue to pursue this until we get the answers pilots need.”

The wording of the notam has led many general aviation pilots to believe that ADS-B-based traffic information might not be available to them. But the notam does not specify any interference with 978 MHz ADS-B systems, which are most commonly used by light GA aircraft.

As a result pilots should continue to have access to TIS-B and FIS-B services. The greatest impact will be on aircraft using 1090 MHz ADS-B systems or TCAS, which are primarily used by larger, faster aircraft operating in the flight levels. Air traffic controllers will help ensure separation between military and civilian traffic during the exercises, and no delays or reductions in ATC services are anticipated.

At the very least, this is certainly something to be aware of... especially inlight of Chinese warships in The Bering Sea for the first time ever.

Study: Fukushima airborne plumes “caused significant deposition of radioactivity over North America” — Especially for West Coast and eastern U.S. — Around 13% of all radioactive iodine released into atmosphere was deposited over USA and Canada (MAP)

European Commission, Science for Environment Policy News Alert (pdf): The 2011 nuclear accident at Fukushima, Japan, caused the release of large amounts of radionuclides (unstable atoms that produce radioactive emissions) to the atmosphere. Caesium and iodine radionuclides can negatively affect human health through the contamination of air, water, soil and agricultural products. The EU-funded study1 modelled the global spread of radionuclides of caesium and iodine from Fukushima in the atmosphere [...] or iodine radionuclides [...] meteorological conditions and convection promote more long-distance transport. This is because iodine does not dissolve as easily as caesium so it remains in a gaseous form and is redistributed by convection to the troposphere (lowest part of atmosphere) where the wind speed is greater and transports the iodine greater distances. The model results suggest that 12.7% of iodine radionuclides were deposited over the USA and Canada [...] Approximately 50-60% was deposited locally in Japan.
Modelling the global atmospheric transport and deposition of radionuclides from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear accident (pdf), 2013: [...] meteorological conditions associated with convection and vertical mixing over the Pacific Ocean promote its longdistance transport so that it contributes to radioactivity deposition worldwide. Our model results suggest that the plumes that traversed the Pacific Ocean caused significant deposition of radioactivity over continental North America, in particular western USA, western Canada and eastern USA (>100 Bqm−2). Our model results also show substantial deposition of radionuclides in regions southwest of Japan, e.g., around the Philippines1. Two weeks after the accident, all operational CTBTO stations in the northern hemisphere had reported at least one 131I detection.
See also: Radiation Expert: "North America has received quite a large fallout" -- "Incredible increase in cancer, leukemia, genetic disease... Not just in Japan but in the Northern Hemisphere, particularly North America" (VIDEO)

Published: February 14th, 2014 at 1:03 pm ET By ENENews  Email Article 49 comments Like ENENews on Facebook Follow ENENews on Twitter Subscribe to the ENENews RSS Feed Sign up for daily email updates

Related Posts

1. Map shows Fukushima fallout in U.S. — Radiation dose in Northeast and Great Lakes equal to West Coast (GRAPHIC) January 29, 2014
2. Accumulated Cesium-137 deposited near U.S. East Coast at same level as West Coast April 18, 2011
3. Vancouver, Canada radiation tests show iodine-131 in rainwater at almost 100 times above US drinking water limit April 8, 2011
4. Paper: Group wants radiation tests done in Canada — Health Canada calls 300 times background levels of iodine-131 “minute” August 11, 2011
5. French map of cesium-137 deposition from Fukushima shows the US more contaminated than Western Japan (MAP & VIDEO) September 1, 2011

Monday, Jan 13, 2014 06:08 PM EST

It’s not just sea level rise — the East Coast is sinking, too

The two factors together make the East Coast increasingly vulnerable to floods

Lindsay Abrams

(Credit: M.M./Shutterstock)

The New York Times has a frightening overview of the latest science on sea level rise — specifically, the threat it poses to the United States. The consensus is that, yes, the U.S. is at risk; the East Coast in particular. But surprisingly, it’s not just rising tides that we have to watch out for — it’s sinking land. From the Times:

Scientists say the East Coast will be hit harder for many reasons, but among the most important is that even as the seawater rises, the land in this part of the world is sinking. And that goes back to the last ice age, which peaked some 20,000 years ago.

As a massive ice sheet, more than a mile thick, grew over what are now Canada and the northern reaches of the United States, the weight of it depressed the crust of the earth. Areas away from the ice sheet bulged upward in response, as though somebody had stepped on one edge of a balloon, causing the other side to pop up. Now that the ice sheet has melted, the ground that was directly beneath it is rising, and the peripheral bulge is falling.

Some degree of sinking is going on all the way from southern Maine to northern Florida, and it manifests itself as an apparent rising of the sea.

Certain points, scientists say, are affected more severely than others:

Perhaps the weirdest factor of all pertains to Norfolk, Va., and points nearby. What is now the Tidewater region of Virginia was slammed by a meteor about 35 million years ago — a collision so violent it may have killed nearly everything on the East Coast and sent tsunami waves crashing against the Blue Ridge Mountains. The meteor impact disturbed and weakened the sediments across a 50-mile zone. Norfolk is at the edge of that zone, and some scientists think the ancient cataclysm may be one reason it is sinking especially fast, though others doubt it is much of a factor.

Coastal flooding has already become such a severe problem that Norfolk is spending millions to raise streets and improve drainage. Truly protecting the city could cost as much as $1 billion, money that Norfolk officials say they do not have. Norfolk’s mayor, Paul Fraim, made headlines a couple of years ago by acknowledging that some areas might eventually have to be abandoned.

Regardless of the cause, scientists appear convinced that the flooding and coastline damage is happening now, and on a rapid time scale: as in, faster than new homeowners could hope to pay off their mortgage.