Sensis and Nav Canada deepen ties with ADS-B over the Hudson Bay

By Lori Ranson

Nav Canada and US-based Sensis have deployed automatic dependent surveillance (ADS-B) transceivers over the Hudson Bay in Canada to track air traffic in the region.

Nav Canada in February 2007 awarded Sensis a contract for 200 ADS-B units for an initial deployment of the satellite-based technology in northern Canada. The agreement included equipping six sites for airspace surveillance over the Hudson Bay, and Sensis supplying 19 wide area multilateration units for Vancouver Harbour and Fort St. John.

Deployment of the ADS-B transceivers over the Hudson Bay supplies controllers with surveillance of flights operating at 29,000ft and above in a region covering 250,000 square nautical miles

Sensis says the ADS-B deployment allows for the reduction of separation standards from the current 80 miles to a five mile separation. Using those reduced standards ADS-B equipped aircraft can climb to optimal altitudes much earlier and use more efficient routings.

In addition to ADS-B deployment in the Hudson Bay, Sensis is supplying ADS-B 1090 MHz ground transceivers for deployment along the Labrador and Baffin Island coasts.