Temp. Correction

25.10.2004

Submission:

I work with PANS-OPS in Norway and am currently part of a group whose subject is to set the standards of how to design Radar Vectoring Areas. Two questions have come up that we would like an opinion on.

1. In AMD no 11 to PANS-OPS doc 8168, vol II, valid from 1 Nov 2001, this point has been added to 24.2 SURVEILLANCE RADAR:

24.2.2.3 c) Minimum vectoring altitudes shall be corrected for cold temperature. The cold temperature shall be based on seasonal or annual minimum temperature records. See PANS-OPS, vol I, Part VI, Chapter 3, Tables VI-1-1a and VI-2-2b.

The question is, who is supposed to make these corrections? Should the procedure designer take them into account when determining the lowest altitude, since it is written here in vol II? Or should the Air traffic controller make these corrections when necessary? But in PANS-OPS vol I, where these tables referred to are printed, it says that it is the pilot that should make the correction. If so, why has this 24.2.2.3 c) then been added to PANS-OPS vol II?

2. We have Radar Vectoring Areas and IFR-routes(STAR) over the sea. Shall we when determining lowest altitudes in RVA and lowest IFR-altitude, take into account any possible ship that might appear in the area? We know that there can be ships/moving obstacles that are 700ft AMSL.

Susanne Westman

Norwegian Air Traffic and Airport Management