EGPWS: Polar ice

[Hardy Heinlin]

Good evening,

does anybody know if the (real) EGPWS terrain database includes the arctic ice cap? The ice is in some areas still almost 4000 meters high.

On the other hand, the ice region is so flat that the traditional radio altimeter based alert mode will probably do the job just as well.


Cheers,

|-|ardy

[Arnout van Maanen]

Hardy,

It looks like it is covered in the Honeywell databases



Although I am not sure if they actually include arctic ice. Doesn't really state this on their website.

isn't the arctic seen as sea, especially the North Pole, basically this is only ice and not land, so you theory regarding the radio altimeter might be right.
Might be very difficult to put this in databases because the landscapes are ever changing especially on the North Pole.
Just a thought.

Cheers

[Hardy Heinlin]

Thanks, Arnout.

Sorry, my question was a bit unclear. Of course, the database covers all latitudes and longitudes of the world. I actually wanted to know if it includes elevation data of the arctic ice.

(E.g. the ice at the Northpole is ca. 12000 feet high.)

I assume it's not included, and the RA provides enough safety in that shallow region. Having a world-wide land database is certainly luxury enough.


Cheers,

|-|ardy

[Garry Richards]

Hi Hardy

Those parts of the Arctic ice that are over water, such as the geographic north pole, have an elevation of only a few metres. Much higher elevations of ice will only be found over the surrounding landmasses, so the terrestrial databases should be sufficient.

Cheers

[Hardy Heinlin]

Hi Garry,

you're right :-) I confused height with depth on my Rand McNally: that little triangle symbol points down, not up. Quite a difference :-)


Cheers,

|-|ardy

[Pierre Theillere]

Hi Hardy!

Congrats, you're now fully ready to write a submarine simulator!!!

[Hardy Heinlin]

Yes, with an iceberg tip 4000 meters high and an arctic ocean 40 kilometers deep :-)