Uncloud Your Weather! Garmin announced to bring StormOptix Weather Radar compatibility to thousands more displays

The Auto Mode-capable GWX 8000 will soon be certified to using GTN Xi navigators or TXi flight displays as the primary indicator.

Garmin announced that the GWX™ 8000 StormOptix™ Weather Radar with Auto Mode will soon be approved for display and control via GTN Xi navigators and TXi flight displays¹, expanding its interface potential beyond previously approved Garmin integrated flight decks. The GWX 8000 eliminates the requirement for pilots to manually adjust the radar, resulting in a comprehensive weather depiction with simplified operation. Using 3D volumetric scanning capability, GWX 8000 reduces pilot workload and depicts the weather with four times the colors of traditional weather radars — while also providing hail and lightning prediction, turbulence detection and advanced ground clutter suppression.

StormOptix Auto Mode technology

The GWX 8000 features StormOptix, an advanced automation technology which allows the pilot to activate the weather radar in-flight without needing to configure radar settings. The StormOptix Auto Mode merges 3D volumetric scanning with advanced ground clutter suppression to automatically adjust the tilt and gain of the radar system to create the most representative depiction of weather-related flight hazards near and along the flight path of the aircraft.

Enhanced color palette

A high-definition color palette provides greater color contouring to help pilots more easily interpret the severity of an individual storm cell or multiple storm cells in an area. This enhanced color palette incorporates 16 colors, four times more than typically found in other weather radars on the market. The additional colors provide a clearer picture for operation around significant weather, ultimately enhancing safety by giving the pilot more clarity on where most intense weather is, simplifying navigation through trying weather conditions.

Other important features of the GWX 8000 StormOptix weather radar include:

• Turbulence detection and hail/lightning prediction: As a standard feature, GWX 8000 provides owners and operators with a unique technology that detects certain atmospheric conditions that can lead to hail and lightning development within a cell. For a more comfortable passenger experience, turbulence detection helps pilots more easily identify turbulence in-flight by recognizing air that contains moisture or particulates.
• Identify shadowing effects: Weather Attenuated Color Highlight (WATCH^®) technology helps pilots identify shadowing effects of cell activity and highlights areas where radar returns are weakened or attenuated by intense precipitation, giving pilots added confidence when navigating weather threats.
• Lightweight Design: The GWX 8000 is among the lightest weather radars in its class at 12.9 lbs (6.3 kg) for the 14-inch version, providing additional weight savings when compared to other weather radar systems on the market.
• Multiple antenna array sizes: The GWX 8000 is available in 10-, 12- and 14-inch models to meet the demands of several aircraft configurations.
• Display grouping: While in manual mode, with at least two GWX 8000-compatible displays such as GTN Xi and TXi¹, pilots can look at individual tilts and returns on their side of the cockpit for increased situational awareness.

The GWX 8000 StormOptix weather radar with Auto Mode is expected to be available in Q2 2024 for aircraft equipped with GTN Xi navigators and/or TXi flight displays¹. Aircraft equipped with the GWX 75 weather radar can have their systems easily upgraded to GWX 8000 with the purchase of a software enhancement for their GTN Xi and/or TXi series systems¹.

¹GWX 8000 weather radar display is available with GTN 750Xi, GTN 725Xi and select TXi flight display configurations

ALL-DIGITAL DOPPLER RADAR

This solid-state, Doppler-enabled radar combines robust weather avoidance technology with work-saving automation to give you clear and timely input for highly accurate storm cell detection and interpretation.

AUTOMATIC THREAT ANALYSIS

Forget tedious, time-consuming manual adjustments. With the StormOptix volumetric auto-scan function, the radar automatically performs multiple scan/sweep angles to better profile the size and shape of hazardous storm cell activity. Just set the range, and the radar does the rest.

ADVANCED PREDICTION TOOLS

As standard capability, the radar will help predict lightning and hail development in storm cells ahead — as well as detect and provide alerting for potentially hazardous turbulence. Predictive Windshear alerting is also available as an option¹.

Sources:

https://www.garmin.com/en-US/newsroom/press-release/aviation/garmin-brings-stormoptix-weather-radar-compatibility-to-thousands-more-displays/

https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/530348