Radar and ARPA Manual (2nd Edition)

They are frequently used in conjunction with an Automatic Target Tracking device, traditionally known as the Automatic Radar Plotting Aid (ARPA).

While the principles upon which radar and ARPA are based have not changed, the technological advances in recent years have meant that radar equipment as known for many years is hardly recognisable on ships’ bridges today.

Most of the changes have resulted from being able to manipulate the returning radar signals and, in particular, to digitise them. This has permitted the vast power of computers to be applied to radars. Masses of data could be processed and stored but what has been most significant is the ability to integrate and display the radar images with data from other sensors such as ECDIS, AIS and GPS.

Accompanying these changes has come expansion of the specifications governing the equipment and also the requirements for the vessels to be equipped. This is covered in an enlarged section which includes the majority of the most recent applicable documentation from the IMO and the MCA in the UK. The effect of these new regulations is discussed throughout the book. This includes treatment of the Auto Tracking Aid (ATA) and Electronic Plotting Aid (EPA) that are alternative plotting systems to the original ARPA and also radar equipment for high speed craft.

The main text refers to current IMO performance standards published between 1997 and 2001 for radar and ARPA equipment on new vessels while the final chapter includes new performance standards published in 2005 for vessels to be built in 2008. The rationale behind the changes in standards is explained, including a description of the new technology of radar system that these new standards are designed to allow.

Written by three Master Mariners with expertise in navigation systems, the Radar and ARPA Manual provides essential information for mariners on training courses for electronic navigation systems and professional certificates internationally. Reference is made throughout to IMO Performance Standards, the role of radar in navigation and in collision avoidance, and to international professional and amateur marine operations qualifications.

Radar and ARPA Manual (2nd Edition)
By Alan Bole, Bill Dineley, Alan Wall.
Published by Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann
ISBN 0 7506 6434 7.
Paperback, 546 pages.
Price £49.99