海角乱伦社区

As the world mourns the tragic January 29 collision of a passenger jet and a military helicopter at Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C., some students at 海角乱伦社区 University witnessed the tragedy from a different vantage point.

海角乱伦社区鈥檚 Center for Intelligence Research, Analysis, and Training (CIRAT) houses the AirNav RadarBox, a high-tech system that provides real-time tracking of commercial, military, and general aviation flights worldwide.

Students regularly monitor this tool, which offers key flight data, including latitude and longitude positions, origins and destinations, flight numbers, aircraft types, altitudes, headings, and speeds. This information is gathered through Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) tracking, where onboard electronic equipment automatically transmits an aircraft鈥檚 location and other flight-related data to ground receivers.

Although no students were in the CIRAT lab at the time of the crash, which occurred shortly before 9 p.m. Wednesday, they were able to analyze the recorded data the following morning.

鈥淏ased on the RadarBox data, student-analysts were able to verify or challenge information being reported in the media and on social platforms,鈥� said CIRAT Executive Director Brian Fuller. 鈥淭hey also had the opportunity to conduct their own analysis, turning this tragic event into a valuable learning experience.鈥�

Typically, the RadarBox is used to assess potential challenges to CIRAT clients. Student-analysts monitor the air traffic to notify clients of abnormalities that could potentially affect their operations. 鈥淚f we start to see anomalies鈥攍et鈥檚 say China reduces or eliminates domestic flights over Taiwan airspace鈥攖hat allows us to consider that China may be intending some kind of military action in the region and notify our clients of the possibility,鈥� Fuller said.

CIRAT clients, in turn, can use that information to develop contingency plans, considering everything from how to manage supply-chain concerns if China were to close a port to how to protect its intellectual property in that domain.

CIRAT has worked with more than 300 government entities, private sector companies, and nongovernmental organizations on real-world projects, giving nearly 1,500 students marketable applied experience in their fields of study before they graduate.

PHOTO: This is an infographic created by students in CIRAT鈥檚 WATCH Program. WATCH is a program that monitors and analyzes a dynamic list of client indicators on a global scale. Some capabilities include geopolitical risk analysis, air and marine monitoring, as well as comprehensive open-source research.