GROUND STATION SENSING OF WEATHER AROUND AN AIRCRAFT

A ground-based radar system for weather sensing and aircraft tracking includes a ground-based radar that is configured to scan a volume of space associated with a particular aircraft for detecting a weather event in the volume of space, and an electronic control system that is configured to control the ground-based radar. The control system is adapted to track the particular aircraft via tracking data associated with the particular aircraft, and is adapted to detect the weather event via weather data associated with signals from the ground-based radar. The control system is configured to control the ground-based radar to adjust the scan of the volume of space in response to at least the tracking data associated with the particular aircraft being tracked. A geographically diverse radar network that includes multiple ground-based radar systems that communicate with each other also is provided.