Surveillance equipment specifically designed to detect aircraft, vehicular traffic, and other objects, on the surface of an airport, and to present the image on a tower display. Used to augment visual observation by tower personnel of aircraft and/or vehicular movements on runways and taxiways. There are three ASDE systems deployed in the NAS: 1. ASDE-3- a Surface Movement Radar.
- ASDE-X- a system that uses an X-band Surface Movement Radar, multilateration, and ADS-B.
- Airport Surface Surveillance Capability (ASSC)- A system that uses Surface Movement Radar, multilateration, and ADS-B.
Source FAA Pilot/Controller Glossary · checked 2026-08-25