Patent ID: 8462019

Claim:
A system for generating at least one runway visual aid presented on an aircraft display unit, said system comprising: a source of navigation data; a source of reference data; an image generating processor configured to receive navigation data representative of aircraft position and orientation, receive reference data based upon the navigation data, generate an image data set based upon the navigation data and the reference data, where the image data set is representative of at least one visual aid, where at least one visual aid is comprised of surface markings corresponding to one runway located in a scene outside the aircraft, where an intensity of each visual aid varies as a function of a positional relationship between the aircraft and the runway, such that the intensity of each visual aid is reduced during an approach phase of flight, and provide the image data set to an aircraft display unit; and the aircraft display unit configured to receive the image data set, and present each visual aid represented in the image data set on the aircraft display unit, where the surface markings presented on the aircraft display unit are increasingly less visible as the aircraft approaches the runway, and not visible when the aircraft lands on the runway, and the aircraft display unit is comprised of a display unit other than a head-down display unit configured to display a synthetic image represented in synthetic image data.