Definition
A backup radar service in which an Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) feeds its long-range radar data into a terminal facility's automation system, allowing approach controllers to continue providing radar services when the terminal's own short-range radar is out of service.
Plain English
When the radar an approach controller normally uses goes down, they can borrow the radar picture from the en route center nearby and keep working traffic with it.
Context Anchor
Seen in discussions of airport surveillance radar approaches and radar service when the local airport radar is out of service or limited.
Derivation
From 'Center Radar' (the long-range radar used by ARTCCs) and 'ARTS' (Automated Radar Terminal System, the automation used at terminal facilities). The name reflects what it does: feeding center radar into the terminal's ARTS display.
Why Pilots Care
It extends radar approach capabilities to more airports, allowing safer instrument procedures where local radar is not installed.
Grounding Statement
Picture the airport’s own radar being unavailable, while approach control still watches aircraft using radar information fed in from the center.
Intuition Check
CENRAP is not a type of pilot clearance or a procedure the pilot flies. It is a way for controllers to display and use radar information from another source.
Example Sentence 1
Approach advised the inbound flight that CENRAP was in use due to ASR maintenance, so vectors would be issued at higher altitudes than usual.
Example Sentence 2
CENRAP services require coordination between the remote radar site and the central processing facility.