Definition
A radar display located in an air traffic control tower that shows aircraft positions from a radar system whose antenna is sited away from the tower. The display gives tower controllers a radar picture of traffic in their area without the radar equipment itself being on the airport.
Plain English
A screen in the control tower that shows aircraft positions using radar information sent in from a radar antenna located somewhere else.
Context Anchor
Pilots may see RTRD in FAA abbreviation lists, airport equipment notes, or tower-related notices, rather than as a normal cockpit instrument.
Derivation
Remote means 'located at a distance.' The radar antenna is not at the tower, so its display is called remote. The word remote comes from Latin remotus, meaning 'moved away.' That fits exactly here: the radar is moved away from the tower, but its picture is still shown to the controllers.
Why Pilots Care
Knowing a tower has an RTRD helps explain why a tower controller may be able to give traffic advisories or basic radar-derived information even though no radar antenna is visible at the airport. It also clarifies why service quality can depend on the remote radar source.
Intuition Check
Do not read “remote” as meaning the pilot uses this display from a remote location. Here, it means radar information is sent from equipment elsewhere to a display used by the tower controller.
Example Sentence 1
The tower controller used the RTRD to confirm the position of inbound traffic before clearing the Cessna for takeoff.
Example Sentence 2
Pilots were vectored based on information from the RTRD at the distant facility.