This document establishes the Federal standard for siting meteorological sensors of automated weather observing systems at airports/heliports to collect meteorological data in support of aircraft operations as well as aviation and other weather forecasting. It will be used by Federal agencies as a basis for developing and implementing specific regulatory or technical documents. The standard applies to all Federally-owned and Federally-funded systems, as well as non- Federal systems that are to be approved by the Department of Transportation's (DOT) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) or the Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Weather Service (NWS). Multiple users of meteorological data exist, and to the greatest practical extent, they have been considered in the development of this standard.
In Chapter 2, the standard provides criteria for proper and representative exposure of sensors to assure that data are meteorologically sound. Chapter 3 provides criteria for selecting locations for sensors at airports; Chapter 4 addresses heliport installations.
1.2 SCOPE.
This standard is intended to serve as the most fundamental reference for sensor siting. While this document is not of itself regulatory in nature, it is to be implemented through appropriate agency orders. Likewise, this standard may be modified or enhanced by agency directives. This document does not require agencies to change existing sensor installations solely to comply with this standard. It will be applied as new stations are established. The inclusion and description of a particular sensor in this document does not imply that such sensors will be used in all system applications.
In applying this document to the planning of an automated weather observing system site at an airport with a control tower, no site shall be finalized without consulting with representatives of both NWS and FAA.
Sensor siting in accordance with this standard meets the requirements of Section 77.15(c) of the Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) and is exempt from further Part 77 study. Any exceptions to the standard or special situations will require an FAA Obstruction Evaluation/Airport Airspace Analysis (OE/AAA) study in accordance with Part 77 of the FAR to determine if a substantial adverse effect would be created for aircraft operations.
The standard covers the following weather elements:
The standard does not address:
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