ASOS GUIDE FOR PILOTS

INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................................................1 NOTICESTOAIRMEN ....................................................................................................................................1 . SYSTEMDESCRIPTION...................................................................................................................................2 WEATHEROBSERVATIONELEMENTS ...........................................................................................................3 . DATANOTAUTOMATICALLYPROVIDEDBYASOS........................................................................................7 MISSINGDATAANDNONEVENTDATA........................................................................................................7 BACKUPANDAUGMENTATION....................................................................................................................8 VOICEMESSAGES..........................................................................................................................................8 SENSORDESCRIPTION...................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
TheAutomatedSurfaceObservingSystem(ASOS)isasurfaceweatherobservingsystemmanagedbythe NationalWeatherService(NWS),theFederalAviationAdministration(FAA),andtheDepartmentof Defense(DOD).ASOSisdesignedtosupportaviationoperationsandweatherforecasting.Thisguideis designedtoprovidebasicASOSinformationtopilotsandotheraviationusers.RefertotheASOSQuick ReferenceHandbookpublishedbytheNationalWeatherServiceforadditionalinformation. PleaserefertotheFAA'sAeronauticalInformationManualforoperationalguidanceandtotheFAA's Airport/FacilityDirectory,aeronauticalchartsandrelatedpublications,forASOSbroadcastfrequency, dialintelephonenumber,andlocationinformation.

NOTICES TO AIRMEN
AirCarrierandCommercialOperatorsshouldrefertoapplicablepartsoftheFederalAviation RegulationsandtheircompanyOperationsSpecificationsforuseofautomatedweatherobservations. ASOSwillprovideminutebyminuteobservationsandperformthebasicobservingfunctionsnecessary togenerateasurfaceweatherobservationandotheraviationweatherinformation.Pilotsneedto understandthatautomatedandmanualweatherobservationsaredifferentandhavedifferent operationalimplications.

ASOSandthehumanobserverdifferinmethodsofdatacollectionandinterpretation.Forelementssuch aspressure,airtemperature,dewpointtemperature,wind,andprecipitationaccumulation,boththe automatedsystemandtheobserveruseafixedlocationandtimeaveragingtechnique. Forvisualelements(i.e.,skycondition,visibility,andpresentweather),observersuseafixedtime, spatialaveragingtechniquewhiletheASOSusesafixedlocation,timeaveragingtechnique.Although thisisafundamentalchange,themanualandautomatedtechniquesyieldsimilarresultswithinthe limitsoftheirrespectivecapabilities.

SYSTEM DESCRIPTION
TheASOSateachairportconsistsoffourmaincomponents:IndividualWeatherSensors DataCollectionPackage(s)(DCP) AcquisitionControlUnit(ACU) PeripheralsandDisplays EveryASOScontainsthefollowing: CloudHeightIndicator VisibilitySensor PrecipitationIdentifierSensor PressureSensors Temperature/DewPointSensor Winddirection/speedsensor RainfallAccumulationSensor FreezingRainSensorsincludedatmostsites ASOSdataoutletsinclude: Onsiteairportusers Nationalcommunicationsnetworks Computergeneratedvoice(throughFAAradiobroadcastanddialintelephonelines) ASOSreportsavailablethroughtheseoutletsinclude:Surfaceweatherobservations METAR(ScheduledWeatherReport) SPECI(UnscheduledWeatherReport) Nonaviationrelatedreports

WEATHER OBSERVATION ELEMENTS

TYPEOFREPORT STATIONIDENTIFIER DATE/TIMEOFREPORT REPORTMODIFIER WINDDIRECTIONANDSPEED VISIBILITY RUNWAYVISUALRANGE WEATHERPHENOMENA SKYCONDITION TEMPERATURE/DEWPOINT ALTIMETERSETTING REMARKSIDENTIFIER REMARKS Ifanelementorphenomenadoesnotoccur,ismissing,orcannotbeobserved,thecorrespondinggroup andprecedingspaceareomitted(bodyand/orremarks)fromthatparticularreport.Exception:Sea LevelPressure(SLPppp).SLPNOshallbereportedinaMETARwhentheSLPisnotavailable. TYPEOFREPORT:METAR:hourly(scheduled)report;SPECI:special(unscheduled)report. STATIONIDENTIFIER:Fouralphabeticcharacters;InternationalCivilAviationOrganization(ICAO) locationidentifier. DATE/TIMEOFREPORT:AlldatesandtimesinCoordinatedUniversalTime(UTC)usinga24hourclock; twodigitdateandfourdigittime;letterZappendedtoindicateUTC. REPORTMODIFIER:AUTOindicatesafullyautomatedreport.Nohumanintervention.CORindicatesa correctiontoapreviouslydisseminatedreport. WINDDIRECTIONANDSPEED:Directionintensofdegreesfromtruenorth(firstthreedigits);nexttwo digits:speedinwholeknots;asneededGusts(character)followedbymaximumobservedspeed;always followedbyKTtoindicateknots;00000KTforcalm.AVariablewindgroupisreportedwhenthe directionvariesby60ormorewhentheaveragewindspeedisgreatherthan6knots;orifthewind speedislessthanorequalto6knots. Example:21016G24KT180V240=Windsarefrom210degreesat16knotswithguststo24knots.The winddirectionvariesfrom180to240degrees.Ifwindslessthanorequalto6knots;VRB05KT,etc., withoutthedegreesofvariance. VISIBILITY:Prevailingvisibilityinstatuemilesandfractions(spacebetweenwholemilesandfractions); alwaysfollowedbySMtoindicatestatutemiles;valueslessthan1/4reportedasM1/4SM.

RUNWAYVISUALRANGE:TenminuteRVRvalueinhundredsoffeet;reportedifprevailingvisibilityis onemileorless;orRVR6000feetorless;alwaysfollowedbyFTtoindicatefeet;valueprefixedwithM orPtoindicatevalueislowerorhigherthanthereportableRVRvalue.Example:P6000FT=greaterthan 6000feet,M1000FT=lessthan1000feet. WEATHERPHENOMENA:ASOSreportsrain(RA):liquidprecipitationthatdoesnotfreeze;snow(SN): frozenprecipitationprecipitationotherthanhail;Precipitationofunknowntype(UP);intensityprefixed toprecipitation:light(),moderate(nosign),heavy(+);fog(FG);freezingfog(FRFGtemperaturebelow 0C);Mist(BR);Haze(HZ);Squall(SQ);augmentedbyobserver:FunnelCloud/Tornado/Waterspout(FC); Thunderstorm(TS);Hail(GR);Smallhail(GS;<1/4inch);FreezingRain(FZRA);VA(volcanicash). SKYCONDITION:ASOSwillnotreportcloudshigherthan12,000feetabovegroundlevel(AGL).Cloud amountandheight:CLR(nocloudsdetectedbelow12,000feet);FEW(few:<1/82/8skycoverage); SCT(scattered:3/84/8);BKN(broken:5/87/8);OVC(overcast:8/8);followedby3digitheightin hundredsoffeet.Indefiniteskyconditionexpressedasverticalvisibility:(VV),followedby3digitheight inhundredsoffeet. TEMPERATURE/DEWPOINT:EachisreportedinwholedegreesCelsiususingtwodigits;valuesare separatedbyasolidus(/);subzerovaluesareprefixedwithanM(minus).Example:04/M02= Temperature=+4CDewPoint=2C ALTIMETERSETTING:AltimeteralwaysprefixedwithanAindicatinginchesofmercuryreportedin hundredthsofaninchandreportedusingfourdigits.Example:A2992=29.92inches,A3044=30.44 inches. REMARKSIDENTIFIER:RMK REMARKS:Additionalinformationmaybeaddedtotheweatherobservationintheformofremarks. Automatedremarksaregeneratedbythesystemwhenappropriateconditionsexist. Augmentedremarksareaddedwhenconditionsareobservedbyanobserverattendingthesystem. TORNADICACTIVITY:Ataugmentedstations,tornadoes,funnelclouds,orwaterspoutsarecodedas Tornadicactivity_B/E(hh)mm_LOC/DIR_(MOV).ThereportshouldincludeTORNADO,FUNNELCLOUD, orWATERSPOUT,timebegin/end,location,andmovement.Example:TORNADOB25MOVE=atornado whichbeganat25minutespastthehourismovingeast. TYPEOFAUTOMATEDSTATION:AO1isanautomatedstationwithoutaprecipitationsensor.AO2isan automatedstationwithaprecipitationsensor. PEAKWIND:ThepeakwindiscodedasPKWNDdddff(f)/(hh)mm.Thisisthemaximumwind,greater than25knots,observedsincethelastMETARwithdirectionintensofdegrees,speedinwholeknots, andminutespastthehour.Example:PKWND20032/25=thepeakwindwasfrom200degreesat32 knotsandoccurred25minutespastthehour. 4

WINDSHIFT:AwindshiftiscodedintheformatWSHFT_(hh)mm.Itisdefinedasachangeinwind directionof45degreesormorewhichtakesplaceinlessthan15minutesandhassustainedwindsof10 knotsormorethroughoutthewindshift.ThecontractionFROPAmaybeenteredafterthetimeifthe windshiftisaresultofafrontalpassage.Example:WSHFT1715FROPA=awindshiftoccurredat1715Z asaresultofafrontalpassage. TOWERORSURFACEVISIBILITY:TowervisibilityiscodedasTWR_VIS_vvvvandisthevisibilityreported bytowerpersonnel.Forexample,TWRVIS2.SurfacevisibilityiscodedasSFC_VIS_vvvvandisthe visibilityreportedbyASOS.Forexample,SFCVIS2.Visibilityisreportedinstatutemiles. VARIABLEPREVAILINGVISIBILITY:VariableprevailingvisibilityiscodedasVIS_vnvnvnvnvnVvxvxvxvxvx, wherevnvnvnvnvnisthelowestvisibilityevaluatedandvxvxvxvxvxisthehighest.Thisisonlyreportedif thevisibilityislessthan3milesandrapidlyincreasesordecreasesbymileormoreduringthe observationperiod.Example:VIS1V2=visibilityvaryingfrom1to2miles. VISIBILITYATSECONDLOCATION:VisibilityatasecondlocationiscodedasVIS_vvvv[LOC]andis reportediflowerthanthereportedprevailingvisibilityinthebodyofthereport.Example:VIS2RWY11 =visibility2milesatrunway11. LIGHTNING:LightningiscodedasFrequency_LTG(type)_[LOC];Whendetectedthefrequency,type,and locationoflightningisreported.Example:FRQLTGCCNE=frequentcloudtocloudlightningtothe northeast. BEGINNINGANDENDINGOFPRECIPITATIONANDTHUNDERSTORMS:Thebeginningandendingof precipitationiscodedaswwB(hh)mmE(hh)mm;thebeginningandendingofthunderstormsiscoded asTSB(hh)mmE(hh)mm.Example:RAB07E15meansthatrainbeganat7minutespastthehourand endedat15minutespastthehour. VIRGA:Virgaisanaugmentedremarkdescribingprecipitationnotreachingtheground. VARIABLECEILINGHEIGHT:VariableceilingheightiscodedasCIG_hnhnhnVhxhxhx.Itisreportedifthe ceilinginthebodyofthereportislessthan3,000feetandvariable.Example:CIG020V030=ceiling heightvaryingfrom2,000to3,000feet. CEILINGHEIGHTATSECONDLOCATION:CeilingheightatasecondlocationiscodedasCIG_hhh_[LOC]. Itisreportedifasecondaryceilometersiteisdifferentthantheceilingheightinthebodyofthereport. Example:CIG030RWY11=ceilingheight3000feetatrunway11. PRESSURERISINGORFALLINGRAPIDLY:ThisiscodedasPRESRR(pressurerisingrapidly)or PRESFR(pressurefallingrapidly).Itisariseorfallinstationpressureattherateof0.06inchesormore perhourwhichtotals0.02inchesormore. SEALEVELPRESSURE:SealevelpressureiscodedasSLPppp,wherepppisthesealevelpressurein hectopascals(hPa.).ExampleSLP982=998.2hPa.Ifsealevelpressureisnotavailable,itiscodedas SLPNO. 5

ADDITIVEDATA:Thefollowingelementgroupsarereportedatspecifictimesduringtheday: HOURLYPRECIPITATIONAMOUNT:Hourlyprecipitation(waterequivalent)sincethelastMETARis codedasPrrrrandiscodedinhundredthsofaninch.AtraceisP0000.Example:P0009=.09inchesof precipitation. 3AND6HOURPRECIPITATIONAMOUNT:3and6hourprecipitation(waterequivalent)iscodedas 6RRRR.Theprecipitationamountinhundredthsofaninchforthepast3hoursisreportedin03,09,15, and21UTCobservations.Theprecipitationforthepast6hoursisreportedin00,06,12,and18UTC observations.Atraceisencodedas60000.Example:60116=1.16inchesofprecipitation. 24HOURPRECIPITATIONAMOUNT:24hourprecipitation(waterequivalent)iscodedas 7R24R24R24R24.Theprecipitationamountinhundredthsofaninchforthepast24hoursisreportedin the12UTCobservation. HOURLYTEMPERATUREANDDEWPOINT:Hourlytemperatureanddewpointarecodedas TsnTaTaTasaTaTaTa.BotharemeasuredintenthsofadegreeCelsius.sniscodedas1ifthe temperatureisbelow0Cand0ifthetemperatureis0Corhigher.Example:T00241011=the temperatureis2.4Candthedewpointis1.1C. 6HOURMAXIMUMTEMPERATURE:6hourmaximumtemperatureiscodedas1snTxTxTxandis measuredintenthsofadegreeCelsius.sniscodedas1ifthetemperatureisbelow0Cand0ifthe temperatureis0Corhigher.Example:10214=21.4C,11134=13.4C. 6HOURMINIMUMTEMPERATURE:6hourminimumtemperatureiscodedas2snTnTnTnandis measuredintenthsofadegreeCelsius.sniscodedas1ifthetemperatureisbelow0Cand0ifthe temperatureis0Corhigher. 24HOURMAXIMUMANDMINIMUMTEMPERATURE:24hourmaximumandminimumtemperature arecodedas4snTxTxTxsnTnTnTnandarereportedatmidnightlocalstandardtime.Botharemeasured intenthsofadegreeCelsius.sniscodedas1ifthetemperatureisbelow0Cand0ifthetemperatureis 0Corhigher. PRESSURETENDENCY:Thisiscodedas5appp,whereaisthecharacter(trend)ofpressurechangeand pppisthechangeinpressureintenthsofhPaoverthepastthreehours.Example:58018=pressure fallingthenfallingrapidly1.8hPa. ENSORSTATUSINDICATORS:Thesemaybereported:RVRNO:RVRmissing,PWINO:precipitation identifierinformationnotavailable,PNO:precipitationamountnotavailable,FZRANO:freezingrain informationnotavailable,TSNO:thunderstorminformationnotavailable,VISNO[LOC]:visibilityat secondlocationnotavailable,and;CHINO[LOC]:skyconditionatsecondarylocationnotavailable. MAINTENANCECHECKINDICATOR:Thesymbol$willappeariftheASOSdetectsthatapreventative maintenancecheckisneeded.

DATA NOT AUTOMATICALLY PROVIDED BY ASOS

WeatherelementsnotcurrentlyprovidedautomaticallybyASOSarelisted.Elementsmarkedwithan asterisk(*)maybeaddedbyanobserver(seeBackupandAugmentation). Tornado* Snowfall Funnelcloud Snowdepth Waterspout Snowwaterequivalent Thunderstorms* Cloudsabove12,000FT Hail* Virga* Icecrystals Distantprecipitation Snowpellets Distantclouds Snowgrains Localvariationsin Icepellets Visibility Drizzle Towervisibility* Freezingdrizzle Specificvisibilityvaluesabove10miles VolcanicAsh* Blowingsnow Dust Blowingsand Groundfog Smoke Blowingdust Icefog Blowingspray loudtypes NOTE:ThedegreeofaugmentationatservicelevelAorBsitesincludesotherparametersinadditionto thosewiththeasterisk.

MISSING DATA AND NONEVENT DATA

Intheeventthattheprecipitationidentifiersensorisnotoperational,theremarkPWINO(present weatherinformationnotavailable)willbeplacedintheSTATUSREMARKSsectionoftheobservation.In thiscase,ASOSwillnotbeabletoreportRA,SN,orUP.IftheFreezingRainsensorisnotoperational, theremarkFZRANO(Freezingraininformationnotavailable)willappearintheSTATUSREMARKS.When noprecipitationisoccurringandthetemperatureordewpointareinoperative,anobstructiontovision isreportedashazeifthevisibilityis4or5statutemiles.Ifthevisibilityislessthan4statutemiles,fogor mistwillbereported.Ifthetemperatureordewpointsensor,andthevisibilitysensorareinoperative ASOScannotreportanobstructiontovision.TheMaintenanceCheckIndicator($)willappearinthe STATUSREMARKSiftheASOSrequiresrepairorifroutinepreventativemaintenanceisneeded.Inthe examplebelow,windspeedanddirection,RVR,andtemperaturearemissing,sotheyareomitted.The MaintenanceCheckIndicator($)attheendoftheobservationshowsthattheASOSrequires maintenance METARKABC121755AUTO1SMBKN015A2990$

BACKUP AND AUGMENTATION

Backupistheprocessofmanuallyeditingspecificelementswithintheobservationorprovidinga completemanualobservationandalternatemeansofdisseminationincaseoftotalASOSfailure. Backupincludessubstitutingmanuallyobserveddatafor"missing"orunrepresentativedatatoensure thatobservationcontentiscorrectandcomplete. AugmentationistheprocessofaddinginformationtoanASOSobservationthatisnotprovidedor observedautomatically.Thisinformationisderivedbyanobserver.Anexampleofaugmentationwould beaddingtheoccurrenceofathunderstormtotheobservation.

VOICE MESSAGES
ASOScomputergeneratedvoicemessagearemadeavailablethroughtelephonedialinaccessandare broadcastdirectlytopilotsviagroundtoairradio(whereinstalled).Theinformationcontainedinthe groundtoairradiobroadcastmessageandthetelephonedialinmessageareidentical.Thevoice messageiscomposedofthebodyoftheASOSobservationandselectedremarks.Selectedremarkscan includevariablevisibility,towervisibility,orDensityAltitudewhen1,000ormorefeetaboveairport elevation.ControltowerpersonnelmayaddNoticetoAirmen(NOTAM)orotherinformation.Notethat winddirectioninthevoicemessageisgivenindegreesmagnetic.

SENSOR DESCRIPTION
SKYCONDITION:ASOSskyconditionisdeterminedbyalaserceilometerreferredtoastheCloudHeight Indicator(CHI).TheCHIisusedtodetectthepresenceofcloudsdirectlyoverheadupto12,000feet AGL. VISIBILITY:ASOSvisibilityisbasedonlightscattering.Thevisibilitysensorprojectsabeamoflightover averyshortdistance,andthelightthatisscatteredisdetectedbyareceiver.Theamountoflight scatteredandthenreceivedbythesensorisconvertedintoavisibilityvalue. PRESENTWEATHERANDOBSTRUCTIONSTOVISION:TherearetwoASOSpresentweathersensors.The PrecipitationIdentifier(PI)sensordiscriminatesbetweenrain(RA)andsnow(SN).TheFreezingRain (FZRA)sensordetectsfreezingrain.ASOSevaluatesmultiplesensordataandinfersthepresenceof obstructionstovision. ThePIsensorhasthecapabilitytodetectandreportRA,RA,+RA,SN,SN,+SN.Whenrainandsnow aremixedandtheprevailingprecipitationtypecannotbedetermined,ASOSwillreportUP.

TheFreezingRainsensormeasuresaccumulationratesaslowas0.01inchesperhour.Iffreezingrainis detectedandthePIsensorindicatesnoprecipitationorrain,thenfreezingrainisreported.Iffreezing rainisdetectedwhenthePIindicatessnow,thensnowisreported. ObstructionstovisionarenotdirectlymeasuredbyASOS,butinferredfrommeasurementsofvisibility, temperature,anddewpoint.ThereareonlytworeportedbyASOS:Fog(FG)andHaze(HZ),andonly whenthevisibilityisbelow7statutemiles. TEMPERATUREANDDEWPOINT:TheASOStemperatureanddewpointsensorsdirectlymeasurethe airanddewpointtemperatures. WIND:ASOSsenseswindspeedanddirectionusingarotatingcupanemometerandwindvane.Wind characterandpeakwindareobtainedbycomparingaverageandmaximumwindspeeds. PRESSURE:Becausepressuremeasurementiscritical,threeseparateandindependentpressuresensors areusedatlargerairports.Twopressuresensorsareusedatotherlocations. PRECIPITATIONACCUMULATION:ASOSusesaHeatedTippingBucketprecipitationgauge.