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| About This Page |
| The National Weather Service modernized in the
1990s, with great technological advances. To see some of the new technology, look below. |
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ASOS |
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| Weather observations have been taken for years, with most of the work done
by hand. Temperature, dewpoint temperature (i.e. represents how much moisture is in
the air), pressure, and wind measurements are gathered hourly, logged on
paper and in a computer and then sent to the world. While this provides ample
information to forecast and aviation communities, wouldn't it be nice to have data sent
more often and from data sparse areas where observations are not ordinarily taken?
Now this is a reality. |
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ASOS (Automated Surface Observing System) is
being installed in over 850 sites across the United States. It provides weather
data every minute...24 hours a day.
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| In the
picture above: An ASOS site at the Little Rock National Airport.
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| How does ASOS transmit its
information? ASOS provides computer-generated voice directly to aircraft in the vicinity
of airports, using FAA VHF ground-to-air radio. The same information is available through
a dial-in telephone and most of the data is also provided on the national weather data
network (i.e. on news and weather wires and on the internet). |
| While the system has proven to be very beneficial,
it does need maintenance at times. Electronic technicians maintain eight (8) ASOS units in
the Little Rock County Warning Area. |
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