Jeff LaDouce Director, NWS Pacific Region
Pacific Region AOR
WSO’s: -To be collocated at airports, where possible. - Hourly weather observing functions now supplied by SAWRS certified staff to be taken over by WSO staff after co-located facilities are built. - Refurbishments at Chuuk and Pohnpei (pictured).
WSO PLANS Pohnpei: Construction will start early CY10 and take about a year. Palau: Design is complete; funds are in hand – awaiting lease and extended service agreement. Chuuk: Modernization design will start in FY10 with construction in FY11. May start earlier.
Challenge: F420 Wind system Not organizationally supportable Fixed mounting requires two personnel
RSOIS equipment on 10 meter Rohn tower. Wind speed and direction from an ultrasonic sensor – no moving parts. Installations will be on tilting towers – requiring only one technician.
Radiosonde Surface Observing Instrumentation System (RSOIS) Fielded and fully supported Solid state, data sent by either fiber optic cable or RF – up to 2 miles
OBSERVING: -Fully automated surface observing system – DOI Grants? -WSO observing staff/SAWRS observers would monitor system, provide augmentation to discreet weather elements and backup for data elements. Operator’s Interface Device (OID) to log into the system and provide human oversight. -Airfield Operations personnel to have a data display. -WSO/SAWRS: -Working with Airport Authorities to ensure quality control of observations and management of program. -Working with Airline Partners’ to ensure quality observations.