PhotonDrvr
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2013
- Messages
- 83
- Reaction score
- 16
Interesting to see that weather-related issues made the list. In some respects, I don't think avaition weather information has improved all that much over the 80 years it's been done, and assuming it's not deliberate, VFR pilots are still being trapped into IMC.
Back in the 60's you could tune your trusty ADF receiver and get transcribed weather observed by a weather bureau office at your destination. I know because I built an LF receiver to listen to the local station when I was a kid. Now the local offices are being closed and automated equipment is being relied on more and more. Sure we have AWOS and ASOS, but more and more of the sensors are "unreliable". If not, they only "observe" the weather directly above the station.
Yes, we have satellite observation, but it only tells us where the cloud tops are, based on temperatures. They miss the vital cloud base info needed by VFR pilots. That has to be done by "observation".
The weather folks still use the arcane abbreviations developed in the teletype days and the weather map formats based on hand-drawn maps.
We missed an opportunity for low-cost weather transmission when we went to digital TV. Why not have each city use a couple of unused channels to continuously broadcast local sky observation and weather radar? Only a cheap digital TV receiver would be required instead of an expensive ADS-B receiver and MFD. And the general public might use the info too.
Back in the 60's you could tune your trusty ADF receiver and get transcribed weather observed by a weather bureau office at your destination. I know because I built an LF receiver to listen to the local station when I was a kid. Now the local offices are being closed and automated equipment is being relied on more and more. Sure we have AWOS and ASOS, but more and more of the sensors are "unreliable". If not, they only "observe" the weather directly above the station.
Yes, we have satellite observation, but it only tells us where the cloud tops are, based on temperatures. They miss the vital cloud base info needed by VFR pilots. That has to be done by "observation".
The weather folks still use the arcane abbreviations developed in the teletype days and the weather map formats based on hand-drawn maps.
We missed an opportunity for low-cost weather transmission when we went to digital TV. Why not have each city use a couple of unused channels to continuously broadcast local sky observation and weather radar? Only a cheap digital TV receiver would be required instead of an expensive ADS-B receiver and MFD. And the general public might use the info too.
