The potential for remote tower measurements of point visibility in the determination of slant range visibility for aircraft landing operations was explored through analysis of data collected at the Air Force Geophysics Laboratory Weather Test Facility at Otis AFB, Massachusetts. This report described initial experiments that deal with an analysis of the small scale variability of extinction coefficient in time and space. Data from two instrumented towers spaced 1500 ft apart were classified for investigation of the horizontal variability of visibility at elevations up to 100 ft and space-time variability for lag periods from 0 to 10 minutes. The preliminary tests give additional evidence that the runway visual range (RVR) measurements alone often are not representative of pilot visibility during approach and touchdown. Remote measurements of visibility using either a 50-ft or 100-ft instrumented tower would add significantly to the real safety of 'see-to-land' operations under conditions of Categories I, II, and IIIa through an improved description of conditions related to airfield visibility. (Author).

Several sensors and techniques currently being investigated at the Air Force Geophysics Laboratory as part of its program to automate the observation of weather parameters are described. Included are a lidar cloud-height measuring system, a laser weather identifier, a decision tree approach for determination of present weather, a lidar slant visual range measuring system, and a tower mounted visibility meter approach for determination of slant visual range. (Author).

Wind data have been analyzed to produce frequencies of occurrence of slant wind shear with respect to surface wind speed, time of day, vertical temperature gradient and wind shear direction differences. Slant wind shear (SWS) is a measurement that more closely approximates the shear encountered by an aircraft on takeoff or landing. It is computed as the wind shear between a higher level wind (in this study, 60 m) and the surface separated by a horizontal distance equivalent to that which an aircraft would traverse in descending or ascending that height. Additional study was also completed on the specification of slant wind shear along the runway through the use of an offset towersurface site system.

A microprocessor-based automated airfield weather observing and forecasting system called MAWS (Modular Automated Weather System) was developed to demonstrate the feasibility of modernizing many of the observing and forecasting functions performed in operational base weather stations. Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, was chosen as the demonstration site and operations were conducted from January 1977 through January 1979. Weather sensors at five observation sites around the airfields were polled several times each minute, the data transmitted over commercial, voice-grade telephone lines to a central supervisory microprocessor where the data were suitably collated, averaged and formatted for display on alpha-numeric display devices at key locations and for magnetic tape archiving for post analysis. The demonstration confirmed that modernized weather support can be largely achieved with state-of-the-art, commercially available hardware/software. Such a system would be compatible with other automation efforts in civilian weather services and other C-cubed efforts in the DOD. The advantage of spatially and temporally detailed weather information in marginal and adverse situations was documented. Sensor siting considerations were addressed in relation to specific weather elements and observational requirements. The contributions of automated met watch procedures and short-range guidance forecasts of RVR landing minima were demonstrated. Feedback on system performance and acceptability was obtained from cognizant AWS offices.