Vandenberg AFB is the third largest Air Force base with approximately 400km2. With 56km of Central California coastline, a hilly terrain, and coastal mountains with peak and valleys to protect, Vandenberg has been likened to a nature preserve. Among a large suite of weather instrumentation, Vandenberg AFB CA has three Automated Surface Observing Systems (ASOS), one located on north base, one on south base and one at the airfield. These ASOS instruments were procured and installed in August 1995 to meet the requirement for surface observations at the spacelift and ballistic missile launch pads. The Air Force also has an official weather observer at the airfield to take hourly observations, and special observations under appropriate conditions.
In the current environment of downsizing and decreasing operations budgets, all equipment, instrumentation, and resources are scrutinized for their functionality and efficiency. Since Vandenberg is in a unique position, a location where at least one ASOS and an official observer are colocated, conditions exist to compare the automated observation with a human observervation. The human observation is taken as ground truth. How accurate is the ASOS compared to the human observation?
This comparison study includes the following meteorological parameters: ceiling, visibility, wind direction and speed, and pressure. From this study, the accuracy of the ASOS will be quantified for Vandenberg's airfield. The advantages and disadvantages of the ASOS will be enumerated, and, the functionality and efficiency of the ASOS, and thus its future at Vandenberg AFB can be evaluated.
The 8th Conference on Aviation, Range, and Aerospace Meteorology