Over the past two years, meteorological experts Biral and MicroStep-MIS have been updating and upgrading all of the national airports across Nepal to meet the latest international standards and take advantage of the latest innovations related to automatic weather stations (AWS) and automated weather observation systems (AWOS).
The new AWOS systems are installed at 16 national and international airports across Nepal, including a full Runway Visual Range System (RVR) at the country’s capital airport of Kathmandu. Situated at 1,338m above sea level and surrounded by mountains, the site is one of the most dramatic settings for an airport in the world and is also the gateway to the Himalayas. Fifteen of the airports operate new ceilometers alongside the AWOS systems giving them a complete view of the cloud levels above each airport, enhancing their local reporting and weather monitoring.
Each of the AWOS systems feed data automatically into the MicroStep-MIS proprietary display and archiving software system, IMS4 AWOS, with the advanced IMS4 system able to measure, process, store, present and communicate all meteorological data at the airport.
The measurements come from a variety of meteorological sensors, manual observations, and WMO codes received from GTS and AFTN and can provide real-time weather data to observers, air traffic controllers, pilots and other users in the form of graphs, WMO codes, alarms, and voice reports. It can also interface with upper air systems, Low Level Windshear Alert Systems, and radars.
The Biral Present Weather Sensors (SWS-250) were chosen because of their extreme reliability in the harsh operating conditions as well as their ability to differentiate and classify frozen precipitation accurately.
The SWS-250 is optimized for use in aviation applications where both visibility and extended present and past weather information is required. With its ultimate visibility performance, the visual range can extend to 99.99km, allowing for use in meteorological observation networks and research applications.
Nathan Neal, sales and marketing director of Biral commented, “We are very excited to have hit this milestone with MicroStep-MIS and see the Nepalese airports benefiting from our sensors. We look forward to achieving similar results in other locations in the future.”