#Omnipresence plus

New camera technology allows for higher resolution images with 360 degree views, which allows for larger individual images and enables users to pan, tilt, and zoom within the image. There are also a number of hardware improvements.

#Omnipresence plus

These include route-based data acquisition, more weather data sets, the ability to develop and save favorites and flight routes, and a graphical user interface (GUI) for dispatchers and flight followers.Ī screenshot of the new AV CAMS Plus website showing the enhanced layout of the camera site integrated into the map which allows faster movement between camera sites. It adds mobile device support, more map layers, graphical icons for METARs/TAFs/PIREPs, airport information documents and a search function. You can already see some of these improvements in the new site:. First are a host of improvements to the WCAM website. Going forward, several innovations hold promise for the WCAM program. If you know a location that might benefit from a weather camera, talk to your state DOT representatives to see if they might be interested in supporting or partnering with the FAA.

The hope is that the minimal technical requirements for weather camera equipment will allow for a plethora of non-FAA cameras to be added to the system. However, the partnership avenue allows the WCAM program to grow faster than FAA resources alone would permit. The agency has identified 170 possible weather camera sites in the continental United States, typically in mountain passes with known controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) hazards. The FAA also hopes to establish more agency-owned systems. The FAA hopes this partnership will provide a template for other state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) and municipalities to follow in the future. Upon completion, the FAA wishes to integrate those images into its weather camera website for all aviators to use as a part of their flight and operational decision making.

For example, the agency has recently signed a Cost Reimbursable Agreement with the Colorado state Division of Aeronautics to transfer its technical solutions, and to assist them with the installation of robust and capable camera facilities at 13 of their mountain-top Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS) facilities. Wondering about the lower 48 states? The FAA is working with organizations like state-level departments of transportation and municipal governments to integrate the images from their existing camera systems. The agency has also gathered some of the necessary funding to begin the rollout of Hawaii weather cameras and expects to complete the process over the next two years.Ī diagram of a modernized weather station that includes cameras. The FAA has identified 23 critical sites and has devised technical solutions for those installations. While the Hawaiian climate is very different from Alaska, the Aloha State experiences the same rapidly changing weather that makes weather cameras so useful. With encouragement from a 2013 National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommendation, there are plans to expand the WCAM program beyond Alaska. Given this success, you may be wondering why these cameras aren’t being used outside of Alaska. No surprise there omnipresence that allows pilots to “see” the actual weather and how it is trending at critical points on a flight path is powerful. Fortunately, some of these challenges diminished as technology improved and cameras became more resilient.Īn image of the weather cameras available in Alaska in early 2020.Ī 2012 FAA study concluded that the WCAM program had coincided with and contributed to a 53 percent decrease in the weather-related aviation accident rate in Alaska. There is also the need to get images back to a central server in a timely manner and at a reasonable cost. The logistics of installing, powering and maintaining these cameras, especially in an area as unforgiving as Alaska, are just the beginning. Given the widespread availability of low-cost but high-quality cameras nowadays, this description skims over the very real challenges of making the program work as intended. The Alaska Weather Camera (WCAM) program goal was to stop the “go-out-and-take-a-look” flights by placing cameras in mountain passes, and remote or unattended airports, so pilots could “see” the weather conditions before takeoff. The FAA’s weather camera program started about two decades ago in Alaska as a way to give pilots “eyes on” meteorological information in areas too remote for more traditional observation. This article was originally published in the March/April 2020 issue of FAA Safety Briefing magazine.