ESC installations put weather on the wire

  • Published
  • By Chuck Paone
  • 66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
HANSCOM AFB, Mass. --  By installing a key weather information dissemination tool at two locations in Southwest Asia last month, the Electronic Systems Center has greatly improved access to critical, real-time data for warfighters in theater. 

The New Tactical Forecasting System, or NTFS, allows weather-condition data picked up by newly installed sensor suites to flow into a network. Operators at the local weather station, the air traffic control tower, and even operational weather squadrons half a world away can tap in and pull up the data they need. 

"Weather operators and the entire air traffic community can see real-time conditions, as well as watches, warnings and special alerts, which are being issued by forecasters thousands of miles away," said Dave Lamoreaux of the 651st Electronic Systems Squadron, who oversaw the installations in Southwest Asia. 

With NFTS, base weather station operators no longer need to manually send weather observations via fax, phone or email to the operational weather squadrons, said Lionel Rocheleau of the 651st. By creating an autonomous server-to-server flow, the information can be sent automatically or with the push of a button, and it flows continuously, so forecasters at the weather squadrons can be sure it's up to date. 

The weather squadrons, in turn, are better able to provide their customers, including operators at command and control centers who are putting together air tasking orders, with better, timelier products. 

"Because we generally don't have forecasters at each forward location, the weather squadrons, which are often very far away, really need to have this level of data access and speed," Mr. Rocheleau said. 

Other groups whose activities are also often affected by weather conditions can pick up these constant weather feeds, too. Civil engineers, fire department personnel, security forces and those dealing munitions and fuels, for instance, can all see - though they can't manipulate - the data. 

"This is the network-centric way of keeping the freshest possible weather data inside the decision-making loop," said Pat Dagle, director of the 651st. "Speed, efficiency and product quality all go up with the addition of this tool." 

These NTFS installations come on the heels of larger hardware installations in theater. ESC wrapped up a five-year, $70 million effort to replace 110 fixed-based weather sensing systems at sites across the globe when it installed a state-of-the-art sensor suite at a key base within the Southwest Asian Area of Responsibility in early October. 

The fixed based system, called the FMQ-19, is a collection of weather sensors placed near runways. These sensors collect weather data, integrate it into a common format and transfer it to an operator display at base weather units, according to 1st Lt.. David Wyatt of the 651st Electronic Systems Squadron, program manager for the system. 

"They automate the work previously done by observers," Lieutenant Wyatt said. "They save a lot of manpower and provide better data." 

By adding NTFS, the 651st has significantly enhanced the operational dividends that those fixed-based systems had already begun to provide. 

"This is another great step forward in our effort to put solid weather data in the hands of every operator who needs it, when they need it," Mr. Dagle said. "We can't control or change the weather, but we can make sure everyone knows what it is, and that they're able to plan accordingly."