The Techsense Aviation Weather Observation System or Automated Weather Observation System (AWOS) is an advanced real-time, Internet-ready weather observation system for airports and the aviation industry. It is designed using a combination of latest technologies and powered by the Techsense AQ Real-time Data Acquisition System and METairport Processing system. The Techsense AWOS is able to seamlessly integrate to most sensors and systems.

Best Of Breed Sensors

The Techsense AWOS is built on an open architecture platform, enabling users to have the flexibility to choose the meteorological sensors of their choice and any hydro-meteorological sensors from any manufacturer. It empowers the user to choose the most suitable sensors accordingly and configure the AWOS system based on the best of breed sensors for maximum output.

Realtime Data Acquisition & Processing

The Techsense AQ is an advanced real-time Internet-ready data acquisition and telementary control system built by a powerful low-powered processor, and modular data acquisition modules to suit the user's needs. Techsense AQsense firmware is user-friendly and easy for configuration. It is also flexible, modular and packed with features that enable users to achieve real-time data acquisition while having the capability to remotely control, configure and update both firmware and configuration files. The AQ can also acquire data from another AQ unit, allowing for many topologies to suit the AWOS system configuration.

In a typical AWOS setup, the AQ will perform the following:
- Acquire real-time sensor reading
- Data conditioning based on user-defined sensors calibration table
- Data validation based on user defined limits
- Perform calculation of derived products based on user defined algorithms
- Data logging
- Data streaming
- Communications based on user preferred protocols
- Supports another AQ in the event that a hybrid network topology is deployed.

Advanced Data Processing

The Techsense METairport is an advanced real-time Internet-ready airport meteorological data processing system which is suitable for international and domestic airports. It is fully compliant with ICAO and WMO messages and data format as in WMO 306 and Annex 3. It calculates Dew Point, Relative Humidity, QNH and QFE based on the readings from relevant sensors. METairport also performs the Runway Visual Range (RVR) calculation based on Visibility Sensor Reading and optional output from Runway Light Intensity Measurement (RLIM). Plus, it also performs cross wind and issues alerts based on runway direction and wind sensor readings.

It presents all real-time information (sensor readings and derived products) via a standard web-browser and provides alarms and alerts in the event that the value exceeds preset trigger level. METairport is capable of presenting the information in many different formats such as numerical, wind dial, graphs and charts or when needed it can also output PDF files as requested by the user. METairport is capable of composing ICAO and WMO formatted messages including METAR and SPECi, TREND and TAF. The user is presented with a screen when using a free format message. METairport has a built-in Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) to store all data. Users can retrieve past data easily from a query screen.

METairport can be easily integrated with other meteorological systems such as Climatological Databases, Meteorological Message Switching Systems, Numerical Weather Prediction System and Visualization System. It can be easily integrated with external systems in the airport, namely Automatic Terminal Information System (ATIS), Airfield Ground Lighting (AGL) and Air Traffic Management System means it can easily form part of nationwide AWOS monitoring for all airports.

Benefits & Advantages

Cost Effectiveness
The Techsense Surface Meteorological Observation System is a cost effective meteorological solution for any applications or deployment. It is highly flexible and modular to meet customers requirements.

• With modern TCP/IP architecture, customers can choose to use any means of communication such as WiFi, WAN, Serial Network, UHF and even GSM (GPRS, EDGE, 3G and HSDPA).
• As the system is built as a web application with user friendly web interface, customers do not need to worry about multiple user license and installation of software for different users or PCs.
• With the flexibility to choose sensors from any manufacturer, customers are allowed to choose from any brands based on their preference.
• With its modularity, Techsense Surface Meteorological Observation System is literally a plug-and-play system therefore reducing time for installation and implementation.

Seamless Integration
Techsense Surface Meteorological Observation System is packed with cutting-edge technologies in both hardware and software while enabling the use of multiple communications modes. It is easily integrated with any sensors and communication network. The use of open source tools in building the software architecture enables the user to build upon delivered technologies therefore allowing the Techsense Surface Meteorological Observation System to be easily integrated with other systems. The system is also capable of using most modern methods of data transmission using the latest protocols such as SOAP over http, real-time data streaming, while not ignoring older protocols such as FTP.

Maintainance
The system is built with the capability to monitor and reports equipment malfunction and loss of communication. With accurate information, it enables customers to react promptly to most situations. Single component malfunction does not affect the functionality of the overall system.

Expandability
The Techsense Surface Meteorological Observation System can be easily upgraded so as to add more features to meet higher end requirements. It is also expandable from a standalone system to a nationwide meteorological observation network system.

Specification
Wind Speed and Wind Direction Sensor	Any
Visibility Sensor	Any
Ambient Light or Background Luminance Sensor	Any
Present Weather Sensor	Any
Barometric Pressure Sensor	Any
Air Temperature Sensor	Any
Humidity Sensor	Any
Rainfall Sensor	Any
Data Logger and Telemetry
Hardware
	Minimum ARM9 200MHz RISC-based Processor CPU
	Minimum 32MB On Board Memory
Communication Port
	10/100Mbps and USB Ports
	RS232 and RS485 Serial Ports
	Analog Ports
	Digital Ports
Storage	Minimum 1GB CompactFlash or SD Flash Card
LCD Display	24 X 2 LCD Display
Software and Firmware	Embedded Linux, AQsense, Browser
Application	Web Server
Enclosure	IP-65
Communications	GSM (GPRS,EDGE, 3G and HSDPA), WiFi, ADSL and SDSL, Asynchronous Line
Data Processing Software
User Interface	Internet Explorer, Firefox
WMO Messages
	Automatic and Manual METAR/SPECi Generation
	Visual and Audible Warning
	TREND and SYNOP Edit
Realtime Display	Meteorological Information and Equipment Status
Database	Flat File or Any RDBMS
Operating Environment	Linux Server or PC
Data Processing
	3-second Wind Averaging
	Dew Point
	Relative Humidity
	QFE and QNH
	Runway Visual Range Assessment
	Cross Wind
	All Sensor Readings
File Output	PDF, CSV, ASCII, HTML, and XML
Integration with External Systems	Realtime Data Stream, TCP/IP, PPP, HTTP, FTP
For future expansion purpose, multiple Techsense AWOS from different airports can be connected via Techsense METcenter, allowing autoritieies to monitor multiple airports weather conditions from just one location.