AUTOMATED WEATHER OBSERVING SYSTEMS (AWOS)

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Sector Humboldt Bay is located at the Arcata-Eureka (ACV) Airport in McKinleyville, CA. Being located less than one mile from the ocean presents unique weather conditions at the Arcata-Eureka Airport including heavy fog which makes the execution of training or SAR missions difficult. Minimum weather conditions, which are reported by the Arcata-Eureka airport, to conduct training missions under F.A.A. Instrument Flight Rules and in accordance with 3710.G USCG Air Operations are often not met, due to consistent extreme weather. Due to high flight cancelation rates of training because of heavy fog, valuable pilot and air crew proficiency is impacted and creates an increasing risk to Coast Guard personnel who are expected to operate within the fog during urgent search and rescue operations. Sector Humboldt Bay has been granted a waiver by CG-711 to operate within weather parameters that are different from other Coast Guard weather minimums, to preserve valuable training opportunities. Certain weather conditions must be met in order to enact the waiver as a risk mitigation strategy. One of these conditions is to be able to prove that weather at a local airport; specifically Kneeland Airport in Kneeland, CA, has weather that exceeds a predefined set of parameters to allow crew an alternate landing site in case a return to base at Arcata-Eureka airport in McKinleyville, CA is impossible. Kneeland Airport is used due to its high elevation of 2,700 feet above sea level, which is usually well above the fog of Arcata-Eureka Airport (ACV). At this time, the only method of confirming the weather is within sufficient parameters at Kneeland Airport in order to enact the waiver is by calling prior to take off/landing to obtain a verbal weather report. An operator is only available at Kneeland Heli-Tack Base four to five months a year which is manned by seasonal employees from the California State Department of Forestry (Cal Fire). Seven to eight months a year the CG waiver is unable to be used due to the weather conditions at Kneeland Airport being unascertainable. The Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS) will allow Sector Humboldt Bay to utilize Kneeland Airport as an alternate take-off/landing site during periods of low visibility weather or fog conditions year around. This will allow continued USCG training and execution of SAR even in reduced weather conditions. SCOPE OF WORK: Provide materials, installation / set-up and FAA certification of an Automated Weather Observing System III (AWOSIII). This system is to include an AWOS system that observes wind, temperature, dew point, rainfall, altimeter reading in inches of mercury (InHg) ceiling and cloud cover,; Remote Monitoring with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Quality Control, VHF transceiver; Online Records including initial setup and ongoing verification; Global Connect including METAR (formatted weather reporting information) to Web, and hourly reporting with auto updates; Visibility Sensor, calibration kit and monitoring; Sky Condition Sensor which will provide sky conditions and precipitation. This system will be FAA certified and the contracting company will provide such certification along with installation, and yearly maintenance checks for the first 5 years. LOCATION: Equipment is to be shipped to USCG Sector Humboldt Bay, 1001 Lycoming Way, McKinleyville, CA 95519. Project site/equipment will be installed at Kneeland Airport, Kneeland, CA. 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