161/2003 - Vaisala

161/2003

Introducing the RS92 Radiosonde family New Vaisala Radiosonde Platform

Vaisala delivers WODA System to New Runway at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport

Meteorological data from remote locationsAustralian Offshore AWS Installations

Focusing on environmental aspectsVaisala Environmental Management System Certified to ISO 14001

+Vaisala 161-taitto 17.1.2003 15:13 Sivu 1

2 161/2003

Contents

Editor-in-Chief:Ritva Siikamäki

Publisher:Vaisala Oyj P.O. Box 26FIN-00421 HelsinkiFINLAND

Phone (int.):+358 9 894 91

Telefax:+358 9 8949 2227

Internet:http://www.vaisala.com

Design and Artwork:Edita Prima

Editors:Bellcrest Translations Ltd

Printed in Finland byEdita Prima, Finland

ISSN 1238-2388

Cover photo:The new Vaisala Radiosonde RS92 combines the proven, pressure, temperature and humiditymeasurement of RS90 sensors with the high wind data availability of code-correlating GPStechnology.

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Printed matter

Vaisala in Brief– We develop, manufacture andmarket products and services forenvironmental and industrialmeasurements.

– The purpose of these measure-ments is to provide a basis for abetter quality of life, cost sa-vings, protection of the environ-ment, improved safety and bet-ter performance.

– We focus on market segmentswhere we can be the world leader,the preferred supplier. We put ahigh priority on customer satis-faction and product leadership.We secure our competitive advan-tage through economies of scaleand scope.

After a forest fire has been brought undercontrol, the environment is left susceptible tonew natural disasters, such as erosion andflash floods. Hillsides can turn into gushingmudslides and the fast flowing water canthreaten homes and communities. One of thelargest forest fires in the state of Coloradoswept through the Glenwood area in earlysummer 2002. Environmental specialistsrelied on Vaisala Remote AutomatedWeather Stations (RAWS) in the area toreport on very localized weather conditions.P H OTO C O U RT E S Y O F DA N S O K A L ,B U R E AU O F L A N D M A N A G E M E N T.

“Squadron 2000” of the Finnish Navy usesVaisala Ultrasonic Wind Sensors to supporttheir operations at sea. The sensors areincorporated into the ships’ navigationsystems both in the fast attack craft and thehovercraft of the squadron. The harshconditions on the northern seas set stringentrequirements for wind sensors - met by theUltrasonic Wind Sensor.

Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state inGermany, utilizes a large road condition andweather data network for safer winterdriving and efficient winter maintenance.Recently extended, the network nowcomprises 31 Vaisala ROSA Road WeatherStations and associated data display andmanagement tools. Covering the entirenetwork of highways in the Bundesland, thesystem provides winter maintenancepersonnel with valuable data for decision-making support.

President's Column 3

Upper air

New Vaisala RS92 Radiosonde Platform 4

Bureau of Meteorology Modernizes the Observation Network 6

New DigiCORA III Tethersonde System 8

Cutting-Edge Weather Support in Piemonte 10

Metéo-France Upgrades to Fully Automated Systems 11

The Lighter Dropsounding System: AVAPS Lite 12

Surface weather

Australian Offshore AWS Installations 14

Vaisala Ultrasonic Wind Sensors at the Finnish Navy 16

Vaisala RAWS Stations Protecting Againstthe Natural Disaster of Forest Fire 18

Traffic weather

Road Condition and Weather Station Network in Schleswig-Holstein 21

Vaisala Transportation Weather Network in Maine 24

Aviation weather

Early Detection of Hazardous Conditions with New MIDAS IV LLWAS System 26

New Runway for Larger Capacity - WODA System at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport 28

Remote sensing

International Lightning Detection Conference in Tucson 32

New System for Efficient Lightning Tracking and Automated Warnings 33

Vaisala LAP Digital IF - Superior Wind Profiler Data 34

Radar Wind Profiler Technology to DWD 35

Additional features

Vaisala Environmental Management System 36

Meteorex 2002 & TECO 2002 in Bratislava 38

In Memoriam Dr. Yrjö Toivola 39


Weather prediction models, akind of measurement in them-selves, combine the observationdata and calculate weather fore-casts which are in turn distri-buted to their users. When theAUTOSONDE System, with re-mote use and diagnostics, isadded to this procedure, we areagain utilizing MICT.

MICT has allowed us to ob-tain important weather measure-ment data from locations thatare difficult to access. Satellitecommunications enable auto-matic measurement even in themost remote locations. An auto-mated radiosounding stationcan operate on a faraway island,and the risk for wildfire can berecognized even in the deepestforests.

Weather systems on theroadside, sending weather datato road maintenance authoritiesand users anywhere, are now

161/2003 3

President’s Column

T he frequently usedacronym ITC refers to In-formation and Commu-

nication Technology. The conver-gence of information and com-munication technology is becom-ing more and more advanced, andnew applications are found inmany of its branches. It has grownto be a part of our everyday life.The industry of this branch isnowadays called the ICT industry.

In our case, measurement isalways related to ICT. Since theoperation sequence usually be-gins with measurements andcontinues with the tools of infor-mation and communicationtechnology, one could add theletter M (for measurement) tothe beginning of the acronym.This way it could be said thatVaisala represents the MICT in-dustry.

Examples of convergence inthe MICT industry abound. Themost clear-cut case might beGPS-based wind measurement inradiosondes. The satellite signalsare first received and correlationscalculated in the radiosonde, andthe calculation results are thensent with digital modulation tothe ground station where differ-ential measurement calculationsare carried out. Measurement da-ta is transmitted via LAN, WANor another network to the user.

possible - thanks to MICT. The measurement of true

wind on a moving ship and theuse of the data in real time bothon board ship and outside it canbe made with the help of MICT.

There is a wealth of possibili-ties, many of which still remainundiscovered. The use of thesethree technologies – measure-ment, information and commu-nication technology – can helpus to achieve amazing results,improved performance, reducedenvironmental impacts andmuch more.

However, to produce MICTrequires a lot of competence andan ability to learn quickly. Thatis what we do, that is our job. ●

Pekka KetonenPresident and CEO

Measurement, Information and Communication Technologies, MICT


V aisala introduced itsfirst generation GPS(Global Positioning

System) radiosonde to the mar-ket as early as in 1997 when GPStechnology was required to re-place radiosondes using theOmega navigation network forwindfinding. After the introduc-tion of this codeless GPS solu-tion, Vaisala has introduced sev-eral enhancements to the GPStechnique in radiosondes. Re-cently Vaisala has been activelydeveloping a code-correlatingGPS solution, specially designedfor the demanding radiosondeapplication.

Code-correlating GPStechnique introducedInitially the Vaisala RS92 ra-

diosonde family includes ver-sions for code-correlating GPSwindfinding and digital datatransmission. The version withLoran-C windfinding and ana-log data transmission will be thenext available after the release ofthe GPS versions. Both of theseradiosondes operate in the400MHz frequency band. At alater stage the RS92 series will becompleted with 1680MHz fre-quency band versions. All theVaisala Radiosondes RS92 utilizethe high accuracy pressure, tem-perature and humidity (PTU)measurement of the provenRS90 sensors.

The RS92 radiosondes arebuilt using ASIC (ApplicationSpecific Integrated Circuit) andmodular electronics technology,

which serve as a configurableplatform for forthcoming prod-uct improvements and technolo-gies. The RS92 radiosondes arelightweight and compact, repre-senting new design and ease ofoperation (see figure 1).

Upgrade kits and a newground check setTogether with the introduction ofthe RS92 family of radiosondes,an upgrade pack is introduced forthe current DigiCORA Sound-ing Systems incorporating a newground check set, GC25.

The GC25 Ground CheckSet offers the possibility to feedin calibration coefficients auto-matically without a paper tapereader. The GC25 is operated us-ing a LCD display and push but-

tons. The GC25 brings tempera-ture ground checking accuracyto a new level by introducingelectrical T-references. The newGC25 is shown in figure 2.

High wind data availability with code-correlating GPSThe new RS92 radiosondes withGPS windfinding are based oncode-correlating GPS (ccGPS)receivers. The Vaisala ccGPS so-lution utilizes generic and robustccGPS receiver architecture. Theoverall system-level performanceis obtained using special receiverfeatures and advanced DSP (Dig-ital Signal Processing) algorithmsoptimized for radiosonde appli-cations. The so-called search en-gine is an important and unique

4 161/2003

Jaakko Hirvensalo, M.Sc. (Eng.)Business Unit Manager

Hannu Jauhiainen, M.Sc. (Eng.)R&D Manager

Jon Währn, M.Sc. (Eng.)Development Manager

Vaisala HelsinkiFinland

New Vaisala RS92 radiosonde platform offers

High Performance and Wind Data AvailabilityAs the world-leading radiosonde manufacturer, Vaisala serves cus-tomers all over the world and continuously develops its instrumenttechnology to meet even the most exacting requirements. The mostrecent improvements are now incorporated into the Vaisala RS92 ra-diosonde family. It combines the proven pressure, temperature andhumidity measurement of RS90 sensors with the high wind dataavailability of code-correlating GPS technology.

Figure 1. The modular design of theVaisala Radiosonde RS92 enablesthe configuration of differentradiosonde versions into the samemechanical construction.

Figure 2. The new Vaisala GroundCheck Set GC25 for RS92Radiosondes.


No interference could be seen inGPS operation of the RS92, noteven with the radiosonde in theradar beam, whereas the refer-ence radiosonde, RS80 with GPS

windfinding, malfunctioned inthe same test setup.

GPS accuracyBy using differential GPS, manyerror sources are eliminated,which translates into a better ac-curacy of upper air windfinding.Accuracy of position and veloci-ty measurement was tested instatic tests and in dual soundingswith a RS90-AG radiosonde.The RS90-AG radiosonde hasbeen proven to produce very ac-curate velocity data, when a suf-ficient number of satellites areavailable. An example of a com-parison between the RS92 andRS80 velocity, or windfinding, isshown in figure 4.

Preliminary uncertainty (ac-curacy) results of the RS92 areshown in table 2.

The following further sum-marizes the corresponding GPSperformance parameters fromthe same series of 57 test sound-ings with the RS92.

Although some of the ra-diosondes were released almostimmediately after being broughtout from the shelter, there wereno start gaps in most of thesoundings.

Operation in the presence of RF InterferenceMany sounding stations are lo-cated in areas with sources ofheavy RF interference, typicallydifferent types of radar. This wastaken into account when design-ing the RS92 to achieve the bestpossible operation in strong RFinterference. Firstly, out-of-bandGPS signals are filtered beforebeing amplified, which gives thereceiver high tolerance againstRF interference. Secondly, a sep-arate watchdog function moni-tors the radiosonde functionalityand resets it in case ofsystem malfunction. Inextreme conditions (e.g.the close vicinity ofstrong pulse radar), RFinterference may jam thewhole system. As the ra-diosonde flies away fromthe disturbing radar, thewatchdog circuitry reacti-vates the radiosonde andonly a few seconds of da-ta will be missed. Theperformance of the ra-diosonde has been testedat multiple sites, in vari-ous locations with aradar in close proximity.

Table 1. RS92 prototype soundings, ccGPS receiver performance (a total of 57 soundings)

part of the ccGPS receiver de-sign. This matched filter searchesfor all possible satellite ID’s in aparallel fashion over all possibleDoppler frequency bins. It en-ables faster GPS signal acquisi-tion compared to standard re-ceivers and requires no advanceinformation about satellites orGPS time. Using this approach ittakes less than 20 seconds fromradiosonde power-up to theground equipment producingvalid wind data. For comparison,the best time-to-first-fix value forcommercial GPS receivers (incold start mode) is 45 seconds.

The GPS receiver is designedto have an excellent tracking ca-pability. In typical conditions, allvisible satellites can be foundand tracked to an elevation of 0°and even lower at high altitudes.This results in reliability and highwind data availability. Even thedynamic conditions in a sound-ing do not disturb the receiverthanks to the application-specificccGPS receiver technology.

One of the sounding serieswith the RS92 GPS radiosondewas conducted in fall 2002 witha total of 57 soundings of RS92test radiosondes. Based on theresults of these soundings, theccGPS receiver tracking capabili-ty is excellent and the signal ac-quisition time is very short (onlya few seconds). This specific testwas carried out at three locationsin Europe and South America(see figure 3).

161/2003 5

The current height calcula-tion of the RS80 and RS90 Ra-diosondes is based on pressuremeasurement. However, theVaisala ccGPS technique in theRS92 radiosonde also enablesheight calculation using GPS da-ta, the feasibility of which is be-ing evaluated.

Reliable digital datatransmissionTransmitter functions are mainlyperformed in ASIC circuit,which includes data coding,modulation, mixing with RF andD/A conversion. The transmis-sion is stable as a temperaturecompensated crystal oscillatorand on-chip synthesizer are used.

The radiosonde processorcontrols and monitors the trans-mitter functions. In the case oflow battery voltage, or if thetransmitter is out of lock, theprocessor shuts off the transmit-ter to prevent transmitting on anincorrect frequency.

Thanks to advanced receivertechnology, the radiosonde out-put power has been reduced,while telemetry range

Figure 3. Average EDT wind dataavailability without interpolation,for a total of 57 RS92 Radiosondes.The interpolated EDT dataavailability adds up to 100%. Figure 4. EDT wind comparison between RS80 and RS92.

➤

Parameter SouthAmerica Europe 1 Europe 2

Average track gap at launch (<4 sats) 2.2 s 0.0 s 0.4 s Average low track count (<4 sats) of available raw data frames 0.1 % 0.0% 0.0 %Satellite count, average 9.0 9.5 8.9 Soundings with longer than 20-s track gap 0 0 0

Table 2. Preliminary RS92 DGPSnavigation accuracy

Positioning accuracy, horizontal 10 mPositioning accuracy, vertical 20 mVelocity measurement accuracy 0.2 m/s


6 161/2003

used to create an atmosphericpressure profile for radar windonly flights. ANTDISP is a PCgraphical display of the RB21Omnidirectional Antenna.BOMNAME software will gen-erate standardized Bureau filenames for all flights.

A long cooperationThe Bureau of Meteorology hasbeen an excellent customer forVaisala for a long period of time.

V alued at 6.8 MAUD(3.7 MEUR), the con-tract covers a total of

53 DigiCORA Sounding Sys-tems, of which 46 will be sup-porting Radar windfinding and7 will support GPS windfinding.Windfinding radars are used ex-tensively at Australian mainlandsounding stations both to per-form wind-only flights and pro-vide wind data for non-GPS ra-diosonde flights. To ensure that

the DigiCORA III System canintegrate seamlessly into the Bu-reau of Meteorology’s existingsounding network, existing PC-CORA software modulesRWIND, SLEVEL, ANTDISPand BOMNAME will be incor-porated into the new platform.RWIND will enable the Digi-CORA III to automatically col-lect wind data from windfindingradars. SLEVEL is a standardpressure level program that is

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology signed a contract with VaisalaPty Ltd in July 2002 for the supply of 53 Vaisala DigiCORA III Sound-ing Systems and accessories. The sounding systems will replace PC-CORA and DigiCORA systems in the Bureau network of upper airsounding stations throughout mainland Australia, the Australian

Island territories and Antarctica.

Modernizing the observation network

Bureau of Meteorology’s DigiCORA III Contract

Richard WalshSystems EngineerVaisala Melbourne Australia

The network of stations that Bureau of Meteorology operates for upper air observations covers the entire continent and islands.

performance and data availabili-ty remain excellent, typicallyover 99%. The RS92 radiosondeswith GPS windfinding are com-pliant with the proposed ETSIstandard for digital radiosondes(ETSI EN 302 054-1).

High performancebased on proven PTUsensorsThe performance of the newRS92 radiosonde pressure, tem-perature and humidity (PTU)measurement is based on thewell-proven RS90 sensor tech-nology which is traceable to in-ternational standards. The heat-ed-HUMICAP®, F-THERMO-CAP® and Silicon BARO-CAP® sensors offer a top-ratePTU measurement capability –with a fast response, excellent re-peatability and a high level of ac-curacy. In addition to the provenmeasurement quality an addi-tional enhancement to the hu-midity sensing is introduced inthe RS92 construction. A hu-midity sensor preheating func-tionality is now available for theRS92 radiosondes to removepossible contaminants from thesensor and recover original sen-sor calibration.

ConclusionsWith the introduction of theRS92 radiosonde, Vaisala brings apowerful new platform for upperair measurements to the market.The proven PTU measurementcapability of the Vaisala RS90 ra-diosonde together with the codecorrelating GPS windfindingtechnology, specially developedfor the radiosonde application,opens up higher performancestandards for the most demand-ing radiosonde data users.

Vaisala will provide its cus-tomers with further informationand support to start operationaluse of the RS92 radiosonde.Vaisala seeks to assist users in asmooth transition from RS80and RS90 radiosondes to theRS92, offering improved reliabil-ity and measurement perfor-mance. ●


In the mid-eighties the Bureaustarted using PP11 Sounding Sys-tems in association with theRS80 family of radiosondes. In1992 the Bureau moved to anewer sounding system, the PC-CORA, which has been the stan-dard equipment at all mainlandstations since. In 1989, four Digi-CORA I sounding systems wereinstalled at Australian Antarcticstations. In 1996 the Bureau tookdelivery of the first of 14 AUTO-

SONDE Systems for use at re-mote mainland and island sites.The excellent performance andreliability of past systems have nodoubt contributed to the selec-tion of the DigiCORA III as thenew sounding platform.

Over the past few years,Vaisala Melbourne has striven tobuild up a close working relation-ship with the Bureau of Meteo-rology. This has proved beneficialto both parties. The location of a

Vaisala office in the same city asthis major customer is very im-portant when it comes to negotia-tions and potential problem reso-lution. In Australia/New Zealandthe difference in time zones canoften prove to be a major obsta-cle when doing business with Eu-ropean and American countries.

Modern flexible sounding platform The Vaisala DigiCORA III will

provide the Bureau of Meteorol-ogy with state-of-the-art sound-ing equipment. This is a mod-ern, flexible sounding systemthat offers a wide range of con-nectivity options. The systemutilizes the Microsoft®‚ Win-dows® 2000 Operating Systemand takes advantage of many ofits standard features. A simpli-fied user interface is a key com-ponent as well as a suite of highquality data visualization toolssuch as Metgraph, Tepigram andHodograph. A significant levelof system configurability is in-cluded to allow the system tomeet the unique requirements ofdifferent users. All in all, theDigiCORA III is an ideal plat-form for the Bureau of Meteo-rology’s future RadiosondeGround Processing System re-quirements.

Deliveries of the DigiCORAIII Systems will commence inthe second quarter of 2003. TheBureau will then carry out exten-sive testing of the system andsoftware modules. Remainingsystems will be delivered over thefollowing three-year period. ●

161/2003 7

The DigiCORA III offers a simplified user interface and a suite of high quality data visualization tools, such as Metgraph, Tepigram and Hodograph.

The Bureau of Meteorology usesAUTOSONDE Systems foroperations at remote locations, suchas Meekatharra in WesternAustralia.


T ethered meteorologicalsounding systems havebeen used in boundary

layer research for many years.Due to the scarcity of equipmentdesigned specifically for this typeof experimentation, systems havebeen configured from a widerange of available components.Sensors used in these systems, inmany cases, are not subjected to

validation of accuracy, measure-ment repeatability, or level of per-formance in the tethered sound-ing application. Examples ofunanticipated problems associat-ed with this type of custom inte-gration include out-gassing effectsof various materials on thin filmsensors, neglect of sensor ventila-tion requirements, solar radiationeffects and micro-environments

created by the mechanical hous-ings and deployment devices.

Limitations of custominstrumentsSensors used in custom instru-ment packages have commonlybeen designed for industrial ap-plications, surface weather meas-urements or synoptic soundingapplications. Those meteorolog-

ical sensors used in the few com-mercial tethered instruments of-fered in the past have been inte-grated and subsequently cali-brated as a complete instrument.Unlike radiosondes that are con-sumable instruments, tetherson-des are reusable devices and re-quire periodic re-calibration ofthe sensors. Unfortunately, thismeans calibrating the completeinstrument, a point of frustra-tion when they must be returnedto the production facility for thisprocedure. Users are typicallyunable to calibrate sensors in thefield because of highly propri-etary techniques and data for-mats.

Low power consumption,sensor output formats, light-weight materials and data trans-mission media have also beendifficult issues to deal with in de-signing custom configurations.Receiving and data processingsystems and methods of deploy-ment for tethered measurementsare no less problematic.

Technical advances in per-sonal computers, data process-ing, meteorological sensors, andASIC circuitry have made signif-icant improvements in tethered

8 161/2003

Ronald A. ShellhornOperations ManagerVaisala Boulder Boulder, ColoradoUSA

Vaisala has launched a new DigiCORA Tether-sonde System for boundary layer observa-tions. The new design integrates provenVaisala sensors in a field inter-changeable sen-sor transducer version, validated for tetheredsounding applications. New Tethersondes alsoinclude an ASIC-based transmitter, a digitalsolid state compass, and an external batterypack option. Boundary layer researchersworldwide will appreciate the system’s newfeatures and improved performance. The new Vaisala TTS111 Tethersonde.

Ronald Shellhorn performinga sounding at Jokioinen,

Finland

Improved boundary layer observations

Vaisala Launches the DigiCORA T


balloon sounding solutions pos-sible. At the same time modernquality processes can ensure thatsystems are designed and testedto meet the specific require-ments of boundary layer teth-ered measurements.

Versatile new featuresVaisala has incorporated manytechnological advances into thenew DigiCORA TethersondeSystem. The new design inte-grates proven Vaisala HUMI-CAP®, THERMOCAP®, andBAROCAP® sensors, used inVaisala radiosondes worldwide,into a sensor transducer versionvalidated for tethered soundingapplications. The sensors are cal-ibrated with systems traceable toMSL standards and calibrationcoefficients are stored in serialEPROM. Coefficients are trans-mitted to a DigiCORA Sound-ing Processor along with themeteorological data, which elim-inates the need for paper tapereaders. An even greater benefitto the user is the interchange-ability of the sensor transduc-er/modules. These economical,consumable components aresimply unplugged and replacedwith fresh modules when sen-sors are contaminated or theiraccuracy degrades. In otherwords, no more expensive in-strument re-calibration is need-ed.

New transmitters benefitfrom an ASIC design that pro-vides easier programming of datatransmission frequencies, nar-rower transmission bandwidths,and an obvious advantage, alighter weight. A new digital, sol-id state compass introduces alevel of accuracy unattainable inearlier versions that used electro-

mechanical compasses.The compass can be sim-ply calibrated in the fieldprior to a flight. This cali-bration accounts for mag-netic inclination withmagnetic declination ac-counted for in the user in-terface software. Valida-tion testing of the newcompass indicates a re-peatability differential ofless than 3°, a significantimprovement on earlierversions, where accuracycould exceed +10°.

Results of wind tunnel test-ing also show improved windspeed accuracy from the newTethersondes, the result of im-provements in anemometer gearhousings and wind speed soft-ware calculations. Another newfeature in the Vaisala Tetherson-de is the addition of six A/Dchannels. These channels, in ad-dition to an optional Ozonesensor interface, allow for theaddition of user supplied sensorswith appropriate outputs.

Modularity bringsadded valueThe cost of performing tetheredsoundings has always been a ma-jor concern for researchers withlimited project budgets. A pow-erful feature of the Vaisala Digi-CORA Tethersonde Systemadds considerable value. Thenew Tethersonde product hasbeen designed around the samesounding processor used in theDigiCORA radiosonde system,which allows for the addition ofa variety of modular, synopticsounding options. Tethersondesystem users can add GPS, Lo-ran-C, and radiotheodolite syn-optic sounding options, and,

conversely, existing DigiCORAusers can add tethered soundingcapability to their systems. Awider range of functional capa-bility is available at significantlyless cost than from acquiring dif-ferent systems for each applica-tion.

The DigiCORA Tetherson-de system offers two modes oftethered atmospheric soundings.By raising and lowering a Tether-sonde at constant ascent and de-scent rates, a boundary layer pro-file can be acquired. Or, by at-taching up to six Tethersondes tothe tetherline, meteorologicaldata can be acquired over timeat selected altitudes.

Vaisala’s earlier generationsof tethered sounding systems in-cluded PC DOS based applica-tion software. This out-dated op-erating system and software hasnow been replaced with a Win-dows® based user interface withnew and useful features.

New software and external battery packoptionTwo other constraints that havelimited tethered research proj-ects in the past are the ability to

power tethered instruments overextended periods of time, andthe ability to handle and archivelarge flight data files that wouldbe the result of extended flights.Vaisala’s new, optional externalbattery pack can now extendtethersonde flight time to overtwenty hours. In addition, PChard disk technology evolutionhas resolved the latter issue withseemingly exponential growth indata storage capacity. A tetheredsounding up to five times longerthan with previous systems cannow be performed.

Enhanced system performanceSeveral validation tests of thenew system have been complet-ed, including flight durationtesting at Vaisala Boulder site,comparison testing againstNOAA’s 300-meter Boulder At-mospheric Observatory (BAO)tower in Erie, Colorado, andwind tunnel testing at NCAR’sATD facility in Boulder. Resultsshow significant enhancementin all performance areas. Thenew system will certainly benefitboundary layer researchersworldwide. ●

161/2003 9

Up to sixtethersondes can

be attached to thetethered line for a

sounding.

A Tethersonde System


T he system was deliveredby Vaisala as a turnkeysystem and has been op-

erational since July 2002. TheVaisala AUTOSONDE Systemcan be deployed and relocated –it is, in fact, a self-contained, au-tonomous system that performscomplete upper-air radiosondeobservations. The AUTOSON-DE has met the exacting require-ments of Dr. Coccolo and hisdepartment, providing reliableupper-air measurements, whereand when needed.

The system carries out pre-launch radiosonde preparation,balloon filling and launch, as wellas processing data and generatingand transmitting meteorologicalmessages. The system can useboth the GPS and Loran-C navi-gation networks for windfinding.The AUTOSONDE containerwhich houses the meteorologicalequipment is fitted with heatersand air conditioning and has adedicated working area wherepersonnel can carry out periodicmaintenance tasks.

An additional container (6 x2.4 m) houses a diesel-poweredgenerator, the helium gas bottleracks needed for balloon fillingand space for storing radiosound-ing consumables. The generatorprovides emergency power in theevent of a mains failure and thereis sufficient fuel storage for over

24 hours operation. A Vaisala MI-LOS Automatic Weather Stationprovides the AUTOSONDEwith surface weather data.

Remote system managementThe AUTOSONDE system inSan Sicario is managed from theTurin emergency center, manned24 hours a day. The AUTO-SONDE’s Remote PC is locatedin Turin and receives all data andcoded messages from the AUTO-SONDE together with systemdiagnostic information.

Operationally, the AUTO-SONDE is supported by the localForestry Consortium, whose op-erators have been trained to loadconsumables, carry out first levelintervention in the event of me-chanical blockages of the systemand perform routine weekly andmonthly checks. Maintenance ofthe AUTOSONDE System hasbeen outsourced to Eurelettroni-ca Icas Srl, whose staff use remotemonitoring as a tool to keep thesystem operating at maximum ef-ficiency. AUTOSONDE engi-neering expertise is available toEurelettronica from Vaisala.

Services for road operators upcomingFor the 2002-2003 winter seasonPiemonte Region has introducedwinter maintenance services for

road and motorway operators.Dr. Vincenzo Coccolo explainsthat Piemonte Region is commit-ted to the provision of meteorol-ogical services for the 2006 Win-ter Olympics and is contributingto a safe and efficient road trans-port system for the Olympicsand beyond. These services willinclude the monitoring of mete-orological conditions on accessroads and the forecasting of roadsurface states, enabling road op-erators to carry out winter main-tenance efficiently.

During the winter of 2002-

10 161/2003

Maria Rita LecceseManaging DirectorEurelettronica Icas SrlRomeItaly

The first transportable VaisalaAUTOSONDE System in theItalian Alps.

The Piemonte Region is at the forefront of implementing new tech-nologies in meteorology in Italy. The Regional Directorate, the“Servizi Tecnici di Prevenzione”, under the directorship of Dr. Vincen-zo Coccolo, commissioned the installation of a transportable Auto-matic Upper Air Sounding System. The selected site at Cesana-Pariol(San Sicario) is close to Sestriere in the Italian Alps. This first trans-portable Vaisala AUTOSONDE System will support the needs of the2006 Winter Olympic Games, awarded to the city of Turin.

2003 the process of “ThermalMapping” will be carried out on100 km of access roads in thePiemonte Region. This winterone fully equipped Vaisala ROSAWeather Station will be installedin the Olympic Games area.

Piemonte Region meteorolo-gists will combine local weatherforecasts and Vaisala’s numericalforecast model to provide 24-hour forecasts of road surfacetemperatures and states for thesites where ROSA weather sta-tions are installed. With the useof the Thermal Mapping data-base these site-specific forecastscan be extended to all roads with-in the surrounding climatic do-main. This service will be avail-able for all road and motorwayoperators using Vaisala ROSAweather stations. A similar ser-vice has been provided in EmiliaRomagna for the last eight years,and numerous road and motor-way operators are convinced ofthe benefits of the system. ●

Transportable AUTOSONDE System in the Italian Alps

Providing Cutting-edge Weather Support in Piemonte


161/2003 11

to Sweden, Norway, France, Ger-many, the UK, Croatia, Italy,Spain, Australia, Canada, SouthKorea and Japan. The systemconcept has been proven in ex-treme climates and operating en-vironments, for example in Ice-land and Greenland. ●

I n spring 2002, Metéo Franceproceeded to upgrade the se-mi-automatic Autolauncher

to a complete standard AUTO-SONDE System. The originalshelter with robotics was deli-vered in 1995 and has since thenserved as a conceptual test benchat the technical site of Trappes forevaluation of the automation.The semi-automatic system catersfor balloon filling and radiosondelaunch, but the operator answersfor other sounding preparations,whereas with an AUTOSONDEsystem, the entire sounding pro-cedure is automated.

Upgrade foradded capacity Last March new computers and ashelf for six additional radioson-des were added to the shelter atMetéo France, after which it wastransported to the radiosound-ing station of Bordeaux in south-east France. Two Vaisala field en-gineers, Mr. Olavi Alanko andMr. Rauno Mettälä, carried outthe installation and operator andmaintenance training. The AU-TOSONDE System now acceptsup to 12 radiosondes with bal-loons for preparing, initiatingand launching automatically.The system was commissionedin April, after which it has oper-ated reliably. However, use ofthe system in operational modeis still on the learning curve. Theaim is to allow operators to be-come experienced with systemuse before integrating the sound-ings performed by the AUTO-SONDE into the operationalnetwork in 2003.

Maintenance contractMetéo France’s system upgradecontract also includes periodicmaintenance, carried out byVaisala. Although the annualmaintenance takes only one ortwo days, it is essential in orderto ensure flawless and regularoperation in all circumstances.

Main features of theAUTOSONDE SystemThe AUTOSONDE System al-

lows unmanned fully automatedupper air observations. The AU-TOSONDE System improvesdata availability and the dataquality of upper air observa-tions. At the same time it re-duces operational costs.

The AUTOSONDE per-forms the following tasks fullyautomatically:• Prepares radiosonde and acti-vates the battery• Fills the balloon• Launches the radiosonde andballoon at the pre-set time• Receives the radiosonde signalsautomatically• Processes the signals into mete-orological messages• Transmits the meteorologicalmessages onto an external net-work• Operates fully automatically orcan be remotely controlled.

With the AUTOSONDE,the operation of an upper air sta-tion becomes more of a main-tenance task at weekly intervals.Operator tasks are limited to pe-riodic loading of the system withradiosondes, balloons and gas,and inspections of the system.Thanks to the remote controlpossibilities, radiosoundings canbe re-programmed or modifiedat any moment and will satisfy,for example, the increasing needfor adaptive upper air observa-tions. In other words, observa-tions can be made when neededrather than only at fixed times.Observations at a short notice,for example for radioactivity, areeasy to set up. In general, labor

costs make up a significant partof overall observation costs andthe automation of upper air ob-servations cuts these costs.

From ASAP to AUTOSONDEVaisala has long experience withautomated launching systems.The first system with automatedlaunch was introduced for ASAP– the Automated ShipboardAerological Programme – in1984. For this program Vaisaladelivered more than 15 systems,starting with deliveries to Ger-many, Spain, Japan, Norway,etc. Since then, many of thesesystems have been upgraded.

The AUTOSONDE projectwas started in late 1992 and aworking prototype presented atCIMO, Vienna, in 1993. Theprototype was tested in Norwayand Sweden in 1993 and 1994.Vaisala AUTOSONDE Systemshave since then been delivered

Peter ErikssonManaging DirectorVaisala ParisFrance

Metéo France opts for an upgrade to

fully automated systemsSince 1995, Metéo France has operated a semi-automatic radiosondelaunching station (Autolauncher) at Trappes, studying and evaluatingthe system. The original configuration was recently upgraded andthe system moved to a new location. After a training period the ob-servations performed with the AUTOSONDE System will be integrat-ed into the operational network later this year.

The semiautomatic system at Trappes was taken into use in 1995. Theupgraded system which is now located at Bordeaux, is a step towards fullautomation of operational upper-air observations.

The MILOS Weather Station isinstalled on a special mast near theAUTOSONDE.


T he Vaisala AVAPS Lite isthe perfect dropsound-ing system for applica-

tions that require a targeted, de-tailed, accurate and real-time at-mospheric profile of pressure,temperature, humidity andwind. The AVAPS Lite soundingsoftware receives and displaysthe raw, non-processed drop-sonde data on a PC in real-time.The data is stored in ASCII for-mat on the hard disk, where itcan be displayed and post-processed further.

The AVAPS Lite uses thesame sounding software and da-ta processing hardware as thefull-scale AVAPS, with compati-ble data outputs and post-pro-cessing programs. The potential

er flying platform. Descendingthrough the atmosphere by para-chute, it measures the atmos-pheric profiles of pressure (P),temperature (T), relative humidi-ty (U) and wind from the pointof launch to the ground. TheVaisala RD93 Dropsonde is usedwith the Vaisala AVAPS Lite. Ittransmits data via a 400 MHzmeteorological band telemetrylink to the receiving AVAPS Litesystem onboard the aircraft. ThePTU and wind data are meas-ured twice per second. The on-board GPS receiver tracks thedropsonde’s horizontal move-ments, which are, naturally,caused by the wind. The RD93descends by parachute at a rateof approximately 11 m/s. Severalthousand RD93 Dropsondes areused annually in the research ofhurricanes, severe storms andother atmospheric phenomena.

Compact system The Vaisala AVAPS Lite com-prises an AVAPS Lite telemetrychassis, GPS and UHF aircraftantennas, a laptop PC runningthe application software, and adropsonde launcher modified ei-ther for unpressurized or pres-surized aircraft. The system is

12 161/2003

The Vaisala AVAPS Lite, the new affordableone-channel dropsonde system, is intendedfor applications which require real-time at-mospheric data but do not need multiple si-multaneous soundings. The Vaisala AVAPSLite combines world-leading GPS technologyand PTU sensor technology, proven in thefull-scale Vaisala Airborne Atmospheric Verti-cal Profiling System AVAPS.

Vaisala launches AVAPS Lite

the Lighter Dropsounding System

P HOTO COURTESY: (C) H ERMAN P OTGI ETER/ P I LATUS AI RCRAFT LTD

Marko Keskinen, M.Sc. (Eng.)Product ManagerVaisala HelsinkiFinland

dropsonde user now has twodropsounding system options:full-scale AVAPS for applicationsneeding up to four simultaneousdropsoundings and AVAPS Litefor applications needing onlyone dropsounding at a time. Forinstance, users who need in-situmeasurements of the atmos-phere from time to time or re-quire calibration or comparisonfor other measurement instru-ments will find AVAPS Lite use-ful. Vaisala can also offer leasingarrangements for short-term andone-off projects.

What is a dropsonde? To perform meteorologicalmeasurements, a dropsonde islaunched from an aircraft or oth-


The AVAPS Lite is a compactsystem for airborne atmosphericdata acquisition.

lightweight, requires little spaceand has a low power consump-tion. The application softwareruns on a standard laptop PC.

Installing AVAPS Lite When the flight mission calls fordropsoundings, the AVAPS Litetelemetry chassis, laptop PC anddropsonde launcher are easilycarried in and mounted in the air-craft cabin. A dropsonde launch-er must be installed in the user’saircraft, in an opening such as acamera well, and can then be re-

moved if not needed. The GPSand 400 MHz telemetry anten-nas with cables occupy littlespace in the aircraft interior andcause minimal drag on the air-craft exterior.

ApplicationsThe AVAPS Lite System is idealfor the following applications:• Supporting precision air dropsof supplies• Supporting paratroop deploy-ments• Air chemistry research

• Airborne validation of remotesensing data • Atmospheric refraction studies• Research on cloud physics • Polar and marine environ-ment/meteorological research• Other research requiring de-tailed information on atmos-pheric conditions

Intellectual propertyrights and developmentThe Atmospheric TechnologyDivision (ATD) of the NationalCenter of Atmospheric Research(NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado,developed the hardware andsoftware for the Vaisala AVAPSLite and Vaisala AVAPS. Thehardware and software are li-censed to Vaisala Inc, USA.NCAR/ATD and Vaisala arecommitted to the continuousdevelopment of the AVAPS Liteand AVAPS hardware in stepwith the evolving requirementsof our customers. ●

161/2003 13

The Vaisala AVAPS Lite comprisesAVAPS Lite telemetry chassis,GPS and UHF receiver antennascertified for use aboard high-flyingaircraft, a laptop PC running theapplication software, and adropsonde launcher forunpressurized or pressurizedaircraft.

Tapani AntilaRobert Rives

Robert Rives and Tapani Antilaanswer for product developmentwhile Marko Keskinen is theproduct manager for AVAPS Liteand provides customer support.


A ustralia has had an au-tomatic weather sta-tion (AWS) network

since 1966 when the first of 16AWS were installed off the Westand North coasts of Australia.These early AWS were oftenlarge structures and neededbanks of batteries to operate.The AWS utilized electro-me-chanical technology to translatesensor readings into a simple al-

phabetic Morse code that wasthen sent via HF radio to themainland. Once received themessages were manually re-en-coded to recover the meteorol-ogical data.

During the 1980s this firstgeneration of offshore islandAWS was replaced with micro-processor-based technology.These systems use the JapaneseGMS geo-stationary satellite to

transfer data back to the Bureauof Meteorology Head Office at avery low cost. To conserve powerthe AWS is only “awake” for 10minutes each hour to performmeasurements. This results inlarge gaps in the meteorologicaldata samples. As there is no wayto interrogate the AWS prior tovisiting the site, expensive travelcosts for maintenance visits havebeen incurred to perform a sim-

ple task such as a system reset.Although state-of-the-art wheninstalled, these second-genera-tion offshore island AWS areproving difficult and costly tomaintain with spares and soft-ware upgrades.

Enhancing performance In investigating a suitable re-placement, the aim was to buildupon the advantages of the cur-

14 161/2003

Meteorological data from remote locations

Australian Offshore AWS Installations Automatic weather stations have contributed significantlyto a number of aspects of the observation program in Au-stralia. In particular, the Bureau of Meteorology’s pro-gram for offshore island monitoring has seen a vast im-provement in both the quality and quantity of observa-tions undertaken through the use of AWS. The sites areoften very remote and have little or no infrastructure tohouse human observers, making it otherwise difficult tomaintain on-going observations.

The offshore AWS installations are close to the GreatBarrier Reef Marine Park off the East Coast ofAustralia.

Simon HarrodSales ManagerVaisala MelbourneAustralia

The equipment was transported to the reef with atourist boat, with equipment brought ashore usinga small dinghy. Peter Sas of BOM in the front..

The reefs prove a demanding installation site forAWS. They are subject to the effects of the sea,high winds and an abundance of bird life.


rent AWS, whilst eliminatingsome of its limitations. The MI-LOS platform was consideredbased upon its reliable perfor-mance record in the Bureau AU-TOSONDE and Ship AWS pro-grams. Vaisala’s ability to supplyan in-house satellite transmitterwith a proven track record, theSE300 from Vaisala Sunnyvale(formerly Handar) offered an ad-ditional benefit. The Vaisala MI-LOS 500 was chosen for its flexi-bility, software upgrade capabili-ty, built-in logging memory andits ability to incorporate a fullduplex satellite phone connec-tion in addition to the GMSsatellite transmitter.

Remote locationsThe first site selected for the MI-LOS installation was Bedout Is-land, an uninhabited island lo-cated north of Port Headland inWestern Australia. Bedout Is-land has a 31-hectare Nature Re-serve and supports an extensivepopulation of birdlife. After as-sessing the performance of theAWS at the Bedout Island site,three additional systems werepurchased. Two of these were re-cently installed off the EastCoast of Australia, on remote

coral reefs close to the GreatBarrier Reef National MarinePark - Flinders Reef and HolmesReef.

The offshore AWS installa-tion sites are more demandingthan traditional land based ones.The installations consist of astructure located either on asmall coral reef or in the opensea. Sea birds use these as nest-ing and roosting places, resultingin the whole platform being cov-ered with bird excrement. Theplatforms consist of a 3 x 3 me-ter stainless steel room support-ed by a steel frame anchoredwith concrete to the coral below.The room is used to house theAWS equipment and batteriesand the meteorological instru-ments, antennas and solar pan-els are mounted on top.

Installation trip

A lot of thought and preparationis put into the trip, as no addi-tional equipment or materialscan be sourced once at sea. Asmall tourist diving vessel is usedto travel to the installation sites.Unfortunately such a small ves-sel makes for rather unpleasantsailing in average sea conditions.

Once at the reef, all equip-ment is transferred from the div-ing vessel to the AWS platformin a small outboard dinghy. Atthe site, the first task is to cleanup the platform roof and removeall the old equipment. Duringthe Flinders reef and Holmesreef installations two teams wereformed. Team one was responsi-ble for installing the MILOS Au-tomatic Weather System and ter-minating inside the structure,while team two worked on therooftop, mounting the windcross-arm, solar panels, sensorsand antennas. At times it wasrather hazardous on top of thebuilding with winds speeds of upto 37 knots. Each installationtook two days to complete, how-ever it didn’t take nearly as longfor the local birds to issue theirstamp of approval on the job!

System configurationThe Vaisala MILOS 500 DataCollection System is equippedwith wind speed, wind direction,air temperature and barometricpressure sensors. Every hour aSYNOP message is compiledand sent to a GMS satellite viathe SE 300 GMS satellite trans-mitter. The same message is also

stored on the MILOS memorycard, along with 10-minute and30-minute data.

An Inmarsat mini-m satellitetelephone is on continuousstandby to receive incoming callsfrom Bureau maintenance per-sonnel based in Townsville. Itprovides a full duplex connec-tion and allows full access to theMILOS 500 command set.Logged data can be downloaded,system parameters changed anddiagnostic functions carried out.For example, an operator canchoose to have the half-hourlyMETAR/SPECI message sent viasatellite phone to provide morefrequent data during cyclones.Logged high-resolution data canbe retrieved after a cyclone tohelp research and understandingof such events. The satellite tele-phone link has also been particu-larly useful in enabling anoverview of the station’s statusprior to a calibration visit.

Assessment after cyclone seasonTo date, all three installationshave performed well, providingcontinuous transmission of datato the GMS satellite. The perfor-mance of the most recent instal-lations on Flinders Reef andHolmes Reef will be assessedover the coming cyclone season.Following this, a review of de-sign and requirements for thesystem based on an operationaltrail period will take place. Aprogram will then be establishedto progressively replace existingequipment through the Bureau’sAsset Replacement Program. ●

161/2003 15

The station at Holmes Reef islocated in the ocean.

One team was responsiblefor installing the roof top

equipment while the secondteam installed the MILOS

Data Processing System.Foti Kavounis of BOM

using the laptop.


16 161/2003

ed into the ships’ navigation sys-tems both in the fast attack craftand the hovercraft of Squadron2000.

The harsh conditions onnorthern seas set high require-ments for wind sensors. Accord-ing to Navy officers, Vaisala Ultra-sonic Wind Sensor WAS425AHis the first wind sensor that oper-ates satisfactorily on these ships.The Vaisala WAS425AH is a solidstate wind sensor that uses ultra-sound to determine horizontalwind speed and direction. Themeasurement principle is basedon transit time: the time it takesfor the ultrasound to travel fromone transducer to another, de-pending on wind speed along theultrasonic path. The WAS425AHis heated and has thermostaticallycontrolled heaters in the trans-ducer heads to prevent freezingrain or snow from building up onthe sensor.

Measuring wind speedand direction is essentialIn peacetime fast attack craft and

hovercraft participate in normalNavy operations, in other wordsthey defend territorial integrityand carry out major exercises. AVaisala MILOS Weather Stationhas been providing reliableweather data since 1998 for theexisting fast attack craft ofSquadron 2000. Its First Officerexplains: “To measure windspeed and direction is vital fortwo reasons. Craft need thewind, relative humidity andbarometric pressure data for usu-al navigation. The second rea-son, especially important forwarships, is the fact that ballisticpreparation is needed for ar-tillery and missile firing. Wind,relative humidity and baromet-ric pressure conditions are essen-tial parameters to be consideredfor ballistic preparation. Themore accurate the weather data,the more successful the ballisticpreparation. This means that lesscorrections will then be neededduring firing.”

At the craft, digital wind datais transferred from WAS425AHto the MILOS as an NMEA

S ince 1998 the FinnishNavy has been buildingup “Squadron 2000”, a

new squadron made up of twofast attack craft and four hover-craft. The squadron currently op-erates one fast attack craft andone hovercraft. Squadron 2000relies on Vaisala WAS425AH Ul-trasonic Wind Sensors for windmeasurement onboard these ves-sels. Ultrasonics are incorporat-

Vaisala WAS425AH Ultrasonic Wind Sensors

Supporting the Finnish Navy“Squadron 2000” of the Finnish Navy uses Vaisala WAS425AH Ultra-sonic Wind Sensors to support its operations at sea. Ultrasonic WindSensors are incorporated into the ships’ navigation systems both inthe fast attack craft and the hovercraft of the squadron. The harshconditions on the northern seas set stringent requirements for windsensors - met by the Vaisala Ultrasonic Wind Sensor.

Staff of the fast attack craftappreciates the wind data andweather data that Vaisalaequipment provides.

Veli-Matti Miettinen, M.Sc. (Eng.)Application ManagerWind SensorsVaisala HelsinkiFinland


161/2003 17

Standard message. The craft’snavigation system gets the weath-er data from MILOS and passesit on via the craft’s local networkto the fire control system. It is al-so possible to transmit weatherdata to other craft. In the existinghovercraft there is no weatherstation, and its navigation systemtakes care of wind data process-ing. As a backup measure thesecraft use portable wind meters.

Mainly true wind data isused in these craft. They meas-ure true wind to be able to esti-mate the effect of the weather onoperations. Relative wind data isalso of interest as it is needed,for example, for steering in har-bors.

Extreme conditions onnorthern seasThe sensors installed on top ofthe craft are under enormousstrain due to harsh conditions atsea, especially in the winter.Snow and salt water spraying onthe sensor can cause, for exam-ple, corrosion, ice formation andmechanical damage. The maxi-

mum speed of the fast attackcraft is 18 m/s, whereas the hov-ercraft reaches 25 m/s. In the fastattack craft a continuous truewind as high as 30 m/s has beenmeasured on the Baltic Sea. Be-side the weather conditions, fac-tors such as the movement, tilt-ing and vibrations of the craft sethigh demands on the wind sen-sors. Temperature and relativehumidity variations are also vastduring the year. In the winter,when the craft sails at a high ve-locity, the wind sensor can facetemperatures lower than -30°C (-22 °F).

Positive long-term userexperiencesThe crew of the fast attack craft ismore than pleased with their Ul-trasonic Wind Sensor and MI-LOS Weather Station. As theFirst Officer of the craft said:“Ultrasonic is the first wind sen-sor that withstands all the chal-lenging conditions of the BalticSea all year round”. So far the Ul-trasonic has functioned as re-quired for close to 5 years with-

out any main-tenance. Thesensor is fas-tened with arigid steel baron top of thecraft. The in-stallation andthe sensor itselfhave been robustenough to bear the me-chanical stress. Heaters inthe transducer heads preventfreezing rain or snow build-up.High accuracy and reliable op-eration in all weather condi-tions are the features of Ultra-sonic that the crew appreciatesthe most. ●

The Finnish Navy’s fastattack craft at sea.

The Vaisala WAS425 UltrasonicWind Sensor has no moving parts,and is resistant to contaminationand corrosion. This eliminates on-demand and periodic maintenance.


I n answer to this risk, a groupof environmental specialists,called the BAER (Burned

Area Emergency Rehabilitation)team, determined theneed to set up threeVaisala Remote Auto-mated Weather Sta-tions (RAWS) in thearea to report on verylocalized weatherconditions. These sta-tions join a fourthVaisala RAWS stationthat has been collect-ing weather datasince a fire in 1994.

The most impor-tant parameter in theafter-fire situation is

precipitation. It is hard to deter-mine how much rain will begin amudslide or flash flood, but thedata collection platform was

18 161/2003

Flames from one of the largest forest fires inthe state of Colorado swept through theGlenwood area in early summer 2002. It tookweeks to bring the fire under control. Oncethis natural disaster was contained it alsoopened the doors to the chance of other nat-ural disasters occurring. Once the land isdamaged and emptied of vegetation thatholds or absorbs, water erosion and flashfloods can become as catastrophic as forestfire. Hillsides can turn into gushing mudslidesand the fast flowing water can threatenhomes and communities.

Vaisala RAWS Stations Continue to Protect

Against the Natural Disaster of Forest Fire

Glenwood Springs Community Center with fireraging on Red Mountain.

Mitchell Creek area, 5 milesfrom Glenwood Springs, afterburn debris and mud flow.

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Kathryn SchlichtingNorth America Regional Marketing ManagerVaisala Inc.USA

P HOTO COURTESY: DAN SOKAL, BUREAU OF LAN D MANAGEM ENT.


determine the saturation level ofthe soil, however when it’s rain-ing it will take longer for waterto reach an 8” depth and registera saturation level that indi-

sors are buried up to 8” in theground and at first they may bethought of as a crucial measure-ment when it comes to erosion.They are important in helping

tions measure other meteorolog-ical parameters: wind speed anddirection, relative humidity andair temperature, fuel and soilmoisture. The soil moisture sen-

161/2003 19

programmed to send an emer-gency warning to a dispatcher ifa rainstorm drops more than0.10 inches of precipitation in10 minutes or less. The BAERspecialists feel that this amountof rain could trigger mudslidesin the area with the most dam-age, where homes are located.Local emergency managementpersonnel go to the areas in dan-ger and make an appraisal of thepotential flooding situation be-fore alerting people to evacuate.

RAWS measures essential parameters infire areasIn addition to measuring precip-itation, the Vaisala RAWS sta-

Mud flow ending close to ahome near Glenwood Springs.

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Glenwood Springs Community Center with Red Mountain, beingturned green by mulch in the background. This was one of theemergency stabilization projects recommended by the BAER team.

➤


cates danger. Therefore, precipi-tation is the primary factor in de-termining the emergency floodcondition of an area.

Protecting communitiesand helping the renewal of the landThe focus of the BAER team is

safety for the surrounding com-munities after the fire, and therestoration and rehabilitation ofthe land. Team members can in-clude hydrologists, geologists,soil specialists, range manage-ment specialists, botanists, engi-neers, archaeologists andforesters. Fires can burn so hot

in a forest fire that the soil isbaked to an asphalt-like crustthat repels water. This constitu-tion of the soil is referred to ashydrophobic and may requirebreaking up with rakes and mix-ing with a charcoal mulch tohelp soak up the water. Seeding,planting trees, trenching to slow

down and divert water, con-structing temporary dams andplacing straw bales in gullies areused to help in the restoration ofthe land. Nature will eventuallyrestore itself in the burned areas,but rejuvenation of the landmay take years before results areseen. ●

20 161/2003

Vaisala RAWS – Automated Weather System

M eteorological informa-tion is vital to land re-

source management agencies,particularly in preventing thespread of wildfires. This is cri-tical because forest fires createtheir own weather systems.Vaisala automatic weather sta-tions (AWSs) have long beenused to predict where fires willoccur. Vaisala AWSs are distri-buted in networks over re-gions that are particularly sus-ceptible to fire. They provideinformation which is critical inidentifying where forest firesare more likely to occur, meas-uring and monitoring the con-ditions that fuel forest fires.Fire control personnel receivevoice broadcasts of fire weath-er data in real-time, allowingthem to anticipate the move-ment of fires and make theright fire control decisions.

The Vaisala RAWS Auto-mated Weather System offersflexibility in all aspects of me-teorology data collection in-cluding sensor interface (I/O),data processing algorithms,data storage and telemetry,and tower mounting options.The RAWS station can inter-face with various meteorologysensors depending on the ap-plication. Different forms oftelemetry are also availablefor use in the RAWS systemand frequently more than onecommunication type will beused in a single station. Satel-

lite telemetry is frequentlychosen - GOES, ARGOS or SCD,but other forms of communi-cation are also available - highspeed modem, voice radio andmodem, cellular phone, inter-rogated radio and spreadspectrum radio.

Individual users can cus-tomize data acquisition totheir needs in the format thatworks best for their applica-tion, be it synoptic or climato-logical observations, fireweather, resource manage-ment, defense or research ap-plications. This translates to agreater utilization of re-sources among cooperatingagencies, and every user getstheir data in their preferredformat.

Vaisala is the sole providerof NIFC (National InteragencyFire Center) Fire RAWS (Re-mote Automated WeatherStation) equipment. Morethan one thousand fixed andportable RAWS stations arebeing used by the interagencywildland fire community. TheNIFC in Boise, Idaho, is the na-tional headquarters for wild-land fire management. It ishome to the largest cache sup-ply of fire fighting equipment,and its ‘dispatch central’ forfire resources has provided dis-patches not only across thecountry but also to othercountries, for internationaldisaster management. ●

The Vaisala Remote Automated Weather Station installed after the firestorm near Glenwood Springs area in Colorado.


I n cooperation with theVaisala Helsinki office, thecompany Alexander SDS of

Hildesheim concluded a con-tract with Bundesland Schleswig-Holstein in May 2000 to build acomprehensive road weather in-formation system (Straßenwet-terinformationssystem, SWIS-System) covering the entire state.The German Weather Service(Deutscher Wetterdienst, DWD)had earlier performed a survey ofcritical climatic locations alongthe highway network on the ba-sis of which the exact sites wereselected for the road weather sta-tions. In addition to the 27 RoadWeather Stations, the contractincluded complete data collec-tion and display systems alongwith data communications solu-tions for nine road master re-gions and a centralized datamanagement system for datatransmission and administration.

Road Weather Stationsalong the AutobahnnetworkThe majority of the VaisalaROSA Road Weather Stationsthat measure road surface condi-tions and weather along the

highway network were installedduring the autumn of 2000. Eachstation is equipped with a RoadSurface Sensor (DRS511) thatoptically measures road surfaceconditions, and sensors for es-sential weather parameters in theair, such as humidity, tempera-ture and precipitation. Four ofthe stations were fitted with addi-tional sensors for wind speed anddirection as well as for present

weather measurement. The datalogger unit forms the core ofeach Road Weather Station. Inthis system configuration, thecentral data processing moduleof each RWS includes an addi-tional TLS converter unit, whichconverts and integrates the datainto the TLS format used by theGerman highway authorities.

To relay road weather warn-ings and alarms, Alexander

161/2003 21

Karl-Heinz AlexanderOwner-Manager

Oliver MantheySoftware Development

Alexander SDS - SensorDaten-SystemeHildesheim Germany

Road Condition and Weather Station Networkprovides data for

Safe Winter Driving in Schleswig-HolsteinSince November 2000, the northernmost state in Germany, Schleswig-Holstein, has utilized a road condition and weather data network. Af-ter a recent extension, the system now comprises 31 Vaisala ROSARoad Weather Stations and associated data display and managementtools. Covering the entire network of highways in the Bundesland,the system provides winter maintenance personnel with valuable da-ta for decision-making support.

MULTISYS software displaying an overview of the measurement data overa map of the Bundesland. “Unterzentrale” are the system’s ten TLS-subnodes.

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SDS installed a complete datatransmission system, which is al-so compliant with the TLS stan-dard. The data from each ROSAsubstation along the highwaynetwork is received at a TLS con-trol module, which performs thedata conversion into TLS proto-col, the transmission of the ob-servation data at one-minute in-tervals, fault finding and errormessaging.

Road maintenance districts

Each of the state’s road mainten-ance districts is responsible for acertain section of the highwaynetwork. In Schleswig-Holsteinthere are 24 road maintenancedistricts, nine of which were se-lected to function as TLS-sub-nodes in the system architecture.The road weather stations in

each district are connected witha TLS data bus and they trans-mit their data to the road main-tenance district, functioning asTLS-subnodes. This means thatin the TLS architecture, nineroad maintenance districts areTLS-subnodes (Unterzentrale),collecting data from other sta-tions and districts. They are allequipped with a communica-tions processor and workstation

for the winter maintenance per-sonnel. The nine TLS-subnodesare connected via the federalPCM data communications net-work (X.21) to the computingcenter of the road weather infor-mation system in Neumünster,which was also supplied byAlexander SDS. The TLS stan-dard is also utilized on this so-called long-distance data bus.

Centralized data managementAt the same time as the road in-formation system was beingbuilt, a new maintenance opera-tions center for the entire Bun-desland Schleswig-Holstein wasestablished in Neumünster. Allof the state’s winter maintenanceoperations can now be con-trolled in one location.

The computing center of theroad condition and weather in-formation system, located in themaintenance operations centerin Neumünster, is a central ele-ment of the complete system: itdistributes all the data to the en-tire network. Additionally, thecomputing center is connectedto the German Weather Service(DWD), to which all the meas-ured data is transmitted every 15minutes. In the reverse direc-tion, DWD supplies the roadweather information systemwith detailed and versatile roadweather forecasts for the differ-ent climatic zones of the Bun-desland. These weather forecastsare forwarded from the comput-ing center to the nine TLS-sub-nodes via a PCM network andby automatic fax transmission to

22 161/2003

A Vaisala Road Weather Stationon the A24 highway, linkingHamburg and Berlin.

Mr. Udo Kling, Technician at SDS,has finished installing another newRoad Weather Station at Störbrückeon the A23 Autobahn.


all of the 24 road maintenancedistricts of the Bundesland.

Multisys software fordata displayAll of the values measured bythe Road Weather Stations areprocessed and displayed usingthe Multisys Software developedby Alexander SDS. It runs on allthe workstations and TLS-sub-nodes as well as at the comput-ing center. The software was es-pecially modified in this case tocomply with the required TLSprotocol.

Network recently extendedOn the basis of positive experi-ences with system use during thetwo first winter seasons in opera-tion, four more Vaisala ROSARoad Weather Stations and anadditional TLS-subnode alongwith associated software were in-stalled in 2002. Currently thesystem comprises 31 RoadWeather Stations and 10 sub-nodes. A lot of innovative ideas

have also come up as to how toenhance the performance of thesystem further by adding newstations, especially by installingstations not located right alongthe highway and instead relayingdata over the GSM network tothe subnodes.

Close cooperation essentialDuring the entire project, from

the specification stage rightthrough to the planning and im-plementation of the technicaldetails, Vaisala Helsinki officeand Alexander SDS haveworked in close and smooth co-operation. The Vaisala Helpdeskprovided technical support thatoften proved very helpful andcould offer quick solutions tothe problems that came up,without unnecessary red tape.

The road condition and roadweather system in Schleswig-Holstein is the first system in aGerman state that is exclusivelyfitted with Vaisala ROSA RoadWeather Stations. In several oth-er states Vaisala ROSA RoadWeather Stations are used as partof a road condition and weathersystem, as well as in traffic man-agement systems installed orserviced by Alexander SDS. ●

161/2003 23

The Road Weather Stations in the network incorporate sensors that measureessential weather parameters in the air and on the road surface. Pictured is aconfiguration with an extended array of atmospheric sensors: a VaisalaRelative Humidity and Temperature Probe in a Radiation Shield, a VaisalaAnemometer, a Wind Vane and a Rain Detector.

In the Schleswig-Holstein road condition and weather system configuration,the Vaisala ROSA Data Logger is equipped with a TLS converter for datacompatibility with the TLS protocol used by the German roadadministration.

The Computing Center and theMaintenance Operations Center ofSchleswig-Holstein at Neumünster.


24 161/2003

T he transportation weath-er network was installedin the late fall of 2001.

The system comprises a VaisalaIceCast system and 3 Vaisala re-mote traffic weather stations.Two of the stations are locatedalong Highway 9 and a third sta-tion is located on Interstate 95near Bangor. In Maine, winterroad maintenance is challengingand driving conditions are fre-quently difficult in winter.

Quickly changingweather typical inMaine The weather in Maine is knownto be unpredictable throughoutthe year, but drivers experiencethe most difficult conditions inwintertime. In general, snow fallsin mid-October and heavy snow-storms and blizzards occurthroughout the winter, shuttingdown schools and businesses afew times a year. Consequently,efficient and timely winter main-tenance is crucial for traffic safety.

The decision to move for-ward with the system installationwas made in September. Formost places in the US this would

be considered early fall and stillplenty of time to install outdoorequipment, but in Maine wherewinter can start in October timewas of the essence.

Installation before the winter

It was definitely going to be achallenge to get the system up

and running before winter. Thestations, IceCast server and soft-ware were installed by early De-cember, although data was notfully available until early Janu-

Kathryn Schlicting North America Regional Marketing ManagerVaisala Inc.USA

Traffic Weather Station on Route9 near Beddington, Maine.

To support winter maintenance Maine Department of Transportationhas chosen Vaisala products along two important routes known fortheir difficult driving conditions. A Vaisala IceCast system has been in-stalled, including 3 Vaisala remote traffic weather stations, two ofwhich are located along Highway 9 and a third on the Interstate 95near Bangor.

Vaisala Transportation Weather Network has made

Maine Highways Safer


161/2003 25

ary. From this moment the sys-tem was providing important de-cision-making data to the DOTpersonnel.

Steve Hunnewell, AssistantHighway Maintenance Engi-neer, is excited about the net-work. He noted “the true test ofthe success of any system iswhether or not it is useful tothose who make decisions in thefield on how best to maintainthe roads.” The feedback fromthe crews last winter was that thesystem provided accurate anduseful data, giving them infor-mation they could use on a regu-lar basis to more efficiently andeffectively treat the roads.

A full sensor suite ineach stationEach weather station has a fullcompliment of sensors - windspeed and direction, relative hu-midity, air temperature and dewpoint, present weather and pave-ment sensors as well as videomonitoring equipment at two ofthe sites. The present weathersensor measures both visibilityand different types of precipita-tion. The pavement sensor in-

corporates a state-of-the-art fiberoptic sensor which physicallymeasures the thickness of water,frost, ice and snow layer on thepavement surface, as well as sur-face and ground temperatureand surface condition. The roadweather stations in two of the lo-cations communicate with theVaisala central server, utilizingthe State’s Wide AreaNetwork(WAN), ensuring fast and reli-able transmission of informa-tion.

IceView software displaysboth real-time and NowCast da-ta in varying formats, includingtables, graphics and maps, whichassist the decision-makers in de-termining the concentration ofanti-icing agents on the highwayas well as on any on-coming ad-verse weather conditions. In ad-dition to the equipment, Vaisalaprovided system user and datainterpretation training for Steveand other DOT personnel, aswell as providing on-going main-tenance of the sites. The IceCastsystem is proving to be the keyto safer roads in Maine - keepingit operational is of the utmostimportance. ●

Advanced road weathernetwork to be installed inOntario Canada

Vaisala has recently beenawarded a contract to supplyand install 30 Advanced RoadWeather Information Stations(ARWIS) for the Ministry ofTransportation, Ontario (MTO).The system consists of varioustraffic and weather monitoringequipment, including visibility,video monitoring, solar radia-tion, and barometric pressure.The ARWIS system will be in-stalled throughout the provinceof Ontario and will assist theMTO engineers in the proactivewinter maintenance of theprovincial road network. In ad-dition, the Meteorological Ser-vices of Canada (MSC) will col-lect and archive ARWIS weatherand traffic information, and willdisseminate the forecast and re-al time weather conditions overthe internet.

Georgia and Tennesseeaward state-wide trafficweather systems

Vaisala has a key role in twolarge statewide projects award-ed in 2002. Twenty-seven (27)Road Weather Stations and Traf-

fic Counting equipment havebeen purchased by the Ten-nessee Department of Trans-portation (DOT) and will be in-stalled throughout the state.Each station will have a suite ofsensors measuring wind speedand direction, relative humidityand air temperature, presentweather and surface sensors.Traffic counters are also part ofthe system and will monitor traf-fic patterns as part of the Intelli-gent Transportation System ar-chitecture in the state of Ten-nessee. The Georgia DOT roadweather system will consist of 33similar Road Weather Stationswith visibility monitoring capa-bilities and CCTV traffic monitor-ing equipment. Vaisala will beworking with a Georgia contrac-tor in providing this statewidenetwork.

Easy access to the real-timeinformation is important toboth these customers and ismade available on the internetusing Vaisala-based applicationsoftware. Safety is of the utmostconcern and the importance ofreliable real-time data is crucial.Continued maintenance of thetraffic and weather monitoringnetworks will be provided byVaisala for several years. ●

Other Road Weather projects in North America

Severe weather conditions onRoute 9 near Clifton, Maine.


T he new Vaisala LLWAS,MIDAS IV LLWAS, is aground-based low level

wind shear alert system that pro-vides visual and audio alerts onwind shear and microburst con-ditions for air traffic controllersand other airport personnel. Togenerate wind shear alerts andwarnings the LLWAS constantlyretrieves wind data from an arrayof wind sensors along the run-way. As well as wind speed andwind direction sensors along theairport’s approach and departurepaths, the Vaisala LLWAS com-prises one or two central dataunit computers, and one or sev-eral workstations. The systemtypically includes different work-

26 161/2003

Juhani Polvinen, M.Sc. (Met.)Application SpecialistVaisala HelsinkiFinland

New MIDAS IV LLWAS System for the

Early Detection ofHazardous ConditionsThe new Midas IV LLWAS Low Level Wind shear Alert System offersearly detection of wind shear hazards and enhances the safety of air-port operations. It represents a new approach by utilizing the samesystem architecture as the Automated Weather Observing System(AWOS). This ground-based system incorporates the latest version ofthe phase III wind shear algorithm developed for the U.S. Federal Avi-ation Administration (FAA) by NCAR.


stations for air traffic controllers,observers, forecasters and main-tenance personnel.

The wind sensors of the LL-WAS are carefully positionedand aligned in accordance withthe system design guidelines ofMIT, Lincoln Laboratories, andthe NCAR (National Center forAtmospheric Research). Windsensor suites include a Vaisala500 series Wind Transmitterand, typically, a Vaisala Ultra-sonic Wind Sensor. The windsensors and wind transmitter areinstalled on a tower the height ofwhich is selected according to lo-cal topography constraints. At aone-runway airport the systemtypically has 8 wind sensors; a

two-runway airport is usuallyequipped with 12 sensors, de-pending on the runway configu-ration.

Wind data from the sensorsis retrieved via a direct wire con-nection or radio link. The cen-tral data unit (CDU) processesthe wind speed and direction da-ta using the LLWAS III algo-rithm. The CDU then transmitsthe wind shear data to the work-stations where users can viewwind data, wind shear and mi-croburst alerts on the worksta-tion displays. Wind shear andmicroburst alerts are providedwhen the data generated by thesystem exceeds the airport-spe-cific threshold values for possi-

ble wind shear conditions.

Airport-specific configurationIn order to meet local require-ments, the MIDAS IV LLWAS isalways configured separately foreach airport. A site survey is re-commended for optimal windsensor placement. During sys-tem configuration Vaisala per-sonnel define the system para-meters and the layout of someapplication windows.

Integrated or stand-alone systemAs well as being offered as an in-tegrated part of the MIDAS IVAWOS, the MIDAS IV LLWAS

161/2003 27

is also available as a stand-alonewind shear detection system forairfields. A stand-alone MIDASIV LLWAS can be upgraded to afull-scale AWOS System. More-over, the LLWAS can be integrat-ed with TDWR (TerminalDoppler Weather Radar) systemsto offer the best wind shear de-tection capability. The MIDASIV LLWAS can output data to aradar system.

Proven system architectureThe MIDAS IV LLWAS utilizesthe same application platform asthe Vaisala MIDAS IV AWOS,which has been on the marketfor five years and been proven inoperational use at airports allover the world. Moreover, it rep-resents the third generation ofVaisala LLWAS. The MIDAS IVLLWAS uses the same graphicaluser interface, data acquisitionand inter-process communica-tion subsystems as the MIDASIV AWOS. The MIDAS IV LL-WAS can be integrated into aMIDAS IV AWOS, and, like theAWOS, it can run as a duplicat-ed system with hot stand-by re-dundancy.

Principle of LLWAS algorithm operationLow level wind shear and mi-croburst conditions are assessedby processing wind data collect-ed from an array or network ofwind sensors. Wind data is ana-lyzed in accordance with a windshear algorithm, licensed fromNCAR, to determine whetherthere is wind divergence in thenetwork. Wind divergence de-creases aircraft headwind, theconverse situation, wind conver-gence, increases aircraft headwind. The intensity, location,and type of shear are calculated.The output is specific to everyaircraft operation and runwayheading.

Wind shear and microburstconditions exist when the head-wind change estimated by thesystem exceeds the airport-spe-cific threshold values for ➤

The MIDAS LLWAS provides information to aviation authorities thatimproves aviation safety, allowing for the improvement of landing minimaand all-weather traffic density.

W ind shear is a generic term that refersto a rapid change of wind speed or di-

rection occurring over a short distance. Lowlevel wind shear occurs within 2,000 feet of theground in two different forms: horizontalshear and microburst. A horizontal shear occurswhen two air masses collide causing a changein horizontal wind speed and direction. It ismost hazardous to aircraft when it occurs dur-ing the takeoff or initial climb, or on the finalapproach. The wind shear may cause aircraft todeviate from normal approach or departurepaths or cause a sudden loss of airspeed.

A microburst is a short-lived intense down-draft of air. This low-level at-mospheric disturbance is pro-duced by a small and powerfuldowndraft of cold heavy air.This dense vertical air creates anoutflow when it approaches theground and can spread horizon-tally in all directions or in a sin-gle direction. Microbursts typi-cally originate above cloud basein the region of between 3000and 4000 meters above groundlevel. They can last up to tenminutes and sometimes occur insequence. Winds can be in ex-cess of 100 miles an hour andtheir spread can be over twomiles in diameter.

Wind shear is often associat-ed with thunderstorm fronts.

However, so called “dry” microbursts that oc-cur when high based cumulus clouds with littleprecipitation hit the ground can be hazardoussince they provide few visual clues for pilots.

Recognizing the hazards of wind shear

Aircraft are most vulnerable to wind shear dur-ing takeoff and landing, with microbursts be-ing particularly dangerous. When aircraft en-countering wind shear on final approach orduring departure hit a strong headwind, fol-lowed by a downdraft and a tailwind, their air-speed is reduced. This results in a sudden lossof lift. ●

Aircraft are most vulnerable to wind shear during takeoff andlanding. Of all windshear phenomena, microbursts are particularlydangerous for aircraft.

What is a wind shear?

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28 161/2003

Ritva Siikamäki, MAEditor-in-ChiefVaisala HelsinkiFinland

possible wind shear conditions.The data is based on horizontalwind speed and wind directionmeasurements. Wind shear andmicroburst alerts are generatedwhen wind shear conditions ex-ist.

High-quality information processing, storage and playbackBoth visual and audible windshear alerts are produced during a

wind shear event so that they canbe easily identified by operators.Any combination and number ofdisplays can be used to presentthe wind shear data in the air traf-fic control environment.

When wind shifts occur,transient aircraft can be alreadypositioned in flight and on theground to avoid unnecessarymovement. Controllers canchange approach patterns andtaxi routes in advance to prevent

or shorten delays in arrivals ordepartures.

The LLWAS provides the fol-lowing information to help man-age flight operations duringwind shear conditions:• timely detection of wind shearat the airport and in runway cor-ridors• timely identification of mi-croburst wind shear• head wind loss or gain associat-ed with wind shear• estimation of the locationwhere wind shear will be first en-countered

The processed wind shear in-formation is archived as raw dataand calculated alerts and warn-ings. Data is stored on the maincomputer’s hard disk from whereit can be transferred to other me-dia for permanent storage oranalysis. The system has a play-back function which allows forthe feeding of wind sensor databack to the LLWAS. This way thesystem output and response canbe reviewed.

The MIDAS IV LLWAS of-fers the probability of detection(POD) of microburst in excess of.90 (90 %) and the probability offalse alert (PFA) of less than .10(10 %). ●

An example of a windshear incident map where the LLWASprovided early warning of the windshear hazard.

The Weather View application is used for the viewing of wind data, windshear and microburst condition alerts in text format.

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161/2003 29

Vaisala has delivered a Weather Observation and Display System(WODA) for ATS to the Helsinki-Vantaa Airport of the Civil AviationAdministration of Finland. The WODA System consists of a MIDAS IVAutomated Weather Observing System (AWOS), an Airport TerminalInformation Service (ATIS/VOLMET) and an Aerodrome Data DisplaySystem (ADD). The Vaisala MIDAS IV Automated Weather ObservingSystem (AWOS) gathers meteorological data from sensors installedalong all runways of Helsinki-Vantaa Airport and distributes collectedand calculated data to other systems. At present, Helsinki-Vantaa Air-port serves over 10 million passengers every year and has been ratedas one of the best airports in the world in the past four years.

New runway for larger capacity

WODA System Including Vaisala Automated Weather Observing System at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport

C onstruction of the newrunway (runway 3) atHelsinki-Vantaa Airport is

one of the major recent airportdevelopments in Europe. In addi-tion to the runway itself, thebuilding project involved taxiwaysand a de-icing area as well as threetaxiway connections to the pres-ent runway network. Of the totalconstruction area, 100 hectareswere surfaced with asphalt and160 hectares with grass. After a six-year construction period, thethird runway at Helsinki-Vantaaairport was taken into use in No-vember 2002. The inauguration ofthe runway coincided with the50th anniversary of the airport.

New runway increasedcapacity at Helsinki-Van-taa AirportHelsinki-Vantaa Airport was ➤


originally built to serve theHelsinki Olympic Games, withcharter traffic starting on abrand-new runway in 1952. An-other runway was added a fewyears later across the first one.The first runway at Helsinki-Van-taa (04R/22L) is 3440 m longand the second runway (15/33)is 2900 m. Runway 3 (04L/22R)is 3000 m and can be used for allairplane types to takeoff to do-mestic destinations and Europe.Runway 3 runs parallel to thepresent main runway, at a dis-

tance of 1350 m, which allowsfor the simultaneous use of bothrunways. The new runway isused as the airport’s primaryairstrip for take-offs. This allowssome 40% increase in operationscapacity over the previous sys-tem, up from a level of 45 opera-tions (takeoffs and landings) perhour.

Environmental issues amajor concern Construction of the new runwaycommenced at the beginning of

1997 and was completed in No-vember 2002. Throughout theentire project, environmentalplanning and building were es-sential concerns. The new run-way at Helsinki-Vantaa is locatedon clay soil, which had to be re-inforced before the actual run-way was built. Water protectionissues were also of crucial impor-tance since the drinking watertunnel of the Helsinki metropol-itan area passes underneath therunway and a section of the run-way runs over a groundwater

catchment area. Consequently,runway construction had to beabsolutely watertight.

Moreover, two special areaswere built in the watertight sec-tion under the runway to collectthe runoff containing the ac-etates used as anti-skid agents inwinter. The acetates then breakdown in these ‘bioreactors’ intocarbon dioxide and water. Onlypurified water is allowed to passinto the ground. The de-icingarea for aircraft is also watertight.The water-glycol mixture will becollected after use and piped in-to a water treatment station.

Principles of runway useThe three-runway system in factoffers six runway directions thatcan be used for take-offs andlandings. The main principle forusing the three runways atHelsinki-Vantaa is that the firstrunway (22L) will be used forlandings during peak hours,while the second runway (15) isused for landings during off-peak hours and during the night.The third runway (22R) will beused for take-offs at all times.

At times, safety reasons callfor changes in the basic rules forrunway use: for example, duringhigh winds the safest directionfor landings or take-offs is deter-mined by the headwind. Heavysnowfall or maintenance workon the runway may also affectthe choice of direction. Environ-mental concerns can also influ-ence the use of runways.

New WODA system Acting as the prime contractorfor the aviation weather systemof the runway 3 project, Vaisaladelivered an Automated Weath-er Observing System and associ-ated meteorological sensors tothe airport’s new runway. Thesystem was installed in summer2002 and taken into operationaluse in November. The existingsensors of the other runwayswere also connected to the newAWOS.

The Vaisala MIDAS IV

30 161/2003

The capacity of the present dual runway system at Helsinki-Vantaa was increased by 40% with Runway 3. The thirdrunway in fact adds up to a six-runway system former.


AWOS replaced Helsinki-Van-taa’s previous self-designedAWOS. The new system gathersand integrates meteorologicaldata from all three runways. Fur-thermore, Vaisala acted as themain weather observation con-tractor, incorporating anATIS/VOLMET system provid-ed by Terma A/S, a leading Dan-ish contractor, and AerodromeData Displays (ADD) providedby FREQUENTIS Nachrichten-technik GmbH of Austria.

The MIDAS IV AWOS Sys-tem performs a number of obser-vations that provide Air TrafficControl with the meteorologicaldata required in Category IIIboperations at the airport. Ob-servation data is also transmittedto regional and national meteor-ological information networksand to the ATIS (Automatic Ter-minal Information Service) andADD. Additionally, the airportmaintenance department col-lects information about the run-way’s friction and conditionwhich is then transmitted to theWODA System.

The system’s architecture,calculation routines and prac-tices implemented closely followthe recommendations issued bythe International Civil AviationOrganization (ICAO) and theWorld Meteorological Organiza-tion (WMO). Recommenda-tions published by ICAO in An-nex 3 and Annex 14 are particu-larly crucial in airport meteorol-ogy system design.

Meteorological sensorsalong the runwayVaisala sensors for measuringmeteorological parameters, e.g.Runway Visual Range and cloudheight, are located along thenew runway. For ice warningsand predictions the airport isequipped with three ROSA Run-way Weather Stations on thenew runway and three existingRunway Weather Stations on theold runways. Runway conditioninformation from these stationswill be shown on displays incor-porated in the MIDAS IV

AWOS. An integrated data man-agement system (MetMan)handles and stores weather datafrom all three runways.

The system offers automaticmeasurements and calculationsof the following: wind speed &direction, pressure (QFE, QNH,QFF), temperature, humidity(dewpoint temperature), meteor-ological visibility, Runway Visu-al Range assessment, cloudheight and coverage, presentweather and runway condition.All of the observations are dis-played on PC’s and touch screengraphic displays. The reportinginterval varies depending on theimportance of the weather para-meter. Weather parameters thattend to change suddenly, such aswind, require a more frequentreporting interval. The system isalso capable of collecting datafrom additional backup weathersensors that are connected di-rectly to ADD. Both measuredand calculated weather informa-tion can be displayed in differ-ent formats and by variousmeans at relevant locationsaround the airport.

Based on the automatedweather observations, routineweather messages like METAR/SPECI, ATIS and SYNOP aregenerated and distributed atspecified times. Reports for sig-nificant weather changes, like aSPECIAL report, are issued ac-cording to the relevant criteriarecommended by ICAO in An-nex 3.

Data communications Meteorological data from therunway and field sensors aretransmitted to the MIDAS IVCentral Data Unit (CDU) onthe airport premises. An opticfiber network including RS232fiber optic converters is utilized,with copper cabling also used.All equipment on runway 3 isconnected to the MIDAS IVCDU via an optic fiber network.Equipment from runway 1 and 2is connected via point to pointmodem lines to the CDU. Themodems at the CDU end are lo-

cated in the CDU cabinet. Addi-tionally, the mobile workstation,which is used for friction meas-urement, communicates via a ra-dio link.

The MIDAS IV CDU is aduplicated system with a switch-over unit. The CDU processesdata from the sensors and dis-tributes it and the specified mes-sages to servers and worksta-tions.

Runway weather stations (ROSA)The MIDAS IV AWOS collectsrunway condition and weatherdata from the Runway WeatherStations. It also distributes anddisplays data to users, analyzesand produces warnings aboutrunway surface state. Runwaycondition information is crucialin improving safety and econo-my, reducing the environmentalimpact of runway operation, andminimizing winter maintenancecosts.

More fluent flow ofweather data The entire system deliverymeant supplying a large integrat-ed system. “It was a large projectwhich spanned over ninemonths of intense work,” com-ments Thomas Jungmann ofVaisala, who acted as the projectmanager. Thanks to the integrat-ed system, users can accessweather data more easily, andthe data is also transmitted tothe international network(AFTN, Aeronautical FixedTelecommunication Network).At FCAA, Matti Eteläpää, sys-tem administrator, appreciatesthe results of the project. “Nowwe have a comprehensive systemwhich is crucial for its users. Wereached our objective: a shorterand more fluent communica-tions chain for our operationalweather data.” ●

161/2003 31

Vaisala CT25K Ceilometers arelocated along the new runway,offering accurate cloud heightmeasurement.

The runway conditionmonitoring system, with ROSAstations along the runways, helpsto focus on preventive runwaymaintenance.

Wind is measured withWAS425 Ultrasonic WindSensors, installed on masts alongthe new runway.


T he range of presenta-tions varied from re-search-oriented satellite-

based lightning observationsand lightning prediction, to ap-plication-focused wildfire man-agement and outdoor lightningsafety. The scientific conferencespanned two and a half days ofgeneral sessions, specialty-ori-ented breakout sessions, topicalround table discussions, and aposter session. Attendees in-cluded researchers, scientists,engineers, industrial specialists,professionals and students from19 countries who share a com-mon passion to try and under-stand lightning and how it af-fects the world we live in.

Conference highlightsThe ILDC is popular for itsblending of the latest develop-ments in lightning science withreal-world applications. Thisyear’s presentations deliverednew and important informationin these areas, and several gener-ated special interest in the audi-ence. The following presenta-tions illustrated the cross-disci-plinary nature and wide geo-graphical coverage of the confer-ence:

Ed Gil, representing Texas-based CenterPoint Energy, deli-vered an entertaining presenta-tion on the practical use of light-ning data to implement ground-ing improvements in the utility’stransmission system.

Philippe Richard, of Vaisala,presented the concept of data fu-sion for nowcasting, which ex-tends the capabilities of a light-ning detection system into a de-cision system by fusing radarand lightning data, enablinghazardous weather to be identi-fied and anticipated more easily.

Dr. Philip Krider, Professorof Atmospheric Sciences at theUniversity of Arizona, provideda historical perspective of Ben-jamin Franklin’s early experi-ments with lightning and elec-tricity that inspired the develop-ment of electricity as a scienceand the beginnings of modernphysics. Dr. Krider reflected onhow Franklin’s initial lightningprotection ideas still provide ba-sic design elements used todayin every lightning protectioncode around the world.

Idea exchangeFor the first time round tablediscussions on hot topics were a

part of the conference. Topics in-cluded total lightning, forecast-ing, safety, protection and more.The round table format invitedactive participation by all. Thediscussion of ideas and theircounterpoints was animated andspirited to say the least. Thisunique forum allowed thosewith common expertise and in-terest to share ideas and collabo-rate with their peers.

Recognizing achievements in lightning safety awareness Richard Kithil, President of theColorado-based Lightning Safe-ty Institute, presented the annu-al Lightning Safety Awards onThursday. Conference attendeeDr. Mary Ann Cooper receivedthe Medicine Award for leadingefforts to raise lightning safetyawareness, participating in or-ganizations and assisting manylightning victims and their fami-lies. Ron Holle of Vaisala waspresented the Individual Awardfor his work as a national light-ning safety spokesperson atNOAA’s, as well as for his re-search, technical publicationsand efforts in private industry.

Vaisala affirms commit-ment to research

At Thursday evening’s socialdinner, keynote speaker PekkaKetonen, Vaisala President andCEO, expressed his enthusiasmfor the presentations, discussionand collaboration among the“lightning society.” He affirmedVaisala’s commitment to re-search and scientific study, in-cluding research-based forumslike ILDC. A Vaisala productdemonstration room was openoutside conference hours toshowcase lightning detectiontechnologies that are fundamen-tal to lightning research.

ILDC historyThe first lightning detectionconference, then called a work-shop, was held in 1979. Twenty-five researchers attended. Theevent was first held annually,then biannually. It has grown in-to a respected forum for the ad-vancement of our understandingof lightning, lightning’s relationto other weather phenomena,lightning detection technology,and the applications of lightninginformation. The conference issponsored by Vaisala and organ-ized by the Vaisala Thunder-storm Business Unit in Tucson.

17th ILDC program andpapers are onlineThe conference program, ab-stracts and most papers are avail-able on the Vaisala Thunder-storm web site at www.light-ningstorm.com/ILDC. ●

32 161/2003

Spectacular lightning shows during the summer thunderstorm seasonattracted much attention to Tucson, Arizona, USA. The city also at-tracted top scientists, researchers, and professionals who specialize inlightning to the 17th International Lightning Detection Conference.The conference theme, “A Comprehensive Look at Total Lightning”,accurately described the wide range of presentations.

Nancy RothMarketing Supervisor Vaisala TucsonUSA

A comprehensive look at total lightning

17th International Lightning Detection Conference Strikes in Tucson


161/2003 33

T he ALARM software isWindows®-based anddisplays lightning infor-

mation collected by the VaisalaTSS 928 stand-alone lightning

detection sensor in ranges anddirections for a 55-kilometer (30-nautical mile) radius around itslocation. ALARM reports cloudlightning from the detection sen-

sor for the entire range,which allows operatorsto quickly and easilymonitor both cloud-to-ground and cloudlightning approachingtheir location.

Flexible color-cod-ed, audible and e-mailalarms warn operatorsof the threat instantlyand without subjectivehuman interpretation.Users can define up tofive lightning activitylevels for each sector inthree ranges and eightdirections. Activity lev-els range from none,occasional, moderate,and frequent to alarm.Three distance rangesare reported: overhead,near and distant. Thedistances can be de-fined by the user with-in the entire radius,while compass direc-tions are preset stan-

dards. Alarms can be set for un-safe electric field intensity levels,and various alarms can be com-bined to provide complete cus-tomization for unique local en-vironments.

Up to eight relays are avail-able with ALARM to triggersirens or beacons and switch offvulnerable equipment. More-over, they can be used to switchgenerators on or off for com-plete automation of operationalprocedures and minimized light-ning risk.

In locations that are proneto the threat of developing thun-derstorms, ALARM can be usedwith Vaisala TSS 928 Sensorsand up to seven Vaisala EFM IIElectric Field Mills to displayelectric field intensity measure-ments. Users can set multiple,flexible custom alarms for elec-tric field levels as well as light-ning activity levels.

Typical applications of thenew ALARM software includeairports, mission-critical facili-ties, outdoor recreation facilities,operations with explosives andmunitions, mines, petroleumstorage, refineries and atmos-pheric research. ●

The new Vaisala Automated Lightning Alertand Risk Management (ALARM) System isideal for lightning tracking and automatingwarnings and procedures. In addition toclear, easy-to-interpret graphic displays oflightning information, ALARM software offers color-coded, audible and e-mail alarms on lightning activity levels.

New system for

Efficient Lightning Tracking and Automated Warnings

Nancy RothMarketing Supervisor Vaisala TucsonUSA

The ALARM software helps to manage lightning risks by offering objective informationon when lightning threatens operations.


34 161/2003

T he Digital IF is offered asan integral part of windprofilers or as an upgrade

to fielded systems. It also comeswith the Vaisala Service Con-tract level 1, which includes soft-ware upgrades for a year after de-

livery. The first Digital IF deliv-ery was to DWD (the GermanWeather Service) to be used intheir LAP®-16000. Since thenNOAA, the UK Met Office, andother wind profiler users haveplaced orders with Vaisala.

Enhancing system performance

The LAP® Digital IF receiver is ahardware and software enhance-ment to the LAP® family ofradar wind profilers. The analog-to-digital signal conversion takesplace at the intermediate fre-quency (IF) element of the re-ceiver. The new hardware andtopology enables improved sig-nal processing techniques thatreduce the effects of interferenceand ground clutter. This allows amore accurate automatic selec-tion of the atmospheric signal.

The signal processor, radarcontrol, and IF/Modulator func-tions are replaced with new de-signs that are implemented usingmodern components and tech-niques, including PCI formatboards for the digital signalprocessor and radar controller.The sampling, matched filteringand digital signal processing boardis called PIRAQ III (PC Integrat-ed Radar Acquisition board – ver-sion 3). PIRAQ III was developedat the National Center for Atmos-pheric Research (NCAR).

New algorithmsNew algorithms are incorporat-ed into the LAP® wind profilersignal processing software, LAP-XM®. Among the real-time pro-cessing improvements are mod-ules and algorithms that provideWavelet clutter reduction, multi-ple spectral peak picking, run-ning averages of wind consensusvalues, structure function para-meter for the index of refraction(Cn2) data, WMO BUFR out-put format data, and qualitycontrol (using the Weber-Wuertzmethod) of the final output.This upgrade modernizes theLAP® systems and adds newfunctionality and flexibility inprocessing profiler radar signalsinto atmospheric measurements.

For more details of the algo-rithms please use the web basedsearch engine “Google”. Suggest-ed words for an advanced searchare Wind Profiler and the nameof the algorithm. ●

Vaisala LAP® Digital-IF

Providing Superior Wind Profiler Data The digital IF receiver will be a standard component of LAP® deliver-ies after October 2002 or an upgrade to the existing LAP® wind pro-filer product family (LAP®-3000, LAP®-8000, LAP®-12000 and LAP®-16000). The upgrade is for current LAP® owners who wish to improvethe signal processing and performance of their wind profilers. Thisproduct gives better performance at operating locations with inter-fering ground clutter and offers superior data quality at any site.

Wind profiling is an importantactivity in meteorological andclimatological research,aviation, air quality monitoringand research, defense operationsand land resource management.Pictured a LAP®-3000 Systemat Kennedy Space Center.

Pauli Niska-PudasProduct ManagerVaisala BoulderUSA


D eliveries of the networkof radar wind profilersto DWD will take place

in 2003 - 2005. The network tobe delivered will be used for re-mote monitoring of the atmos-phere. It will supplement the ex-isting networks of radiosondes,satellite sensors and aircraft ob-servations by providing continu-ous data of wind and tempera-ture profiles for weather analysisand forecasting models.

The radar wind profiler net-work to be implemented is thehigh-range version (up to 16 km)for tropospheric profiling - theVaisala LAP®-16000 Tropos-pheric Radar Profiler. It uses thesame kind of technology as thelower range boundary layer windprofilers, which have been in-stalled widely for many years ina number of applications. Theboundary layer profilers are vitalcomponents in support of airquality, aviation and mesoscaleforecasting operations, whereasthe tropospheric radar wind pro-filers are used to supplementlarge scale synoptic network ob-

servations.The Vaisala LAP®-16000

Tropospheric Radar Profiler uti-lizes the Doppler principle. Itprovides vertical profiles of hori-zontal wind speed and directionas well as vertical wind velocity

161/2003 35

Operational use will start with the delivery of

Radar Wind Profiler technology to DWDThe German Weather Service, Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD), has decided to establish an operational radar wind profiler network andhas placed a significant order for wind profilers with Vaisala. This isan important breakthrough in the remote sensing field in Europe,since tropospheric radar wind profiler technology has so far mainlybeen used for research and demonstration purposes. DWD now introduces this technology into operational use in their weather observing system.

up to 12 - 16 km above groundlevel. With the RadioAcousticSounding System (RASS) optionadded, it will provide virtual tem-perature profiles up to 3 - 6 kmabove ground level dependingon atmospheric conditions. ●

The Vaisala LAP®-16000Tropospheric Radar Profiler ispresently used by the DWD researchobservatory at Lindenberg,Germany. Other models of theLAP® Family of Radar Profilersare used by air quality authorities,utilities, aviation and privateindustry.


B ased on the requirementsof EN ISO 14001,Vaisala’s environmental

management system was certi-fied by SFS-certification at theend of 2002. Comprising thecompany’s operations and prod-ucts, the Environmental Man-agement System contributes tothe measurement and reductionof the company’s environmentalimpacts, including the pollutionand waste produced by process-es, products and packaging ma-terials. Vaisala’s EnvironmentalManagement System wasplanned jointly with the personsresponsible in processes, factoryoperations and property man-agement. An extensive trainingprogram was carried out in 2002at Vaisala Helsinki office andthis will continue in 2003 at in-ternational offices. The objectiveis to make sure that all Vaisalaemployees are aware of the envi-ronmental aspects of their work.The responsible persons in theproduct development and pro-duction unit have been trainedand informed about the require-ments of the EU’s new environ-mental directives and Design ForEnvironment (DFE) principles.An environmental program with

36 161/2003

Focusing on environmental aspects

ISO 14001 Certification forthe Vaisala Environmental

Management System

Vaisala’s environmentalmeasurement products and systemshave great potential for positivelyaffecting the environment.

Jorma Antson, M.Sc. (Eng.)Quality ManagerVaisala HelsinkiFinland

Vaisala is committed to sustainable develop-ment and to taking environmental questionsinto consideration in its own operations aswell as in the products and services it offersto customers. Vaisala aims to continuouslyimprove the environmental aspects of itsproducts, services and processes including theprevention of pollution and the reduction ofwaste.


objectives and targets has beendefined. Performance is meas-ured, reviewed and improvedwith the help of environmental-ly oriented key indicators.

Competitive environ-mental performanceVaisala products and processescomply with relevant environ-mental legislation and regula-tions, and other criteria to whichVaisala has subscribed. For in-stance, products are compliantwith EU directives in force onmachines, electromagnetic com-patibility (EMC) and low volt-age, international radio frequen-cy regulations, air traffic safetyregulations and regulations onthe waste management and re-cycling of packaging materials.Additionally, Vaisala prepareswell in advance for the require-ments of new environmental di-rectives, laws and regulationsthat relate to this business. Theobjective is for new productsthat are introduced to be envi-ronmentally sound and to alsomeet the requirements of thenew EU directives for electricaland electronic equipment.Vaisala cooperates with compo-nent and subassembly suppliers

and subcontractors in their op-erations, so as to make sure thatthey contribute to the mutual ef-fort to comply with the require-ments of the new directives.

Introducing environ-mentally oriented product designIn developing new products,Vaisala works to minimize envi-ronmental impacts by managingthe product chain from design todisposal. Environmentally ori-ented product design or designfor environment (DFE) has nowbeen defined as one of Vaisala’sbasic product design rules. Theterm “design for environment”refers to the efforts and out-comes of integrating environ-mental issues into product devel-opment and design. Many othersimilar terms, such as ecodesign,environmentally sound, environ-mentally oriented, or environ-mentally compatible product de-sign are used in the literature todescribe the same scheme. De-sign for environment includesdifferent levels, ranging from theredesign of existing products todefining totally new productconcepts. It includes various tar-gets, such as improving energy

efficiency, reducing material us-age, and improving the recycla-bility of products.

Vaisala will bear a more sig-nificant degree of responsibilityfor its products throughout theproducts’ life cycle. This in-cludes the upstream impacts ofmaterials selection for the prod-uct, impacts from the manufac-turers’ production processes,and downstream impacts fromthe use and disposal of the prod-ucts.

New environmentalregulationsThe member countries of theEuropean Union (EU) are tight-ening their environmental legis-lation for electrical and electron-ic equipment manufactured andsold for the EU market. The newenvironmental directives relatedto all new electrical and elec-tronic equipment are the: Direc-tive on Waste Electrical andElectronic Equipment (WEEE),Directive on the Restriction ofthe use of certain HazardousSubstances in electrical and elec-tronic equipment (RoHS) andDirective on the impact on theEnvironment of Electrical andElectronic Equipment (EEE).

When these directives comeinto force and are integrated in-to national legislation, produc-ers will be responsible for financ-ing the cost of collection, treat-ment, recovery and environmen-tally sound disposal of equip-ment manufactured and sold.Manufacturers will answer forproduct take-back and recovery,which comprises measures relat-ed to organizing end-of-lifeproduct collection and treat-ment systems, including logisticsoperations and management ac-tivities. Recovery includes meas-ures related to the collection ofdiscarded products, dismantlingend-of-life products, the reuse ofcomponents, the recycling ofmaterials, and the disposal of re-maining waste.

Hazardous substances willbe forbidden in new electricaland electronic equipment.Heavy metals (such as lead) andsome flame retardants, whichare presently used in electronicassemblies, component boards,plastic boxes and plastic hous-ings, will be eliminated in futuredesigns. In practice, Life CycleAnalyses and Design for Envir-onment principles must be ap-plied to product designs. ●

161/2003 37

Besides complying with existingregulations and integrating DFEprinciples into product design, Vaisalaprepares for the requirements of evertightening environmental legislation ingood time.


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T he Slovak Hydrometeo-rological Institute (SH-MI) acted as sponsor and

organizer of the events. TheVaisala stand displayed a widevariety of products ranging froma single sensor to complete net-work solutions. New productsand solutions were presented, fo-cusing on remote sensing prod-ucts, such as lightning detectionsensors and wind profilers. Ad-ditionally, MetMan Data Collec-tion software and DigiCORA IIISounding System were exhibit-ed. A lot of visitors from govern-

mental and non-governmentalorganizations, the academic sec-tor, businesses and industry visit-ed the Vaisala stand.

The TECO 2002 ConferenceAt TECO 2002, papers andposter presentations were given infour sessions, each dedicated to aspecific topic. The introductorykeynote paper of the conference,which discussed the managementof natural disasters in coastal are-as, was given by the president ofCIMO, Mr. S.K. Srivastava of In-

dia. The two papers presented byVaisala’s representatives includedMr. Jorma Islander’s paper on“New generation ship AWS” inthe session on new developmentsin automatic weather stations,and Mr. Philippe Richard’s pres-entation on “Results from GlobalAtmospherics’ lightning detec-tion and ranging (LDAR-II) re-search network at Dallas-ForthWorth” (by Ronald Holle et al.).Moreover, Vaisala presented twoposters at TECO 2002: “New for-ward scatter visibility sensor forRVR application” and “Design

and operational aspects ofa reduced-aperture 449MHz wind profilingradar”. Other sessions ofthe conference discussedquality management andcalibration methods of sur-face-based remote sensingsystems, and managementand financial aspects forobserving methods andtechnology and capacitybuilding. Applications ofmeteorological and envi-ronmental instruments innatural and renewable re-source management werealso dealt with.

Not surprisingly, sev-eral speakers discussed theperformance of Vaisalaproducts in their papersand poster presentations.These included a report ofthe Eumetnet SWS IIproject, which studied theicing of wind sensors byMr. Bengt Tammelin ofthe Finnish Meteorolog-ical Institute. Mr. Reinal-do Da Silve of Brazil pre-sented an overview of theinternational WMO ra-diosonde comparison inwhich Vaisala participatedwith RS80 and RS90 ra-diosondes. For further in-formation on TECO 2002papers, please see Instru-ments and ObservationMethods — Report No. 75— WMO/TD-No. 1123,which is also available onthe WMO website. ●

METEOREX 2002 & TECO 2002 in Bratislava present the

Latest Developments in Meteorological ObservationsThe Exhibition of Meteorological Instruments, Related Equipment andServices METEOREX 2002 was held in Bratislava, Slovakia 23 – 25 Sep-tember 2002, in conjunction with the WMO Technical Conference onMeteorological and Environmental Instruments and Methods of Obser-vation, TECO-2002, and the session of the Commission for Instrumentsand Methods of Observation (CIMO). With more than 60 companies par-ticipating in the exhibition, METEOREX 2002 provided an overview onnew meteorological instruments, equipment and services.

Vaisala focusedon remote sensingproducts at theMETEOREX2002 exhibition.


Dr. Yrjö Toivola, born in Vy-borg on 15th September 1927,reached the age of 74 years. Hetook his matriculation exam in1946 and took up studying elec-trical engineering at the Univer-sity of Technology. After com-pleting his studies in 1955, YrjöToivola joined Vaisala as a train-ing engineer, becoming researchdirector in 1958. In the early1960s, Toivola was assigned toset up the production operationin Buenos Aires as the managingdirector of Vaisala SudamericanaSA, a new Vaisala office. He wasappointed deputy managing di-rector in 1963. Upon the death

of Vilho Väisälä, Vaisala’sfounder, in 1969, Toivola be-came Vaisala’s managing direc-tor. He held this position untilhe retired at the end of 1991 andthen acted as chairman of theVaisala board 1991-92.

During Yrjö Toivola’s periodas managing director Vaisala sawstrong growth and operationswere extended to new business-es, such as road weather systemsand aviation weather systems.Beside managing internationalbusiness activities Toivola enthu-siastically participated in day-to-day product development work.For instance he was involved in

the development of semicon-ductor technology in whichVaisala was a pioneer in Finland.Yrjö Toivola was known as abroad-minded person who waskeen to search for new solutionsand who focused on customer’sexpectations and needs.

Dedicated to promoting hightechnology, Yrjö Toivola alsoworked actively outside Vaisalato promote entrepreneurshipand the Finnish electrical andelectronic industry. As an activeadvocate of entrepreneurship hewas also involved in developingmentoring programs whichaimed at providing the know-ledge and skills of experiencedbusinessmen to newly foundedcompanies and their managers.He also acted as a mentor for nu-merous high-tech companies. Hewas deeply interested in how aninnovation can be turned into abusiness, actively putting his fa-mous saying “Finland needs ahundred Nokias” into practice.New projects often received en-couraging and enthusiastic com-ments from him, and his inquisi-tiveness and enthusiasm for newthings remained unchangedthroughout his life.

Yrjö Toivola was active innumerous associations and so-cieties, such as The Federationof Finnish Metal Industries.Toivola received a number ofdistinctions and awards of meritfor his work as an advocate anddeveloper of Finnish technolo-gy. His personality was a uniquecombination of broadmindedhumanist and technology ex-pert. ●

161/2003 39

In Memoriam Dr. Yrjö ToivolaWith deep regret we announce that Vaisala’slong-time managing director Dr. Yrjö Toivolapassed away in Helsinki in August 2002. Hisintense interest in technology and creativityalso characterized his work outside Vaisala –as an elected member of various organiza-tions, a mentor in start-up companies and aboard member of many companies.

Because of his commitment to and active work as an advocate for the high-tech industry, Yrjö Toivola was called Finland’s Mr. High Tech.


Europe

Vaisala Oyj P.O. Box 26, FIN-00421 HelsinkiFINLAND Telephone: +358 9 894 91Telefax: +358 9 8949 2227

Vaisala MalmöDrottninggatan 1 DS - 212 11 MalmöSWEDENTelephone: +46 40 298 991, in Sweden: 0200 848 848Telefax.: +46 40 298 992, in Sweden: 0200 849 849

Vaisala GmbHSchnackenburgallee 41D-22525 HamburgGERMANYTelephone: +49 40 839 03 0Telefax: +49 40 839 03 110

Vaisala GmbHBonn OfficeAdenauerallee 46 aD-53110 BonnGERMANYTelephone: +49 228 912 5110Telefax: +49 228 912 5111

Vaisala GmbHBremerhaven OfficeBuchtstrasse 4527570 BremerhavenGERMANYTelephone: +49 471 170 1655 Telefax: +49 471 170 1755

Vaisala GmbHStuttgart OfficePestalozzi Str. 8D-70563 Stuttgart GERMANYTelephone: +49 711 734 057Telefax: +49 711 735 6340

Vaisala LtdBirmingham OperationsVaisala House349 Bristol RoadBirmingham B5 7SWUNITED KINGDOMTelephone: +44 121 683 1200Telefax: +44 121 683 1299

Vaisala LtdNewmarket OfficeUnit 9, Swan LaneExningNewmarketSuffolk CB8 7FNUNITED KINGDOMTelephone: +44 1638 576 200Telefax: +44 1638 576 240

Vaisala SA2, rue Stéphenson (escalier 2bis)F-78181 Saint-Quentin-en-YvelinesCedexFRANCETelephone: +33 1 3057 2728Telefax: +33 1 3096 0858

Vaisala SA7, Europarc Ste-VictoireF-13590 Meyreuil FRANCETelephone: +33 4 4212 6464Telefax: +33 4 4212 6474

North America

Vaisala Inc. 100 Commerce WayWoburn, MA 01801-1068USATelephone: +1 781 933 4500Telefax: +1 781 933 8029

Vaisala Inc. Columbus Operations7450 Industrial ParkwayPlain City, Ohio 43064-9005USA Telephone: +1 614 873 6880Telefax: +1 614 873 6890

Vaisala Inc. Vaisala Inc. Boulder Operations194 South Taylor AvenueLouisville, CO 80027USATelephone: +1 303 499 1701 Fax: +1 303 499 1767

Vaisala Inc.Sunnyvale Operations1288 Reamwood Ave. Sunnyvale, CA 94089-2233USATelephone: +1 408 734 9640Telefax: +1 408 734 0655

Vaisala Inc.2705 East Medina RoadTucson, Arizona 85706, USATelephone: +1 520 806 7300Telefax: +1 520 741 2848U.S. Toll Free 1 800 283 4557

Vaisala Inc. Regional Office CanadaP.O. Box 2241, Station "B"LondonOntario N6A 4E3CANADATelephone: +1 519 679-9563Telefax: +1 519 679-9992

Asia and Pacific

Vaisala KK42 Kagurazaka 6-ChomeShinjuku-Ku Tokyo 162-0825JAPANTelephone: +81 3 3266 9611Telefax: +81 3 3266 9610

Vaisala KKOsaka BranchThick Land Building 12032-3-5 Nanba Chuo-ku, Osaka 542-0076, JAPANTelephone: +81 6 62123954Telefax: +81 6 62123955

Vaisala Pty Ltd3 Guest StreetHawthorn, VIC 3122AUSTRALIATelephone: +61 3 9818 4200Telefax: +61 3 9818 4522ABN 58 006 500 616

Vaisala Beijing Representative OfficeWangfujing Grand HotelRoom 518 - 52057, Wangfujing StreetBeijing 100006PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINATelephone: +86 10 6522 4041+86 10 6522 4050+86 10 6522 4151Telefax: +86 10 6522 4051

Vaisala Regional Office MalaysiaLevel 36, Menara Citibank165 Jalan Ampang50450 Kuala LumpurMALAYSIATelephone: +60 3 2169 7776Telefax: +60 3 2169 7775

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161/2003 - Vaisala