WRONG VISIBILITY RPTED BY ASOS. WX RPTING EQUIP PROB.
Synopsis
WRONG VISIBILITY RPTED BY ASOS. WX RPTING EQUIP PROB.
Narrative
THE AUTOMATED SURFACE OBSERVATION SYS (ASOS) AT THE MACON ARPT RPTS THE SURFACE VISIBILITY AS BETTER THAN 10 MI WHEN THE ACTUAL TWR AND SURFACE VISIBILITY WAS 1 AND 1/2 MI (IFR). THIS PROB HAS CONTINUED FOR THE LAST SEVERAL DAYS WITH NOTHING BEING DONE TO CORRECT THE PROB. I HAVE PLT RPTS FROM ACFT DEPARTING THE ARPT WHO STRONGLY DISAGREE WITH THE ASOS VISIBILITY. THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS OP ESPECIALLY WHEN THE TWR IS CLOSED BECAUSE THERE IS NO ONE AVAILABLE TO CORRECT OR OVERRIDE THE ASOS. DOCUMENTING THE PROB IS ALL THAT WE ARE DOING. I SUGGEST THAT THE ASOS BE DECOMMISSIONED UNTIL THE SYS MEETS THE PREVIOUS STANDARDS OF TAKING WX OBSERVATIONS. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR STATED NWS WX PERSONNEL ALLEGEDLY WERE TOLD THEY WERE AUGMENTING THE SYS TOO MUCH WHICH WAS LOWERING THE RPTED RELIABILITY OF THE ASOS. RPTR SAID HE HAD HEARD THE FAA IS NOT INSTALLING ANY MORE ASOS SYS THEY ARE PAYING FOR; BUT THE NWS IS CONTINUING TO INSTALL THEM. RPTR SAID A HORNET'S NEST WAS FOUND IN THE ASOS EQUIP WHICH ACCOUNTED FOR THE UNRELIABILITY OF THE RPTED WX.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.