Juneau, Alaska, Wind Hazard Information System (WHIS): A Wintertime Assessment of Wind Sensors on Mt. Washington, New Hampshire

• Main Authors: Benner, William, Carty, Thomas
• Other Authors: FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION TECHNICAL CENTER ATLANTIC CITY NJ
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2000
• Subjects: Meteorology; Commercial and General Aviation; *METEOROLOGICAL DATA; *ANEMOMETERS; *WIND DIRECTION INDICATORS; ALASKA; WIND; ICE FORMATION; OPERATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS; DATA ACQUISITION; INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTS; SITE INVESTIGATIONS; ARCTIC REGIONS; NEW HAMPSHIRE; ICE REPORTING; MT WASHINGTON(NEW HAMPSHIRE); WHIS(WIND HAZARD INFORMATION SYSTEM); AWR(AVIATION WEATHER RESEARCH); Arctic; Rime; Alaska
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA382860; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA382860

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Weather Branch performed a 6-week wintertime assessment of wind sensors on Mt. Washington, NH, in 1999. The purpose of the effort was to perform a preliminary investigation of the severe weather performance capabilities of anemometers for use in the prototype Wind Hazard Information System (WHIS) at Juneau International Airport, AK. The test site was selected as it is subjected to extreme meteorological and climatic conditions equivalent to alpine and arctic zones characteristic to Juneau. The summit weather is severe and often experiences snow and icing conditions, and the buildup of rime ice on exposed surfaces is prevalent and often substantial. One ultrasonic and two mechanical wind sensors, all with internal heater capabilities, were studied. Other instruments included an ice detector, a relative humidity probe, and an Internet-capable video camera which was set up to continuously monitor temperature/weather and sensor conditions. Additional equipment consisted of a datalogger, a personal computer (PC), and various communications equipment located in a heated instrument shelter. About 37 days of data were remotely collected, downloaded, and analyzed. Figures are presented in this report to document and present the test bed setup, data collection, and analysis results. This effort was considered primarily a demonstration and shakedown effort, as a number of limitations were necessary and understood before the test bed installation. The most severe limitation was problems encountered with the video camera. Despite the test bed difficulties, a sufficient amount of useful data was successfully analyzed to draw some conclusions on the adequacy of the test bed setup and the performance of the wind sensors. Results show several effects of snow and icing on wind sensor performance. One wind direction mechanical sensor failed early in the study due to heater-related problems.