Cathy_Babis

I know the technology wasn’t there when I was replaced by an ASOS in the mid 1990s after a test comparing human observations to the ASOS at KLUK determined that the ASOS was “good enough.” I never thought so and as pilots in Alaska have known forever, “eyes (or camera) on” cannot be replaced. I can attest to times the ASOS reported WOXOF when the instrument was simply surrounded by a tiny spot of fog while the sky was clear and the runways were unobscured, and Sky Clear when it was really 500 BKN because the only hole in the layer was directly over the ceiliometer. I’m glad to see that pilots in areas subject such incorrect readings are being given another tool to assist in evaluating the safety of their proposed flight and that the FAA has been nimble enough to adopt this new technology. I do wonder how a pilot can access this enroute - can FSS see them and relate verbally what they see? Are they permitted to do this?