42826Ymi_158VAISALANEWS 14.12.2001 17:53 Sivu 1

158/2002158/2002

Wind Profilers Added to Vaisala Product Range

Vaisala expands into remote sensing Remote Sensing Division founded

Vaisala MIDAS IV at New Athens International Airport Ready for Olympics 2004

Weather Observation with MAWS enables Study of Pollution in Mountains 42826Ymi_158VAISALANEWS 14.12.2001 17:53 Sivu 2

Contents

President’s Column 3

Remote Sensing The Finnish Ultraviolet International Research Center Profilers Added to Vaisala Product Range 4 (FUVIRC) was established at Vaisala Expands into Remote Sensing 6 Sodankylä in Lapland as a joint NOAA CRADA Management Review Board project of the Finnish Meets in Helsinki 7 Meteorological Institute and the Upper Air University of Oulu. Encouraging multidisciplinary UK Met Office Accepts DigiCORA III research, the new center will for Operational Use 8 serve ecosystem research, Broader Automation of Observations in Spain 10 human health studies, and Multidisciplinary Studies on the Effects atmospheric chemistry research. of Ozone Depletion at Sodankylä 13 Surface Weather MAWS Enables the Study of Pollution in Mountains 15 The Vaisala MAWS Automatic Twenty Automatic Weather Stations Donated to Schools 17 enables weather observations in Automatic Flood Alert System mountainous areas where acid Protects the People of Son La in Vietnam 18 rain is leading to forest decline. The British Army’s Royal Artillery The National Institute for Acquires Mobile TACMET Systems 20 Environmental Studies of Japan Cooperation between China Meteorological studies the effects of acid rain Administration and Vaisala 21 and fog at Mt. Shirane in Nikko New Present Weather Detector PWD21 National Park, using the data Offers Versatile Measurements 22 collected with MAWS. GOES High Data Rate Transmitters Now Certified 23 Aviation MIDAS IV Automatic Weather Observation System The Royal Meteorological at Athens International Airport 24 Society awarded the Fitzroy AW11 Aviation Weather Reporter Prize to Dr. Jianmin Shao at Gliding Championships 28 (Vaisala Birmingham) in Major AWOS Contract for Vaisala recognition of his contribution the Lone Star State 30 to the development of ice MIDAS IV System with Integrated Management prediction models for both to Turkish Airports 31 forecasting and nowcasting. Traffic Weather The RMS Awards Prestigious Fitzroy Prize to Dr. Jianmin Shao 32 Complaints Management System at Vaisala Birmingham Certified 34 General European Meteorological Society and Future Trends in at ECAM 35 Cover photo: Aurora borealis by Jouni Jussila, Finland. New Service Contract Concept 36 Because the Sun’s activity has been at its maxi- Extensive Customer Survey 37 mum in 2001, this year has been especially Vaisala Office in Boston Turns 20 good for the aurora borealis in Finland. Jouni - Professional Team serving North American Customers 38 Jussila, a member of the Space Physics Group New Vaisala Office in Canada 39 at the University of Oulu, specializes in auro- ral research. The photo on the cover was taken in March 2001 at Haapavesi, North Finland.

Editor-in-Chief: Design and Artwork: Vaisala in Brief Marit Finne Non Stop Studiot Oy (absent on study leave Editors: — We develop, manufacture — We focus on market seg- June 1, 2001 – July 15, Bellcrest Language and market products and ser- ments where we can be the 2002) Services Oy vices for environmental and world leader, the preferred Acting Editor-in- Printed in Finland by industrial measurements. supplier. We put high priori- Chief: Sävypaino, Finland ty on customer satisfaction Ritva Siikamäki — The purpose of these mea- and product leadership. We Publisher: surements is to provide a basis secure our competitive ad- Vaisala Oyj, P.O. Box 26 FIN-00421 Helsinki for a better quality of life, cost vantage through economies FINLAND savings, protection of the en- of scale and scope. vironment, improved safety Phone (int.): +358 9 894 91 and better performance. Telefax: +358 9 8949 2227 Internet: 158/2002 http://www.vaisala.com ISSN 1238-2388 42826Ymi_158VAISALANEWS 14.12.2001 17:53 Sivu 3

President’s Column

Remote and In-situ Sensing

eteorological in-situ ning Localization System. These place ground-based in-situ obser- measurements have activities form the new Remote vations. I have replied that this M traditionally been Sensing Division. In the future will hardly take place. These two Vaisala’s forté. For we want to supply all the major observation technologies will more than 60 years we have remote sensing technologies to rather be complementary to each been developing equipment for our customers through this divi- other. Satellites provide a good this purpose. However, in the sion. overview, whereas the ground- field of remote sensing our tech- The applications of ground- based observation network offers nology has been confined to based remote sensing are main- measurement accuracy. measuring cloud height with an ly in nowcasting and mesoscale In a similar manner, ground- optical . forecasts. These services can be based remote sensing and in- Since we want to serve profes- generic, both for everyone and situ observations complement sional meteorologists in all their specific to the application. The each other. An interesting chal- weather observation needs, we demand for such services will lenge is to be able to utilize this have decided to extend our increase in the years to come. complementarity to the full. We product range to radio-frequen- The media for relaying these want to participate in this ef- cy remote sensing technology. short-term forecasts already fort, too. We have carried out research in exist, e.g. mobile phones and the wind profiling field for sever- the Internet are ideal for this al years. In June 2001 we ac- purpose. quired the wind profiler business The field of remote sensing of Radian International LLC. also encompasses satellite obser- The LAP®-3000 Wind Profiler vations. This field utilizes quite has been developed in coopera- exotic devices and the market tion with researchers of NOAA volume is small. Consequently, (the National Oceanic and it fits rather badly into the defi- Atmospheric Administration) nition of an industrial enter- and has proven its performance prise. This is a field in which we in a number of installation sites. have no aspirations. In 2000, we broadened our prod- I have often been asked Pekka Ketonen uct range with the SAFIR Light- whether weather satellites will re- President and CEO

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Wind Profilers Added to Vaisala Product Range

Now that wind profilers have been added to its ith the acquisition Wave Propagation Laboratory. product selection, Vaisala now has a full range of the Radian Me- The profiler was refined for of atmospheric remote sensing instruments to W teorological Systems commercial use by Radian so group, Vaisala’s pro- that it could be brought to the assist its customers in meeting a wide range of duct range now includes wind market. requirements. The applications of wind profiling profilers, in the form of the include meteorological and climatological re- LAP®-3000 wind profiler prod- Vertical profiles of wind uct line. Vaisala profiler pro- speed and direction search, aviation, air quality monitoring and re- duction and engineering opera- search, defense operations and land resource tions are based in Boulder, The LAP®-3000 Wind Profiler is management. Additionally, wind profilers are Colorado (USA). The location a “lower atmosphere profiler” – in close proximity to the with a range of approximately used at airports to protect against vertical wind NOAA laboratories and 3000 meters. The remote sens- shear, and in urban areas for urban airshed mod- National Center for Atmos- ing Doppler produces a eling. pheric Research, NCAR – en- profile of vertical and horizon- courages scientific cooperation tal up to three kilometers and coordination. or more above ground level. The profile includes wind speed The result of a and direction. Vaisala produces cooperation program the Radio Acoustic Sounding System (RASS) with technolo- The LAP®-3000 Wind Profiler gy developed at the National was designed in a cooperation Oceanic and Atmospheric program between the U.S. Administration. RASS can National Oceanic and measure vertical profiles of vir- Atmospheric Administration tual temperature in the lower (NOAA), Sonoma Technology troposphere, and can be inte- Inc., and Radian International grated with a wind profiler of LLC (Radian). In accordance any frequency to augment the George L. Frederick with the 1991 Cooperative profiler’s capabilities. When a General Manager Research and Development Radio Acoustic Sounding Vaisala Meteorological Agreement (CRADA), the System (RASS) is integrated Systems Inc LAP®-3000 boundary layer pro- with the LAP®-3000, the profile Boulder filer was developed at NOAA’s includes virtual temperature up USA Aeronomy Laboratory and to approximately 1.2 kilome-

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ters. The profiler produces these Many established users data by transmitting in three or five orthogonal pointing direc- Current government users of the tions. After transmitting a sig- LAP®-3000 include NOAA, the nal upwards, the profiler re- National Center for Atmospheric ceives the return signals that are Research (NCAR), the National reflected back by the turbulence Aeronautics and Space Admini- in the atmosphere. Then the stration (NASA), the U.S. Depart- profiler computes the wind ment of Defense (DoD), and the speed and direction for the se- U.S. Department of Energy lected number of heights above (DoE), the Royal Netherlands the ground. In this way, the Meteorological Institute (KNMI), LAP®-3000 provides continu- In a typical system set-up, wind and temperature data can be viewed the Swiss Meteorological Insti- ous, real-time atmospheric visually using Graph-XM software. tute, and the Deutscher Wetter- wind and temperature data with dienst (German Weather Service). high spatial resolution. Current U.S. and international Furthermore, the LAP®-3000 Possibilities for versatile in graphic or tabular format. private users include air-quality can operate unattended and/or data presentation Several display options are districts, airports, universities, networked to another location. available to meet varied cus- and utility companies. The LAP-XM® software on the tomer needs. For instance, the System components radar computer is modular, development trends are clearly Other products Windows-based and can be ex- presented in spectral format for The LAP®-3000 System consists panded. It receives signal data, the needs of engineers and re- Vaisala also produces a number of the wind profiler processes it, computes meteor- searchers whereas Graph-XM of other radar-related products (housed in a shelter) and a PC ological data products and pre- shows wind and temperature in Boulder. The LAP®-16000 is a and server, along with associat- sents the data visually. Ad- data in what is a more standard tropospheric wind profiler that ed software for processing the ditionally, the LAP-XM® saves format. operates in the range of 400-500 data. The PC is fitted with a re- and transfers data products as MHz and can measure winds ceiver/modulator unit, inter- well as converts them into new Numerous applications up to 16 km above the ground. face unit and radar computer formats. The software enables It employs much of the same boards. A profiler monitor op- the profiler to be controlled Customers both in the public signal processing capability of tion is available for mainte- from remote locations, and and private sector use the the LAP®-3000 but uses a differ- nance and system control. monitors both the profiler LAP®-3000 for a variety of ap- ent amplifier and has different Peripherals include a printer, an hardware and the transfer of plications, including: antenna architecture. Another optional uninterruptible power data products. Moreover, for application of CRADA tech- supply unit (UPS) and a surge enhanced use, the user-friendly • Atmospheric boundary nology is the 8mm Cloud radar suppression outlet strip. Other profiling software is compatible layer research that operates in the K-band. options available include an ex- with common office applica- • Air pollution research The Cloud radar employs spe- tended antenna aperture op- tions, such as Excel and Word. • Emergency response cialized electronic and signal tion, an antenna-mounting The wind profiling data can • Global climate change processing technology to pro- frame, a snow cover and a trail- be printed out, but would usu- studies duce a relatively low cost, high- er option. ally be viewed on a PC screen • Aviation operations ly reliable instrument to mea- • Mesoscale meteorological sure cloud boundaries, cloud forecasting layers, and Doppler velocities • Defense operations within clouds. Another variant, • Forest fire management the S-Band Precipitating-Cloud • Urban airshed modeling Radar System, measures back- • Weather modification scatter, spectral width, mean • Offshore, shipboard, and noise level, full Doppler spec- airborne platforms tra, and Doppler velocity of • Arctic/Antarctic research precipitating clouds from 250 • Optical turbulence meters above the ground to al- measurements titudes in excess of 20 km. For further information, please contact George Frederick at Vaisala Meteorological Systems, Inc., 5600 Airport Blvd., Boulder CO 80301 USA. Tel: 303-402- ® The mobility of the LAP -3000 4728, Fax: 303-443-1628, E-mail Wind Profiler can be increased by [email protected]. mounting the LAP®-3000 on a Visit the Vaisala web site for fur- trailer. ther details.

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New division of Vaisala founded Vaisala Expands into Remote Sensing

A new division of Vaisala, the Remote Sensing Division (RSD), started its operations in expertise in Aix-en- September 2001. The new division was formed Provence, France to concentrate Vaisala remote sensing expertise, The Lightning Detection busi- and combine companies from this field into a ness unit, located in Aix-en- single unit. To begin with, the division will con- Provence, France, became part of Vaisala early in 2000, when sist of units for wind profiling and thunderstorm Vaisala acquired the French detection. The remote sensing methods will par- company, Dimensions SA. The ticularly address the local prediction needs of early detection of lightning ac- tivity and thunderstorms is es- airports, meteorological services and air quality sential in avoiding the hazards management. created by lightning strikes. Vaisala’s SAFIR Total Light- ning Detection Systems are ca- pable of detecting both cloud- to-cloud and cloud-to-ground aisala’s expertise in Vaisala Group acquired the op- lightning strikes, by using a remote sensing has eration from URS Corporation. combination of VHF and LF V been consolidated The LAP®-3000 Wind Profiler is techniques. This unique method into a single new di- a well-known trademark under can reveal cloud-to-cloud light- vision. The Remote Sensing which the wind profilers will ning activity, which normally Division consists of a unit spe- continue to be produced. The occurs before ground strikes are cializing in lightning detection technology employed in the seen. A Total Lightning De- systems in Aix-en-Provence, LAP®-3000 product line has tection Network helps the me- France, a wind profiler unit in been developed in cooperation teorological community, air- Boulder, Colorado, USA, and with the National Oceanic and ports and utility companies to a technology team in Helsinki, Atmospheric Administration discover lightning activity over Finland. (NOAA) laboratories that, like large areas and to see the move- the Vaisala wind profiler pro- ment of thunderstorm fronts. Wind profiler technology duction site, are located in development in Boulder, Boulder. A Cooperative Re- Technology USA search and Development Agree- development team in ment (CRADA) deals with the Helsinki, Finland The wind profiler unit, located LAP®-3000 technology coopera- in Boulder, became part of tion between Vaisala, NOAA The Helsinki Technology Team Vaisala in June 2001 when the and Sonoma Technologies Inc. consists of about ten people

The Remote Sensing Hannu Patrikainen is Division, headed by the general manager of Martti Husu, has the Remote Sensing operations and employees Division’s operations in Vaisala offices in Aix- in Boulder. en-Provence, Boulder and Helsinki.

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NOAA CRADA Management Review Board Meets in Helsinki

The collaborators and government representatives of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) met specializing in radio frequency in Helsinki from 15-17 October 2001 for the first time since the (RF) technology, Digital Signal Processing and software devel- acquisition of the former Radian wind profiler business by Vaisala. opment. The team works on This meeting of the Management Review Board (MRB) established developing technology for the by the CRADA consisted of representatives from NOAA, Vaisala, new product generations in dif- ferent units of the Remote and Sonoma Technology, Inc. – all three participants in the Sensing Division. CRADA.

Solid basis for R & D he purpose of the Co-operative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) Martti Husu, director of the is to transfer wind and temperature profiler technology developed in US govern- new division, says that by con- T ment laboratories to the commercial sector for the benefit of multiple users. The solidating the expertise of dif- CRADA also provides a vehicle for continuous development and improvement ferent remote sensing tech- of wind and temperature profiling technology. In addition to the MRB, there is also an nologies, a solid foundation Engineering Review Board (ERB) that meets periodically to identify new profiler technolo- for effective research and de- gy, establish performance criteria, direct performance testing and to review, modify and ap- velopment will be formed. prove engineering and software changes. The MRB is responsible for approving implemen- This will enhance the efficien- tation plans for tasks contained in the CRADA statement of work, approving additional tech- cy of operations and con- nology identified by the ERB, reviewing opportunities for new or ongoing research, and for tribute to product success. The general CRADA housekeeping activities. recent developments in The 15-17 October meeting of the MRB offered an opportunity for all CRADA partici- mesoscale forecasting net- pants to review the past history of the association, become familiar with the respective capa- works and nowcasting have bilities of the current participants and formulate definitive plans for the future. This CRADA made progress towards rela- has been the most successful such agreement in the US Department of Commerce. A num- tively dense networks of re- ber of new technical developments were examined during the meeting and all who partici- mote sensing and other weath- pated felt there was a bright future for the CRADA. The next meeting of the MRB was held er measuring instruments jointly with the ERB in Boulder on 20 November 2001. which are used to develop local short-term forecasts and warnings for severe weather conditions. Various measure- ment instruments and systems are now available from the same vendor, which will make future networking and service demands easier to meet.

The meeting at Vaisala Helsinki office between representatives of NOAA, Vaisala and Sonoma Technologies, where various aspects of the CRADA were discussed. From left Aki Lilja, Pentti Karhunen, Don Blumenthal, Kent Groninger, Ken Gage, Jim Jordan, Barbara Herrli, Tim Dye, George Frederick, Russ Peterman, Walt Dabberdt, and Martti Husu.

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Extensive testing and comparison at UK Met Office DigiCORA III Accepted for Operational Use

Richard Smout During 2000, the UK Met Office took delivery of 17 Vaisala DigiCORA Project Manager Observations Development III Sounding Systems. These systems are to be used as the main opera- Automation - Upper Air tional ground stations at those UK stations that retain opera- UK Met Office tors following the automation of the upper air network. The DigiCORA III went through extensive testing before it was accepted as operational in August 2001.

ithin the UK, the first diosonde measurements. Easier maintenance reduce the level of support re- of the DigiCORA III Secondly, the operating sys- An important concern was also quired to cover many different W Sounding Systems tem Windows for Workgroups the fact that the sounding sub- pieces of hardware. was installed at used by PC-CORA was no processor “MW21” of the Lerwick, Shetland Isles in June longer compliant with the cur- DigiCORA III shares common Improved data archiving 2001 for preliminary testing in rent Met Office IT strategy. components with the Digi- capacity and interfaces parallel with the existing Vaisala The DigiCORA III, on the CORA II MW15 Sounding The DigiCORA III has a very PC-CORA System which was to other hand, is designed to run System used by the AU- comprehensive archive. All data be replaced. However, the Digi- under the current operating TOSONDE. Also AU- from an ascent is archived and CORA III was not accepted as systems such as Windows NT TOSONDE Systems are to be can be used for diagnosing pos- operational until August 1, 2001 and Windows 2000, both of upgraded, which will allow the sible faults. This is considered at Camborne, Lerwick and which comply with the Met Met Office to standardize on vital for sites using GPS Stornoway following comple- Office’s IT strategy. one sounding system, and to windfinding where it has proved tion of the main software devel- opment. The DigiCORA III is now in use at Gibraltar, St Helena (South Atlantic) and Figure 1. DigiCORA III set up for initial acceptance testing at Beaufort Park, Bracknell. with the British Antarctic Survey at Halley Bay. Additionally, the Falkland Islands system is sched- uled to be installed in December, and there is also a version with Defence Service software in use at Larkhill, Southern England.

Background for upgrades Up-to-date software platform There were a number of rea- sons to upgrade the Met Office radiosonde ground sta- tions. Firstly, the PC-CORA system introduced in the early 90’s had become obsolete and was not able to benefit from recent software developments. For example, it did not have the processing power neces- sary to process GPS ra-

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Figure 2. Figure 4. Temperature comparisons, DigiCORA III vs. PC-CORA, Humidity comparisons, DigiCORA III vs. PC-CORA, flight by flight differences. flight by flight differences.

Figure 3. Figure 5. Temperature comparisons, DigiCORA III vs. PC-CORA, Humidity comparisons, DigiCORA III vs. PC-CORA, standard deviations. standard deviations.

difficult to diagnose faults with the software is kept up-to-date information regarding opera- come familiar with the new sys- the current systems. These by means of regular upgrades. tional performance, which will tem. This operation identified archives should facilitate im- Initially the user can expect to ultimately result in a very pow- areas for improvement, which proved quality monitoring pro- receive three or more software erful and versatile product. were rectified by updated issues of cedures at each site. Addition- upgrades per year, but as the software during 2000 and 2001. ally, the DigiCORA III has the software becomes more stable, Test and acceptance Before the managers of the necessary interfaces to host spe- the intention is to upgrade it procedures operational network could ac- cialized software for defense ap- once or twice a year, depending cept the systems as operational, plications as well as the basic ra- on requirements. On receipt, all the ground sta- a 100-flight acceptance test diosonde operations. Note: For the most effective tions were set up at Beaufort Park, specified in the procurement support service, the Met Office Bracknell, see Fig.1, where the sys- contract was performed at recommends that the Digi- tem parameters were changed to Camborne. The acceptance test Service contracts CORA III’s computer be con- reflect the Met Office’s require- examined all meteorological A series of three service level nected to a telephone line. The ments. Systems were then in- variables produced by PC- agreements offered by Vaisala Vaisala support group can stalled in parallel with PC- CORA and DigiCORA III. Oyj provides after-sales sup- quickly and effectively deal CORA. Both systems were then See Figures 2-5 for examples of port. Level One, taken up by with any need for improve- used to process data from opera- the results of comparisons of the Met Office, provides access ment. At the same time, the tional radiosonde flights, which temperature and relative hu- to a help desk and ensures that support group will gain useful allowed the operators time to be- midity measurements.

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Jarmo Franssila, M.Sc. (Eng.) Product Manager Vaisala Helsinki Finland

Broader automation of observations AUTOSONDE and ASAP System in Spain The Spanish Meteorological Institute has taken a decisive step to automate its synoptic sound- ing network. The introduction of three AUTOSONDE systems, scheduled for delivery this year, will enable the synoptic network to make fully-automated, unmanned observations. An ASAP system has also been supplied for shipboard observations.

Fully-automated Weather Station (AWS) mast. observations at Additionally, electricity and unmanned stations telecommunications cabling were provided to make the sys- The fully-automated sounding tem operational. stations will replace the current manned stations used by the Full automation for Spanish Meteorological enhanced data Institute (Instituto Nacional de availability and safety Meteorología, INM) to per- form synoptic upper air obser- Unlike conventional sounding vations. The first of the series stations, the AUTOSONDE of AUTOSONDE Systems is station can be set up easily, already in operational use in quickly and cost effectively, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. which facilitates its relocation, The next two AUTOSONDE if necessary. The Vaisala AU- Systems in Spain will be in- TOSONDE System not only stalled at the beginning of 2002 prepares and launches ra- in Palma de Mallorca and at diosondes and weather bal- Madrid-Barajas airport. loons, but also automatically Before installing the first receives the radiosonde signals AUTOSONDE System, the and processes them into mete- The inauguration ceremony of the first AUTOSONDE System of local meteorological office con- orological messages. The INM took place in Tenerife in October. Mr. Enrique Martin Cabrera, cluded that it would be best to Vaisala AUTOSONDE per- General Director of INM, officially opened the ceremony. relocate the sounding station forms up to 24 radiosonde ob- away from the original manned servations without need for op- station in the lively and crowd- erator intervention, which al- ed town of Santa Cruz. A new, lows a greater scope for site se- more suitable site was available lection and observation sched- at a farm property some dis- ules. The AUTOSONDE is a tance from Santa Cruz. unique system that reduces op- Relocating the system required erational costs, while improv- very little effort - only the con- ing the data availability and struction of foundations for the data quality of upper air obser- shelter and for the Automatic vations.

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Installed in June 2001, the latest version of the ASAP System Observations over performs soundings onboard a oceans with Spanish ship. containerized ASAP Systems lift, and can be installed on the Currently, weather observa- ship and removed without af- tions over the oceans are high- fecting the ship’s schedules. ly important as in-situ measure- The ASAP System operates in- ments, due to the fact that dependently of everyday ship- oceans and seas cover 70 % of board activities, requires only a the globe. Moreover, sound- connection to the power sup- ings over oceans are utilized as ply and occupies only a small reference measurements for the section of the open deck. The calibration of weather satellites, automatic and easy-to-use exerting a significant influence ASAP System does not require on the accuracy of weather a qualified upper air technician satellite data. to operate it. Instead, a mem- The Automated Shipboard make two launches per day mat, TEMP SHIP, to Land ber of the ship’s crew can carry Aerological Program (ASAP) from the Vaisala Container. Earth Station (LES) using geo- out the sounding preparations was started in 1981 as a cost-ef- Some perform up to four stationary Inmarsat satellites. in less than half an hour. Only fective way of obtaining upper soundings a day. The observa- Upon reception the TEMP a short period of training is air weather data over data- tions performed under the SHIP message is subsequently needed to introduce the system sparse ocean areas. Under the ASAP program have become a transmitted to the Global operation and the basics of program, upper air observation vital part of global ocean ob- Telecommunication System soundings. stations have been set up that serving systems. (GTS) for international use. are operated on board cargo The Vaisala Integrated Ship- The container, which is a New ASAP System in ships, allowing observations to board Aerological Container modified 10-foot sea container, Spanish waters be made over the oceans at a contains an automatic upper compliant with ISO standards, reasonable cost. Vaisala has air observation system that houses all the equipment need- The newest version of Vaisala’s been involved in the program launches , receives ed for performing upper air ob- ASAP System was delivered to from its very early stages, de- the radiosonde signals and servations. It can be fitted on Spain in June. The system was veloping the Integrated processes them into meteoro- various types of vessel, and op- installed on the ‘Esperanza del Shipboard Aerological logical messages. The system erates reliably under changing Mar’, a ship which serves as a Container. The vessels enlisted also transmits the messages in environmental conditions. The hospital ship for Spanish fisher- in the ASAP program typically standard WMO message for- system is easy to transport and men and operates from the

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balloon and the radiosonde on Roof hatch their way. After the launch, sur- Bulkhead face data is collected from the Launcher vessel MILOS Station, and the DigiCORA Sounding System Pneumatic tank Air Conditioner starts computing sounding data. After these steps, the op- erator need not interfere with Surface Weather Sensors the progress of the sounding. The operation proceeds auto- matically until the sounding is terminated by balloon burst or Launcher control unit by manual termination. The computed message TEMP SHIP will automatically be Antenna Stand Compressor transmitted via the Inmarsat C system. There is good reason to sup- Battery activation keg Transformer pose that the number of sound- (optional) ings carried out onboard ships Access door will increase in the future. New Rack for routes are being made so that Mains distribution panel sounding equipment ASAP systems will better cover Radiator Radiator ocean regions where observa- tions are currently sparse. Cables inlet Additionally, more frequent UHF Antenna operation on the selected Rack for gas bottles routes is needed. Vaisala offers an advanced shipboard obser- vation system, consisting of a complete set of products allow- ing cost-effective, reliable and independent observations in Canary Islands off the coast of utilized by the MILOS for ASAP System Structure in a harsh marine conditions. Northwest Africa. sending SYNOP SHIP mes- schematic drawing. sages. The Inmarsat C mar- Safe and reliable itime communication system structure has proven its reliability in ASAP use, offering a success SPA Energia y Medio Ambiente supplies For maximum safety, the interi- rate of 99 % in transmission. Vaisala upper air products in Spain or of the container is divided into two compartments (see fig Radiosonde launches 2). The operator room (elec- made easy tronics compartment) houses SPA Energia y Medio Ambiente, S.P.A., acts as the represen- the sounding system, an air To make a sounding, the oper- tative of the Vaisala Upper Air Division in Spain. In addition conditioner, a transformer for ator prepares the radiosonde, to its commercial activities, the company carries out its own different mains supply setups places it and the balloon into engineering, development and production at its Madrid and a rack for eight helium bot- the launcher vessel and closes premises. The company has broad experience in the design tles. The launcher is located in the safety boom of the launch and manufacture of high-tech devices and systems, and has the launch compartment, sepa- compartment. After that, there many references from the aeronautics, naval and industrial rated by a bulkhead and safety is no need for the operator to sectors. boom from the electronics enter the launch compartment The company has a number of operating divisions, each of compartment. The weather ob- until the sounding terminates. which specializes in its own area of design and engineering. servation system comprises a All further activities can be car- The Projects and Systems Division designs and manufactures Vaisala DigiCORA III Sound- ried out in the electronics com- industrial and military equipment, such as shelters, test bench- ing System with UPS and partment of the container. The es, specialized vehicles, power generator sets and ambu- Inmarsat C satellite transceiver balloon is then filled inside the lances. The Vehicle Maintenance Division provides develop- options, which cater for upper launcher vessel and immediate- ment, manufacturing and customer training services in pro- air data, and a Vaisala MILOS ly after that, at the push of a jects for rebuilding and upgrading armored vehicles. The 520 Data Collection and button in the control panel, Energy and Environmental Division develops and manufac- Processing System for automat- the actual launching activities tures the products needed in water purification, waste treat- ic surface weather observations. are started. The launcher vessel ment, NBC protection and meteorology. These products com- The interface between the ascends vertically to the roof ply with ISO and/or Military Standards. The Aerospace MILOS and the ship’s naviga- level of the container, the hatch Ground Equipment Division is responsible for the design and tion system is used for true opens, the launcher vessel tilts manufacture of ground support equipment for aviation, pro- wind calculation. The MILOS to 45 degrees away from the ducing pneumatic starters using gas turbines, electric starters, provides surface weather data wind (which means there is no pnenumatic and hydraulic test benches, aircraft tow tractors and sea water temperature for need to maneuver the ship for and engine test benches. the DigiCORA III, the satellite radiosonde launches), and a transceiver of which is in turn transvector blows to send the

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Ritva Siikamäki, M.A. Acting Editor-in-Chief Vaisala Helsinki Finland

Multidisciplinary studies on the effects of ozone depletion Finnish Ultraviolet International Research Center at Sodankylä

The Finnish Ultraviolet International Research Center (FUVIRC) was established at Sodankylä as a joint project between the Finnish Meteorological Institute and the University of Oulu. Encouraging multidisciplinary research, the new center will serve ecosystem research, human health research study, and atmospheric chemistry research. Beside ultraviolet radiation monitoring data and guidance, the center pro- Sodankylä vides research facilities, instruments and equip- ment to support scientists in a number of fields. LE C I R C RT IC The FUVIRC project operates at and is headed TH E A by the Arctic Research Centre of the Finnish Meteorological Institute at Sodankylä.

Increased levels of UV-B especially prone to the effects radiation in the Arctic of increased UV radiation. Thanks to the active research Since stratospheric ozone de- efforts of the scientific commu- pletion was discovered in the nity, the mechanism and extent mid-1980’s many research ac- of ozone depletion is relatively tivities have aimed to monitor well-known. It has been estab- the levels of ozone, and to pro- lished that the temperature of vide information on the ozone the ozone layer in the January- Finland layer’s changes to the general March period will largely con- public. Episodes of thinning trol the rate of ozone deple- ozone layer have been found to tion: cold winters are followed cause increasing levels of ultra- by a large ozone loss whereas violet-B radiation (UV-B). after a mild winter the loss is Though still low in absolute smaller. This is because the for- units, the relative increase of mation of Polar Stratospheric the radiation levels in the Clouds in extremely cold cir- Arctic can be considered no- cumstances greatly catalyzes table. In the sensitive arctic en- ozone depletion, if in the pres- Helsinki vironment the flora and fauna ence of elevated chlorine levels. alike face elevated levels of UV- However, research on radia- B radiation in the years to tion’s impact on northern come, which brings many risks ecosystems has been scarce so to the whole ecosystem, in- far. Along with the impact of cluding to man. the radiation on plants, the ex- In Finland the FMI has fo- tent of climate change and its cused on ozone and UV radia- effect are of special interest to The headquarters of the research center are located at Sodankylä tion research because Finland’s Finland. The first conse- in Finnish Lapland, about 100 km north of the Arctic Circle. geographical location makes it quences of climate change may

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be manifest in the arctic re- center strengthens. Funding for diosonde programs at high lati- ject belongs to the Lapland gions. Additionally, the combi- the project was obtained from tudes that still continues to this Atmosphere-Biosphere Facility nation of ozone or UV change the European Regional day. The Polar Ozone Research LAPBIAT project, which cre- and climate change are essen- Development Fund and the Program was established in 1988. ates a basis for broad interna- tial study subjects. Finnish Ministry of Education. Since then the Sodankylä tional cooperation in research Observatory has developed at a on the northern environment. Interdisciplinary studies Long traditions of quick pace. Numerous national The objective is to study the in- meteorological and European ozone projects teraction of various layers of The FUVIRC project focuses observation at and campaigns took place there man’s environment, i.e. the on the effects of increased UV Sodankylä in the 1990’s. In 1996, the Pallas- biosphere and atmosphere. The radiation in the northern envi- Sodankylä Global Atmospheric calibration capacity and equip- ronment. It was established to Basic meteorological observa- Watch Station was established ment are being improved ac- meet the need to study the arc- tions at Sodankylä date back to and a micro-meteorological cordingly. tic ecosystems, and to increase 1858, when a station equipped tower for boundary layer studies The FUVIRC Center wel- the knowledge of the impact of with and thermome- was erected in 1998. The new comes both national and inter- UV radiation. This project is ters was established by the Doppler radar at Luosto was national research scientists who Finland’s response to the initia- Finnish Society of Sciences and used for the first time in 2000 study the influence of radiation tive of the International Arctic Letters. The next milestone was and, in the beginning of 2001, in a natural environment. At Science Committee (IASC) to in 1882-83, when a scientific ex- the Satellite Data Centre was of- present, facilities for field stud- establish Ultraviolet Radiation pedition called the 1st Geo- ficially founded. ies are being built: the first ones Centers (UVIRCS) in the physical Year established a tem- to be completed will allow Arctic. Headed by professor porary magnetic-meteorological Intense research studies in a forest and marsh Esko Kyrö of the Finnish observatory at Sodankylä. The activities and environment, which were pri- Meteorological Institute, the continuous record of tempera- international oritized due to the special char- FUVIRC Center was estab- ture and other basic meteorolog- cooperation acteristics of nature in Lapland. lished by developing existing ical parameters was begun in Moreover, a calibration labora- facilities at the Finnish 1908. The first archived ra- Despite long traditions, some tory for ultraviolet measure- Meteorological Institute and diosonde launch took place in additional investment was ments and other laboratory fa- the University of Oulu. For 1949, at the newly established needed at Sodankylä to comply cilities will be developed as a both of these institutes, North- permanent observatory of the with the requirements for priority. ern research is an important Finnish Meteorological Institute. UVIRC as defined by IASC. specialized field which the new This is one of the oldest ra- Additionally, the FUVIRC pro-

PHOTO COURTESY OF RIGEL KIVI. New main building Polaria inaugurated at Sodankylä In August, the new facility of the research centers at Sodankylä was inaugurated. The new premises, called Polaria, brings the Arctic Research Centre of the Finnish Meteorological Institute (formerly Sodankylä Meteorological Observatory) and Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory under the same roof. The building is of logs: a typical Finnish building material which has less frequently been used in public buildings. The center com- prises offices for research scien- tists and administrative staff, con- ference rooms, a library and a lecture hall. The new building aims to encourage and strength- en the cooperation between the various research institutes at Sodankylä. Moreover, it promotes arctic research and international cooperation, as well as support- ing new research projects, two of which were announced at the in- auguration ceremony.

The new main building Polaria has been designed to promote cooperation and interdisciplinary studies, ranging from biological and medical research to atmospheric studies.

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Shigeki Shimizu, BBA Technical Consultant Vaisala Tokyo Japan

Forest suspected of having been damaged by air polluting peroxides (Mt. Shirane).

Weather observation with Vaisala MAWS enables the Study of Pollution in Mountains

One problem in carrying out weather observa- Survey of forest decline build up mainly because of air- tions in mountainous areas has been the non- in mountains due to air- polluting substances such as polluting oxidants NOx and SO2 exhausted from availability of electric power. The MAWS vehicles and factories in the Automatic Weather Station solves this problem At present, forest decline due cities. Though damage due to and thus enables weather observations in moun- to acid rain and acid fog is a acid rain and fog has occurred critical problem not only in throughout Japan, the outflow tainous areas where acid rain is leading to forest Japan but also in many other of air-polluting substances decline. The meteorological data obtained from countries around the world. from Tokyo, in particular, has mountains using MAWS are also valuable in nu- Acid rain and acid fog seem to had a severe influence on the merous other applications. surrounding mountainous dis- tricts. The process of forest degra- dation due to acid rain (fog) is assumed to develop as follows. First, air polluting substances (mainly NOx hydrocarbons) are exhausted mainly from cars in the metropolitan region. The sea breeze then carries the pol- lutants to inland areas. While travelling, they undergo photo- chemical reactions due to solar radiation and are transformed into photochemical ozone or peroxides (hydrogen peroxide and organic hydroperoxides). Studies at Mt Shirane have been led Ozone and peroxides are them- by Dr. Shiro Hatakeyama, Director selves very toxic to plants. of the Chemical Reaction section of Moreover, the photochemical the Atmospheric Environment reactions that produce these Division at the National Institute peroxides also generate acid for Environmental Studies. rain or acid fog, which, again, severely damages the forest.

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Finding causes powered by solar cells. In par- of forest decline ticular, the solar radiation, and wind veloc- A group led by Dr. Hatakeyama ity are important measurable of the National Institute for factors in this context. Environmental Studies of Japan Additionally, rain samplers and has been working hard since a fog sampler, as well as an 1995 to clarify the acid rain and ozone-measuring instrument, fog problem in the field. The are used to observe air-pollut- emphasis has been on Mt. ing substances. Shirane (altitude 2300 m) in The observations are being Nikko National Park, located carried out over a period of some 150 km north of Tokyo. about three months, from July The group, led by Dr. to October this year. The Hatakeyama, initially began Japanese Government was in- observation using rain and fog terested in the survey project samplers. This was done be- and did not hesitate to permit cause it was difficult to trans- the research group to install ob- port measuring devices to the servation equipment in the sites and there was no guaran- area, even though installation tee that the electricity needed of manmade objects in nation- for observations could be ob- al parks is normally prohibited. tained in districts without an Forest decline has a critical electric power supply. influence on the environment. However, by using a Vaisala First, the mountain soil serves MAWS Automatic Weather as a reservoir when it is covered Station the group has been able with trees, i.e. it is like a large to perform continuous meteor- dam. It ensures water resources ological observations, starting and prevents flooding. More- in 2000. This has enabled the over, the forest performs an im- collection of fundamental data portant task in absorbing car- from the mountain area. In bon dioxide (CO2) that causes fact, the introduction of the global warming. MAWS Automatic Weather Perhaps surprisingly, field Station has solved almost all observation data from areas problems caused by severe en- where forests have declined are vironmental conditions on the very rarely available. With this mountain. in mind, it is all the more im- The meteorological factors portant to clarify the mecha- observed on Mt. Shirane have nism of forest decline through been wind direction, wind atmospheric observations and speed, temperature, humidity meteorological observations MAWS weather station, acid rain, acid fog observation and solar radiation. The station such as those carried out by system and ozone observation system. measuring these parameters is Hatakeyama’s group.

Acid rain and forests Acid rain is known to cause slower growth, injury or the death of forests. Acid rain affects not only the biology of forests in numerous ways, but also microorganisms and other vegetation besides trees. In many cases, other stress factors such as insects, disease and drought or very cold weather add to the harmful effect of acid rain. Acid rain affects forest soil in two ways: acidic water dissolves the nutrients and minerals of the soil and washes them away be- fore trees and other plants can use them. This, moreover, contributes to the release of substances that are toxic to plants, e.g. alu- minum. More acidic rainfall means that more toxic substances are leached from the soil. Many scientists consider the combined ef- fect of loss of nutrients and release of toxic substances to be one of the acid rain-related mechanisms that causes forest degrada- tion. The capacity of soil to neutralize the acidity of acid rainfall varies according to the thickness and composition of the soil, as well as the type of bedrock. For instance, areas with a thin covering of soil on granitic and other highly siliceous bedrock are more vul- nerable because their buffering capacity is weak. However, trees can be damaged by acid rain even if the soil is well buffered. Forests in high mountain regions are often exposed to greater amounts of acid than other forests because they tend to be surround- ed by acidic clouds and fog that are more acidic than rainfall. When the acid fog affects trees, they lose essential nutrients from their leaves and needles, which makes them more susceptible to other environmental factors, especially cold winter weather.

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Twenty Automatic Weather Stations donated to Encourage students into Science and Technology

Twenty Vaisala MAWS201 Automatic Weather ing job opportunities available street,” says Tossavainen. He Stations were donated to selected Finnish high in our field,” says Pekka notes that this location is not Ketonen, President and CEO quite optimal since the weather schools and senior high schools in June 2001. of Vaisala. station - installed according to The donation was part of a cooperation program the architect’s instructions - is between schools and businesses organized by Getting to know the somewhat “shaded” by the the Federation of Finnish Metal, Engineering basics about weather building. Nevertheless, the weather station is much appreci- and Electrotechnical Industries (MET). The ob- The Hämeenlinna Lyceum ated at the school. Tossavainen jective is to improve the learning environment High School is one of the stresses that it opens up numer- for natural science subjects, thus encouraging schools that received a Vaisala ous new possibilities to teach Automatic Weather Station. the basics about weather and young people to take an interest in mathematics According to Mr. Erno meteorological observations. and sciences. Tossavainen, a teacher of biolo- When all the cabling and con- gy and geography at the school, nections are complete, it will be they had to negotiate with vari- possible to display the weather ore than 130 schools Finnish Metal, Engineering ous city authorities to resolve data in all the classrooms submitted their ap- and Electrotechnical Industries some practical problems that through the school’s local area M plications for a (MET) has organized in arose because the school build- network. “We also plan to in- weather station to schools across Finland. The ing is protected. “Since the clude the weather data on the Vaisala before the deadline. In main objective of the coopera- National Board of Antiquities school’s website. We’d like to the selection process, attention tion between schools and busi- would not allow us to install the get the maximum use out of the was paid to achieving a good ness is to encourage teachers station on the school’s roof, it station and distribute the data as national coverage of weather and students to learn more had be installed on the roof of widely as possible,” says stations, and to the existence of about the metal and electronics the city library, just across the Tossavainen. similar, already completed pro- industries. The programs intro- jects. Working in close cooper- duce them to companies that ation, Vaisala and MET also offer interesting and challeng- sought to identify the schools ing jobs for skilled profession- that, on the basis of their appli- als in the future. The weather cations, had good chances of stations enable students to ac- independently promoting use quaint themselves with the op- of the weather stations and re- erating principles of technical gional cooperation. systems that affect their every- The weather stations were day lives. When they actively delivered in May and soon be- use this equipment, they learn came an important part of the how to benefit from technolo- school curricula. The selected gy and gain a clearer idea of schools arrange special pro- what the concept of technolo- grams in mathematics and nat- gy entails. ural sciences, and many of For Vaisala, the donation is a them also participate in inter- new way to support technolog- national cooperation projects ical studies. “Vaisala has tradi- in the field. tionally supported universities and other institutes of higher Support for metal and education. However, this time electronics industries we wanted to provide some practical tools for cooperation The donation of Automatic with schools. We feel this is a Mr. Erno Tossavainen, a teacher of biology and geography, presents the Weather Stations supports the good way to draw the attention Automatic Weather Station and its operation to ninth-grade pupi ls of the activities that the Federation of of young people to the interest- Hämeenlinna Lyceum High School.

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Le Cong Thanh Director National Center for Hydrometeorological Forecasting (HMF) Hydrology Meteorology n 1991, the flash Service of Vietnam (HMS) flood occurred very I suddenly, and the people of Son La still remember the horrible Vaisala Automatic Weather Systems in Vietnam events. Formidable flows of muddy water destroyed every- thing in their path. During our first survey trip to Son La, one AutomaticAutomatic FloodFlood AlertAlert local resident told us: “It was terrible. We just watched the water rising higher and higher; SystemSystem ProtectsProtects thethe our house, our gardens disap- peared. Nothing was left but mud, everywhere. I didn’t even know where my relatives were.” PeoplePeople ofof SonSon LaLa The damage would not have been so severe, and thousands of lives could have been saved, if the flood had been predicted and announced to the residents of Son La. Realizing the need for timely flood prediction, the Hydrology & Meteorology Service of Vietnam (HMS) had feasibility studies conducted by its experts, and took a decision to design and deploy the first automatic flood reporting sys- tem in the province of Son La.

Reliability a key criterion

The first requirements of the system were simplicity and reli- ability, as HMS experts set out to define and create a basic sys- tem design. The project was di- vided into two phases for smooth implementation, as in- stallation of hardware is possi- ble in this area only during the dry seasons. In its system spec- ification, HMS suggested that automatic data acquisition sta-

The province of Son La, which is located in a mountainous area of Northwest Vietnam, suf- fered a sudden flash flood in 1991. Taking peo- ple by surprise, the flood claimed the lives of many families. In order to prevent catastrophes like this, the Hydrology & Meteorology Service of Vietnam (HMS) has designed and installed an automatic flood alert system. Vaisala MILOS500 Data Processing and Collection Systems form the core of the system.

Mountains characterize the landscape of Son La province, making it susceptible to floods.

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tions be installed in the river- Vaisala MILOS Data on a PC with serial connec- heads of the river system basin Collection Platform tions. A communication link in Son La. A key concern in selected between HMS headquarters in the design was the fact that the Hanoi and the MILOS System stations must be self-contained, After tenders, HMS selected in Son La town was installed via solar-powered and automated. Vaisala as the manufacturer of a dial-up line. The Vietnamese Unmanned operation is essen- the remote and central stations Graphical User Interface was tial in Son La, because some 80 for the flood alert system in very helpful for the users of the per cent of the province’s area Son La. Vaisala’s expertise in system. is covered by mountains. manufacturing sensors and Moreover, as transportation data acquisition systems, and Flood monitoring and energy supply systems are its worldwide quality-proven remote stations not sufficiently developed to installations, were key factors form a functioning infrastruc- in the selection. But, above all, The flood alert system obtains Repeater stations were installed on ture, this set special require- Vaisala systems met the de- measurement data at carefully top of the obstructing mountains to ments for power supply solu- manding design criteria. The selected sites where five remote make sure that signals from the end tions. central system, based on the measuring stations, consisting of stations reach the central station. Vaisala MILOS500 platform, Vaisala MAWS301 Automatic A demanding was installed in the office of the Weather Stations, provide im- environment for Hydrology & Meteorology portant information on the con- communications design Station - a subsidiary of HMS ditions. There are 6 remote sta- Increased safety in the town of Son La. The tions for water level measure- Each data acquisition remote MILOS500 at the Central Data ment and 8 remote stations fpr Even though it took quite a lot station was defined to consist Collection Station polls mea- both water level and precipita- of hard work and effort to set of sensors to measure rainfall surement data from each re- tion measurements. These sta- up the first automatic flood and water pressure, which mote station, calculates data tions are all solar-powered. alerting system, HMS is very would then be converted into averages, checks it against pre- Average 10-minute values happy with the results. After water level. The measured data set limits and issues alarms. are calculated and transmitted the first phase was finished, all would be collected in a data Moreover, the MILOS stores to the central station. In this the raw data could be retrieved processing unit (DPU) within the data. application, cumulative values either from the Central Station the remote station and then Thanks to the simple data in- provide valuable information in Son La or from the Control transferred to a central station terface, open architecture and on the development trends. PC in Hanoi. The data is then in Son La town. The only ade- excellent documentation of All the remote stations are further processed and evaluat- quate means of communica- MILOS500, it took no more solar powered and transmit ed by the software to issue tions between the remote sta- than four weeks for the IT ex- data with an UHF Transceiver. alarms and other reports. On tions and the central station perts of HMS to successfully Four UHF repeater stations the basis of the acquired data, was radio transmission. develop the software to control ensure that data communica- experts estimate that, with this Therefore, each of the remote the whole system. This tions also function in difficult system, a flash flood similar to stations would be equipped Windows-based software is run locations. that of 1991 could be predicted with a wireless modem to trans- and alerts sent to local authori- fer the collected data, pre- ties 5 to 8 hours in advance. processed into a proper format This is sufficient to organize by the station’s DPU. evacuation and to take neces- Extensive joint efforts were sary action to prevent damage. made by HMS experts to draft The province of Son La will out the frequency plan for the be fully protected against end-stations. The objective was floods after the second phase of to eliminate any eventual cross- the project. Additionally, HMS interference between the radio of Vietnam will further invest paths. At some specific sites, in automatic alert systems that mountains could act as an ob- will be installed in river basins struction to the antenna beam in other flood-endangered re- and could deflect the radio gions in Vietnam. paths. The solution for this was to install a repeater on top of the obstructing mountain, whereby the radio signal transmitted from an end-station would be re- ceived by the repeater and then re-transmitted to the central sta- tion at a different frequency. The final frequency plan, which had Remote stations, been optimized both for its consisting of Vaisala costs and reliability, was then MAWS301 Automatic submitted to the Vietnam Radio Weather Stations, provide Frequency Department for ap- important information on proval. the conditions.

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Jeremy ‘Jez’ James Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Special Projects Defence Logistics Organisation British Army UK

The Vaisala MAWS201M TACMET System is a compact weather station that offers comprehensive support for various field operations.

he system, consist- The British Army’s Royal ing of a MARWIN T MW12 Upper Air System and TACMET Station is vehicle- mounted Artillery Acquires Mobile using two 4WD ‘Pinzgauer’ ve- hicles. The Vaisala Met Section is helicopter portable and can TACMET Systems also be deployed from the sea by landing craft.

Accurate meteorological data in the field The 29th (Commando) Regiment of the British Army’s Royal Artillery has a highly mobile Met Section, known as the ‘Vaisala Met Section’. The main role of the section is to provide accurate meteorolog- Its mobility is thanks to the MARWIN MW12 Upper Air System – ical data to the guns in the 29th now complemented with the MAWS201M TACMET Automatic (Commando) Regiment of the Weather Station. RA. This data is used to en- hance the effectiveness, accura- cy and safety of artillery fire. The Vaisala Met Section also provides meteorological data to the Regiments’ Intelligence Cell, when required. Besides this local role within its own host unit, the Vaisala Met Section can be utilized by other units from within or outside the Brigade to which it belongs. The new TACMET weather stations are connected directly to the upper air system and greatly reduce the time taken to Performing an upper-air sounding collect data. The portable using the mobile system, with the MAWS201M TACMET System TACMET Weather Station directly can be deployed easily and connected to the upper air system. rapidly. Additionally, it also of- fers broad sensor capability.

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Vaisala Cooperates with the China Meteorological Administration

The China Meteorological Administration Radiosonde with GPS wind- of meteorological instruments. (CMA) and Vaisala have cooperated in the field finding), an Ozone Sounding According to a cooperation System and a MILOS500 memorandum between CMA of meteorological instrumentation since 1995. Automatic Weather Station dur- and Vaisala, the two parties will The extensive efforts made to test and modern- ing 1997 and 1998. These instru- henceforward focus mostly on ize the Chinese meteorological observation sys- ments were used in Beijing, cooperation in the field of me- tem have benefited both parties. where an Atmosphere Sounding teorological instruments. In Test base was established. other words, the cooperation in product applications will be Automated surface converted into technical coop- weather observations eration. This will be the basis Extensive testing technical information, CMA for stable and long-term coop- has developed an understand- Additionally, five model sta- eration with CMA and will also Starting in 1996, Vaisala and the ing of the latest developments tions were established in the open up new opportunities for CMA performed a series of in international meteorological other parts of China which use Vaisala products to enter the tests on the latest meteorologi- instruments and of the perfor- an Automatic Weather Station Chinese market. cal instruments manufactured mance of Vaisala’s instruments. to make surface weather obser- by Vaisala. Tests were per- At the same time, the possibili- vations. In 2000, using a Finnish formed at Zhengzhou Weather ty of applying this technology Government Loan , CMA pur- Station, Henan Province to in the Chinese meteorological chased 49 MILOS500 Auto- compare an upper air sounding sector has been investigated matic Weather Stations in order system consisting of Vaisala’s and new opportunities have to build the “Qinghai Disaster RS80 Radiosonde, RT20 Radio- emerged for Vaisala’s products Weather Monitoring Network” theodolite and GPS Sounding to enter the Chinese market. in Qinghai Province. All of this System with other upper air equipment has been installed sounding systems used in Modernizing the and is in routine operation at China. The results were pres- observation equipment Chinese weather stations. It has ented later at the China Upper performed well and epitomizes Air Sounding Technology Following these studies of the the efforts to modernize mete- Seminar. In another case, the per- present meteorological instru- orological observations in formance of Vaisala’s MILOS500 ment situation in China and the China. Vaisala and CMA are Automatic Weather Station was technical performance of also currently cooperating on a studied in a test conducted at Vaisala’s products, as shown by Lightning Detection System Beijing Weather Observation the tests and technical commu- and on radiosondes. Mr. Wang Xiaohui Station. In a third case, nications, plans were drawn up Now China is in the process Vice Chief of Division of Ozonesonde sounding tests to modernize Chinese meteoro- of modernizing its meteorolog- Surface Observations were carried out at the Xining logical sounding operations. ical sounding infrastructure in Department of Observation Weather Station of Qinghai Accordingly, CMA purchased accordance with a business de- and Telecommunications Province. As a result of these Vaisala’s Upper Air Sounding velopment plan. Many oppor- China Meteorological tests and the interchange of System (including the RS80 tunities exist for manufacturers Administration

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Tero Kähkönen, M.Sc. Product Manager Vaisala Helsinki Finland

New Present Weather Detector PWD21 offers The new Present Weather Detector PWD21 offers superior measurement range and accuracy for Versatile Measurements automated observations.

The newly- launched Present Weather Detector Proven measurement transmissometer. An extensive PWD21 is ideal for unmanned remote weather principles set of self-diagnostic proce- dures continuously monitors observation sites, such as harbors, and coastal The measurement principles of the sensor status. Dirt and for- areas, where versatile present weather measure- the new Present Weather De- eign particles on the lens are ments are a must. The compact PWD21 offers tector are a result of Vaisala’s detected automatically, mini- multi-variable measurements and an enhanced broad experience of weather mizing the risk of incorrectly observation in meteorological high visibility values. A special measurement range in combination combined and aviation applications. The calibration kit is provided as an with low power consumption - all essential qual- Present Weather Detector com- option for carrying out field ities in automated observation. bines the information from op- calibration under practically all tical measurement and capaci- weather conditions. tive precipitation measurement using sophisticated signal Compact and weather aunched in Septem- the Vaisala product range analysis and algorithms. The re- proof structure ber, the new Vaisala alongside the new model. sult is accurate present weather L PWD21 Present The new model offers a wider information. The PWD21 also The PWD21 consists of a trans- Weather Detector is visibility measurement range, uses unique sensor technology mitter and a receiver/con- an enhanced version of the which now extends to 20 km. to distinguish between humid troller. The capacitative sensor well-known PWD11 Present Moreover, the larger number of and dry airborne particles (fog, for precipitation detection is lo- Weather Detector. Like measurement capabilities now mist vs. haze/dust). Visibility is cated on top of the controller PWD11, the new Present includes detection of seven dif- measured using the proven for- housing. The visibility sensor is Weather Detector PWD21 is an ferent precipitation types, (rain, ward-scatter principle. Auto- well- protected against contam- integral part of Vaisala freezing rain, drizzle, freezing matic precipitation compensa- ination: the optical compo- Automated Weather Stations, drizzle, mixed rain/snow, snow, tion is included to ensure visi- nents point downwards, and in which accurate visibility and ice pellets). The new bility measurement reliability hoods cover the lenses against measurement and present PWD21 distinguishes between in all weather conditions. precipitation, spray and dust. weather detection are key fac- fog, mist and dry airborne par- The PWD21 is well below 1 tors. In road weather stations ticles (haze/dust) and also mea- Scientifically valid chain meter in length and light and road applications, the sures the intensity and amount of calibration enough to be be installed easily PWD11 Present Weather of both liquid and solid precip- on any existing instrument Detector will also be used also itation. The PWD21 is calibrated with mast. in the future and will remain in reference to a highly accurate

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GOES High Data Rate Transmitters Now Certified!

The GOES High Data Rate Transmitter is now available for North and South American customers using the GOES satellite for transmitting meteorological, hydromet and environmental data.

he higher baud rate that used by the satellite), al- transmitter will offer lowed NESDIS to assign time T faster throughput of slots at fractured minutes (15 data, resulting in po- second intervals) to systems in tential for more systems to trans- large networks. The HDR mit data via the GOES satellite transmitter is the next advance (Geostationary Operational in transmitting data at the frac- Environmental Satellite). Two tured minute intervals. HDR transmitters are available – The temperature compensat- 300 baud and 1200 baud – and ed crystal oscillator (TCXO) can be set to any of the allow- provides the long term fre- able 199 domestic GOES and quency stability necessary to 33 international channels. keep the transmitter on the as- In the past, the GOES trans- signed frequency. Additional mitter transmitted data at 100 time management stability is baud. One-minute time slots available either by an embed- were assigned by the National ded GPS (optional for the 300 Environmental Satellite Data BPS transmitter and required and Information Service (NES- for the 1200 BPS transmitter) DIS) at 3 or 4 hour intervals. or external GPS receiver (300 So as networks grew, fewer time BPS transmitter only). slots became available. The ad- Please contact Vaisala Sunny- vent of the WWV receiver and vale Operations for more informa- HDR GOES-300 transmitter will offer faster GPS, which synchronized the tion, 408-734-9640 or email us at throughput of data, resulting in potential for more clock in the transmitter with [email protected]. systems to transmit data via the GOES satellite. Universal Time (the same as

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Ritva Siikamäki, M.A. Acting Editor-in-Chief Vaisala Helsinki Finland

Athens International Airport is ready for the 2004 Olympics MIDAS IV Automatic Weather

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Observation System in Athens

The construction of the New Athens International Airport was one of the largest air- port development projects completed in Europe this year. Known in Greek as Eleftherios Venizelos, the airport was opened in March 2001 in good time before the 2004 Athens Olympics. Vaisala’s MIDAS IV Automatic Weather Observation System was delivered and installed at the airport in 2000. The AWOS sys- tem provides meteorological data acquisition, validation, calculation and data storage for pi- lots and air traffic controllers.

he New Athens movements per hour or about International Airport 600 per day. T was built by a con- sortium, the “Athens Valuable site required International Airport S.A”, on-site archaeological drawn from the public and pri- excavations vate sectors. Ownership is di- vided between the Hellenic The construction of the New Republic (55 %) and a group of Athens International Airport private companies (45 %). This was an extensive project involv- privately managed consortium ing many parties. It started with was responsible for the airport’s the signing of the Airport construction and will be re- Development Agreement sponsible for its operation for (ADA) in 1995, and the laying the next 30 years. of the foundation stone the fol- After completion, the New lowing year. The actual con- Athens International Airport struction work started in 1997 (NAIA) went through an inten- at a site which was historically sive five months of trials to en- and culturally valuable. In fact, sure optimum services before a major concern before con- final inauguration in March struction started, and one 2001. By then, the airport was which called for special mea- ready in terms of its technolo- sures, was the need to safeguard gy, equipment and safety, as the historical and cultural her- well as its user-friendliness and itage of the surrounding areas. service quality. Equipped with During construction, 16 sites a parallel runway system for si- of archaeological value and in- multaneous take-offs and land- terest were excavated. The find- ings, the airport will serve up to ings were protected, and an 16 million passengers per year Archaeological Laboratory was in the first stage. It is designed established on site to clean, for peak traffic of at least 65 maintain and classify the ar-

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delivery coordination for the tional meteorological informa- MIDAS System. Mr Fraser tion networks. The data can Hillan of Thales ATM stresses also be used to optionally par- the importance of smooth co- ticipate in the international sur- operation in large, complex face measurement data ex- projects. Thanks to the excel- change. lent cooperation between the The MIDAS IV System is systems integrator and Vaisala, based on object-oriented soft- the project was completed on ware architecture, and its appli- schedule and the AWOS cations range from individual System was one of the first to airstrips to large international St. Peter’s and Paul’s Church was be handed over in the airport airports. The system utilizes relocated outside the airport area. construction project. Mr state-of-the-art sensors and Thomas Jungmann was computer technology, which Vaisala’s project manager, in ensure superior accuracy and charge of delivery, installation performance. The MIDAS IV chaeological finds. St. Peter’s and training for the MIDAS IV Automatic Weather Observa- and Paul’s Church, which dates System. tion System (AWOS) offers re- from the 15th century AD, was The Hellenic National Mete- porting of ICAO/WMO for- also located within the airport orological Service (HNMS) is matted aviation weather data. area, at the site of western run- responsible for meteorological At the New Athens Interna- way construction. It was there- support for the national de- tional Airport, the MIDAS IV fore relocated from its original fense and economy of Greece, System comprises a set of field site to an area outside the air- and also provides the whole sensors, communication de- port, and is now open to the country with meteorological vices, processing and display public. A protohellenic settle- data. The operational meteoro- devices such as an observer’s ment was found on a hilltop at logical center of HNMS pro- workstation. The field sensors Zagani Hills and all findings vides the Athens airport with are located at sites that reflect were classified and stored. A meteorological support, in- the prevailing meteorological model of the settlement is also cluding operation of the conditions at the airport as ac- on display at AIA. The findings MIDAS IV AWOS System curately as possible. Wind, are being exhibited to give trav- with its forecasting and obser- temperature, pressure and run- elers a chance to acquaint vation personnel. The Hellenic way visibility are observed in themselves with the site history. Civil Aviation Authority (HCAA) touchdown zones, and cloud is in charge of maintenance of height at middle marker sites Cooperation with the complete AWOS System at of the runways. Wind speed numerous partners AIA and its staff also ensures and direction, air temperature, that the crucial interfaces to relative humidity, air pressure, The design and installation of other systems are kept on line. precipitation, sunshine dura- the extensive airport weather tion and global radiation are system at AIA was a large pro- Versatile meteorological measured at the meteorologi- ject involving numerous part- data with MIDAS IV cal garden, which is also ners. Airsys ATM (now Thales equipped with a present weath- ATM) was responsible for sys- Vaisala’s integrated MIDAS IV er sensor, a thunderstorm de- tems integration, air traffic sys- Automatic Weather Observa- tector and a tems project management and tion System (AWOS) was in- containing mechanical instru- stalled and commissioned in ments. 2000 at the New Athens The field sensors, such as International Airport. The MITRAS Transmissometers, MIDAS System provides mete- CT25K and Wind orological data acquisition, val- Sensors, are intelligent and in- idation, calculation, distribu- dependent systems with their tion and storage for air traffic own control units and mi- controllers and meteorological croprocessors. The communi- observers. In addition to pro- cation to and from the field viding Air Traffic Control with sensors is via short copper the meteorological data re- cable links to an automatic quired for CAT II operations at fiber optic cable network. the airport, the automatic and At Zagani Hill, a number of manual observations per- Powerful data valuable historical items were formed and recorded by the processing and storage discovered. The findings are now on system also provide detailed displayed at the exhibition area at observation data for transmis- Two Central Data Units the airport. sion to international and na- (CDU) are included in the

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Central Processing System of the MIDAS IV, located at the ATC tower. The CDU collects data from the sensors, validates and processes it, and also per- forms meteorological calcula- tions, message generation and distribution. By processing the automatic and manually en- tered data, the CDU provides diagnostics and alarm check- ing. On each CDU of the MIDAS IV, there is an inter- face to supply the necessary in- formation to the ATIS system. For maximum reliability the system has two CDUs and a switchover unit, powered from separate UPS circuits.

Observer’s and Forecaster’s workstations

The meteorological observer operates the system via a work- station. The observer fills in the required manual observa- The meteorological garden at Athens Six MITRAS Transmissometers, wih a tions such as cloud amount International Airport is equipped with baseline of 75 m, provide Runway Visual and verifies the automatically versatile sensors for a broad selection of Range (RVR) assessment at each runway of the generated data in the METAR meteorological parameters. new Athens Airport. message. Weather messages (METAR/SPECI and SYNOP) are distributed further to other users at the airport (e.g. IDS, computer and the CDU over a ATIS) and, via an AFTN Local Area Network. switch, to HNMS Headquart- The ATC tower is equipped In 2004, the Olympics will return to their ers for dissemination to other with 6 backup weather dis- ancient origins and the city of their mod- airports and users in Greece plays. Three Vaisala DD50 ern revival - to Athens, Greece. This will and worldwide. Digital Displays and three add a very special meaning to the next Messages and history are WD30 Wind Displays show Olympics, and consequently, the Greek stored in a database for later use. weather data and other system nation is dedicated to arranging a truly Optionally, climatological data in both textual and graph- unique and memorable event - designed records can also be recorded in ical format. System monitoring to pay tribute to the ideals of sport and, at the database. The system can op- and maintenance are per- the same time, to act as a worthy refer- erate either automatically with- formed at a Remote Control ence for future Games. Countless projects out operator intervention or and Monitoring Workstations have been undertaken in various walks of with manual input by the me- and extensive system status in- life to prepare for the inflow of visitors. The teorological observer. If the me- formation is made available to Olympics will bring people together not teorological conditions change the airport Central Technical only to follow the competitions, but also to dramatically, exceeding the pre- Monitoring and Control Sys- enjoy the parallel cultural program. defined limits defined by ICAO tem via a specially-designed in- The opening ceremony of the 2004 and WMO, the system gener- terface. Olympic Games will take place on August ates and sends special weather 13 and the closing ceremony on August reports (SPECI) automatically. 29. According to plans so far, it will en- A separate Forecaster Work- compass 28 sports and 300 events. The station is provided for the fore- number of participating athletes is expect- caster at the airport, by which ed to reach 11,000. They will compete in the forecaster can enter traditional sports at several venues, with TREND information for no new sports being introduced this time. METAR and SPECI messages and create TAF messages. The forecaster’s workstation com- municates with the observer’s

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AW11 Aviation Weather Reporter for Accurate Weather Data at Gliding Championships

“Should I stay or should I go?” When the plane and the pilot are ready, there is only one critical component left - the weather.

The first World Championships for Women’s Gliding were held in Pociunai, Lithuania from July 28 to August 11, 2001. The event at- tracted more than 40 competitors from 13 countries, who took part in three different classes. The pi- lots and organizers found the ac- curate local weather data provided by Vaisala’s AW11 Automatic Weather Reporter invaluable.

On the ground the aerodynamically high-performance beauties become clumsy. Pictured is Standard Class World Champion Sarah Steinberg, moving the plane at the airport.

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Kusti Kairikko, M.Sc. German Gudrun Haas found the Product Engineer Aviation Weather Reporter very Vaisala Helsinki useful and trustworthy, and was Finland pleased to hear that the unit used in Lithuania was to be moved to Germany after the competition.

aisala was involved the Aviation Weather Reporter in the competition was used a lot. The usage was V as an official spon- not logged, but its popularity is sor, providing its shown by the fact that on the AW11 Aviation Weather final competition day there was Reporter for the period of the no need to activate reporting by championships. As it is able to a handheld transreceiver, since communicate via VHF radio, it was on almost constantly. the Aviation Weather Reporter was chosen as the most applic- “Very impressive” able product - especially since it is an unmanned automatic One of the three winners, weather station, specifically de- Sarah Steinberg, is a British air- signed for small and medium- What’s gliding? line pilot and a passionate glid- sized airports and heliports. er pilot. “Although I love to fly, In this case, the unit report- Gliding, or soaring, is flying without any engine. The only I never think about flying a jet ed METAR not only by radio, sources of power are warm ascending air currents, thermals, plane when I’m gliding, but, but also by telephone and on a or uphill blowing winds, “waves”, in mountainous areas. when I’m flying a jet, I think PC display in the meteo room. Finding these “cheap and clean ways to go up and stay about gliding almost all the The accurate local weather data there” is dependent on one critical factor - the weather. time. Especially if the weather was used by the meteo people Gliding usually starts with towing or winching. Self-starting is good.” She says that she lives for planning the day’s tasks and with a small engine is also possible, but not very common, to glide and glides to live. Like schedule and by pilots during because of the high price of these planes. almost all glider pilots, their flight to get real-time data After being lifted with some help from friends to a height Steinberg finds the silence and from the airport to monitor the of 500-1000 meters, glider pilots usually start looking for the challenge of every flight the weather changes and to decide something to help them rise even higher and stay there. This most enjoyable part of gliding. on the correct landing direc- can last more than 10 hours a day and take a glider plane “They make gliding so special. tion. The Aviation Weather and pilot hundreds or thousands of kilometers. Some gliders However, it’s really hard to tell Reporter used during the com- are very good at aerobatics, so, for example, looping and what’s so great in gliding to petition reported winds, direc- spinning is another popular way to enjoy gliding on cross- people who haven’t tried it,” tion and speed, pressure set- country flights. says Steinberg. tings for sea and field levels, Private pilots and flying clubs mostly operate gliders. Steinberg finds the Aviation temperature, dewpoint, visibili- Joining a club is usually the best way to start gliding. After Weather Reporter an impressive ty and sky conditions - all para- getting a license, the clubs usually offer a chance to start weather station, saying that she meters that are measured in the training to sharpen one’s skills. As in many other fields, prac- has seen something similar earli- standard configuration. tice makes perfect in gliding, too. With each flight, the ideal er only in the United States. It time to perfect one’s skills lasts approximately as long as the turns out that, in fact, she is re- “What’s the active soaring. ferring to another aviation frequency?!” weather system produced by Vaisala, the Automated Weather The Aviation Weather Reporter Observing System (AWOS). was introduced to the partici- According to Steinberg, the pants at a briefing on the first Aviation Weather Reporter of- competition day. The right fre- fers a lot of valuable information quency was given to the com- for a glider pilot. Wind speed petitors and their crew mem- and direction are especially im- bers, who were naturally very portant during the landing and pleased to receive it. Otherwise, take-off, while sky condition, the nearest real-time weather re- temperature and dewpoint help ports would only have been in planning a successful strategy. available from Kaunas and After the competition Vilnius International airports, Steinberg mentions that actual- both of which are located quite ly using the weather system has far away from Pociunai. became a habit, and feels a very During the entire competi- natural part of flying – “just tion, which lasted two weeks, like it’s meant to be.”

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Major AWOS Contract for Vaisala in the Lone Star State

In September, Vaisala he Vaisala AWOS is communities. New businesses landed a second large FAA certified and are not normally established in T provides continuous, communities where the airport contract with the state real-time, weather re- does not have a weather report- of Texas. The contract ports for pilots. The AWOS re- ing system. If business people includes installation of ports temperature, dewpoint, have to travel between branch 16 Automated wind speed and direction, al- offices, they must know the timeter setting, visibility, cloud weather conditions in order to Weather Observing height and sky coverage, precip- ensure their safe arrival and the Systems (AWOS) at itation identification and thun- cost effectiveness of their travel.” airports throughout derstorms. The Vaisala AWOS installa- “The AWOS is obviously a tions will begin in late fall 2001 the state. safety tool for pilots at any air- and all 16 are expected to be port,” says Karon Weidemann, completed by fall 2002. Each director of grant management at airport will also be able to se- the Texas Department of lect up to five additional up- Transportation. “But it’s also im- grades, which will vary depend- Map of Vaisala AWOS Texas portant economically for our ing on the location. Installation Locations.

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Vaisala equips Turkish Airports with meteorological systems by delivering MIDAS IV Systems with Integrated Management

In September 2001, Vaisala signed a contract with the General Directorate of the Turkish State Meteorological Services to supply automat- ic airport weather observation systems to ten major Turkish airports. This contract has strengthened Vaisala’s long-standing relationship with Turkey’s General Directorate of State Meteorological Services, which is responsible for meteorological measurement at airports.

aisala will deliver number of CAT categories. tion & Trading Ltd, played an MIDAS IV Auto- The AWOS System (MIDAS important role in negotiating V mated Weather Ob- IV) will collect, validate, this contract. Marti provided serving Systems process, store and visually pre- translations of the documents (AWOS) to ten airports, includ- sent data generated by a variety into Turkish and supervised of- ing the Ataturk International of meteorological sensors. The ficial documentation for the Airport in Istanbul and Ankara standard system comprises a tender. Both of these tasks fall Esenboga Airport. The deliver- central computer with the nec- within its remit as regards local ies will be carried out in 2001 essary communication devices, bidding procedures. Besides and 2002. In addition to the the operator’s equipment and acting as a commercial repre- AWOS Systems, the contract meteorological sensors. sentative for Vaisala products, covers delivery of associated Marti Consultancy - software for remote monitor- Long-standing Representation & Trading Ltd ing, control and maintenance relationship with takes care of system installa- of the entire network from a Vaisala tions, service operations and central site. coordinates the civil work re- To date, Vaisala has delivered quired for system installations Centralized system systems of various kinds to (such as cabling and building management some 40 airports in Turkey. Of foundations for equipment). these systems, 11 are Automated Additionally, it keeps up con- Mr Cavit Coban is the managing The contract is of significance to Weather Observing Systems, tacts with the Turkish director of Marti Consultancy- the aviation weather system mar- AWOSs. Both MIDAS IVs and Meteorological Office and fol- Representaion & Trading Ltd. ket not only because of its scope MIDAS 600 Systems have been lows up on the competition. but also because, as a result of delivered to eleven Turkish air- “The work of Marti Consul- the contract, all of the country’s ports. Twenty-six of the 40 sys- tancy - Representation & major airports will be equipped, tems are wind measurement sys- Trading Ltd has been instru- at the same time, to form an in- tems that have been delivered to mental for Vaisala,” stresses Mr tegrated entity enabling central- 26 airports. Upon completion Harry Alm of Vaisala, who ized administration. The remote of the new contract, Vaisala will works as the area manager for maintenance of Turkey’s airport have delivered a total of 21 Turkey. “Marti Consultancy - network will be carried out at a AWOSs to Turkey. Representation & Trading Ltd central site in Ankara. has greatly contributed to One of the key strengths of Strong local support Vaisala’s success in Turkey, the Vaisala MIDAS IV AWOS from Marti Consultancy where Vaisala is currently the is its flexibility; it can be con- - Representation & market leader in the aviation figured to suit the requirements Trading Ltd weather business.” of a very wide range of aviation facilities. The latest deal covers Vaisala’s local representative, Turkish airports that fall into a Marti Consultancy - Representa-

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Jonathan Lister, M. Sc. (Met.) Autonomous models The application requires a Managing Director The Royal Meteorological good understanding of numer- Vaisala Birmingham Society (RMS) awards the ical modeling techniques and Operations Fitzroy Prize every 2 years for appropriate parameterization Birmingham distinguished work in applied of meteorological energy United Kingdom meteorology, especially if pub- flows. The development has lished in Society journals. With been constrained by limited the award, the RMS recognizes data availability and comput- Dr.. Jianmin Shao’s contribu- ing power, as these models run The Royal Meteorological tion to the development of ice on stand-alone personal com- prediction models for both fore- puters at remote locations – in Society awards casting and nowcasting during contrast to the supercomput- the last 10 years. In the award ci- ing and data-rich environ- tation, the RMS states that his ments of many development Prestigious publications include several im- or operational meteorological portant developments, such as centers. sensitivity analyses, parameteri- The end-user of ice predic- zation of energy from ‘tidal’ tion products is typically an en- Fitzroy Prize to traffic flows, extensions for use gineer responsible for main- with different pavement sur- taining a smooth traffic flow. faces (e.g. porous asphalt) and Such a maintenance engineer is detailed simulation of complex often unlikely to have exten- Dr. Jianmin Shao shading effects often found at sive meteorological training, roadside locations. More recent- but is expected to make opera- ly, Dr. Shao has extended the tional decisions about if and The Royal Meteorological Society pre- traditional approach by which a when he should carry out pre- meteorologist or mesoscale ventive de-icing operations, sented the Fitzroy Prize to Dr. Jianmin model provides an input field of such as spreading salt. Shao (Vaisala Birmingham) in June 2001. ‘normal’ meteorological para- When asked about what has The prize was awarded to Dr. Shao in meters (e.g. air temperature, made him interested in applied recognition of his contribution to the de- dewpoint, wind speed, cloud meteorology, Shao says that he cover) for the forecast period. finds the rhythm of the atmos- velopment of ice prediction models for He has pioneered the develop- pheric movements and varia- both forecasting and nowcasting. Dr. ment of completely au- tions fascinating. “The eco- Shao’s innovative work has skillfully ap- tonomous models, which rely nomic values of road ice pre- solely on observations from the diction ‘dr.ive’ me to model- plied meteorological science for the ben- instrumented site and yet retain ing,” he explains. efit of all who use roads, in both eco- a physical energy balance model nomic and safety terms. to ensure realistic output. These Dr. Shao’s contributions autonomous nowcasting mod- els are now coming into wide- Dr. Shao has made major con- spread operational use. tributions to the development of site-specific forecast models Applied meteorology which typically predict the sur- face temperature and condition Ice prediction is a highly com- (dr.y, wet, icy, etc.) for instru- mercialized and competitive mented locations. Starting with industry, active in regions that his PhD thesis, the emphasis experience ‘wintry weather’ and has been on single-dimensional that are developed enough to physical heat balance models have significant volumes of which have been successfully traffic. In this context, ‘traffic’ deployed in many different lo- includes road, rail and airport cations around the world ground operations. However, (Europe, USA, Scandinavia Shao points out that the appli- and Japan). cation of meteorology and pre- Shao’s ‘IceBreak’ model is diction models varies in differ- not only the most fully devel- ent transportation fields, which oped, but also the best-docu- require different techniques. mented ice prediction model in He emphasizes that in predict- open literature. Most of his ing road ice and cable ice, for publications include results example, some of the under- from large datasets collected lined physical processes, para- from several different countries meters and inputs are different, and different types of forecast and should be dealt with differ- site. The selection of publica- ently. However, he admits that tions listed below illustrates the The prestigious Fitzroy Prize was presented to Dr. Jianmin he believes in the principle that development path, highlights Shao by the President of the RMS, Dr. D. M. Burridge. simplicity is beauty. of which include:

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References Ice prediction models Thornes, J. E. & J. Shao, 1991: A comparison of UK road ice prediction models, Met. Mag., 120, 51-57.

Thornes, J. E. & J. Shao, 1991: Spectral analysis and sensitivity test for a numerical road surface tempera- ture prediction model, Met. Mag., 120, 117-124.

J. E. Thornes & J. Shao, 1992: Objective methods for improving the operational performance of a road ice prediction model using interpolated mesoscale output and a templet for correcting systematic error, Met. Mag., 121, 197-204.

Shao, J., J. E. Thornes & P. J. Lister, 1993: Description and verification of a road ice prediction model, Transportation Research Record No.1378 - Snow and Ice Control Technology, Ed. by the Transportation Research Board, National Research Council (USA), National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1993.

Shao, J., P. J. Lister & A. McDonald, 1995: A surface temperature prediction model for porous asphalt pavement and its validation, Meteorol. Appl., 1, 123-134. Dr. Shao’s nowcasting developments are utilized in Vaisala’s NowCast System which can provide a site-specific forecast for each weather station. Shao, J., P. J. Lister & W. D. Fairmaner, 1995: Numerical simulation of shading effect and road surface state, Meteorol. Appl., 1, 209-213. • sensitivity analysis the growth will largely be con- • introduction of parameters tained by the capacity of exist- Shao, J. & P. J. Lister, 1995: The prediction of road to deal with energy from ing road networks. According surface state and simulation of shading effect, ‘tidal’ traffic flows to Shao, even if many dr.ivers Bound.-Layer Meteorol., 73, 411-419. • extensions for use with dif- are reluctant to give up their car ferent pavement surfaces, (for many dr.ivers, the car Nowcasting such as porous asphalt would probably be the last • detailed simulation of com- thing they would give up), en- Shao, J. & P. J. Lister, 1996: An automated nowcast- plex shading effects often vironmental consciousness and ing model of road surface temperature and state for found at roadside locations advanced IT will help to reduce winter road maintenance. J. Appl. Meteoro., 38, the unnecessary use of cars. 1352-1361. Future developments Dr. Shao sees new technolo- and current research gy, such as the speed camera Shao, J. & P. J. Lister, 1997: Real time road ice pre- and new road materials, as a diction and its improvement in accuracy through a “The development of ice pre- factor that will help to reduce self-learning process. Conference Proceedings 16 - diction will be in the direction traffic accidents and act as a Snow removal and Ice Control technology. Transport Research Board, National Research of providing detailed regional counterbalance to the increas- Council. National Academy Press, Washington ice prediction which will be in- ing volumes of traffic. D.C., 1997. P131-137. tegrated with more sensor data However, technological devel- and more automated ele- opments will not alter meteoro- Shao, J., 1998: Improving nowcasts of road surface ments,” says Dr. Shao. Beside logical conditions, and ice pre- temperature by a backpropagation neural network. these major trends emerging in diction still is – and will cer- Weather and Forecasting, 13, 164-171. the field of ice prediction, envi- tainly continue to be – of sig- ronmental issues will affect the nificant value to highway engi- Shao, J., 1998: Application of an artificial neural net- role of ice prediction tools and neers. work to improve short term road ice forecast. Expert their use. As people become Dr. Shao’s current research Systems with Applications, 14, 471-482. more and more aware of the topics include auto tuning of importance of protecting our physical parameters for the Ice Prediction and Related Publications living environment, due focus model to achieve optimum Shao, J. & P. J. Lister, 1995: Data filtering for ther- on the environmental issue will model performance. mal mapping of road surface temperatures, certainly be reflected in atti- Additionally, he is working on Meteorol. Appl., 2, 131-135. tudes on how ice prediction is developing short-term regional seen. However, cost-effective- ice prediction. Consequently, Shao, J., P. J. Lister, G. D. Hart & H. B. Pearson, ness is another important issue highway engineers of the future 1996: Thermal Mapping - Reliability and repeatabili- closely linked to ice prediction, may be better equipped to face ty. Meteorol. Appl., 3, 325-330. explains Dr. Shao. the challenges posed by winter Shao, J., J. C. Swanson, R. Patterson, P. J. Lister & According to Dr. Shao, weather, and will be able to A. N. McDonald, 1997: Variation of winter road sur- many experts predict ever-in- provide for smooth traffic face temperature due to topography and application creasing volumes of traffic. flows despite the increase in of Thermal Mapping. Meteorol. Appl., 4, 131-137. While this is understandable, traffic.

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IceCast customers benefit from Certified Complaints Management System at Vaisala Birmingham

Eur. Ing. Robert L. Patterson, C Eng., MICE For many years Vaisala’s Birmingham office has provided support through Ice SBU Quality Manager its Helpdesk for customers using the IceCast products. Vaisala Vaisala Birmingham Birmingham applied for assessment of its Helpdesk facilities against the UK new BS 8600 standard, launched by the British Standards Institute (BSI) in 1999 as the first standard for complaints management systems. In July 2001, the Vaisala system was assessed and found to meet the very high standards required.

What is BS 8600: 1999? end, it is Vaisala’s policy that The Vaisala Helpdesk plaint Management policy. The customers are given details on for IceCast customers existing Quality Assurance doc- The standard BS8600: “Com- how to raise a complaint at an umentation was reviewed and plaints Management Systems - early stage of their relationship In a normal winter season the areas relating to the Helpdesk, Guide to design and implemen- with Vaisala. Helpdesk will receive over 2500 customer support and its asso- tation” provides helpful guid- Accreditation to BS 8600:1999 requests for assistance. The ciated training transferred to ance on how to set up and requires demonstration to the front-line Helpdesk team works the new CMS manual. Special maintain effective management British Standards Institute (BSI) in shifts to be able to provide attention was paid to the ex- systems for complaints re- Auditor that the management support to customers around pansion of the concepts of fair- ceived. The British Standard system provides the following: the clock. For effective sup- ness and confidentiality. Addi- was created to cater for the in- • Assessment of resources re- port, they have one database tionally, the internal escalation creasing numbers of call centers quired and their provision. pre-loaded with details of cus- process was refined and extend- being established not only in • Effective training of all per- tomer’s systems and contractu- ed. Lastly, contacts were estab- the UK but all over the world. sonnel directly and indirect- al arrangements at their dispos- lished with external adjudica- Managing complaints well is ly involved with the system. al, while a second database tors in order to provide a path a way to improve the products, • Empowerment of all person- (called the “knowledge base”) for the resolution of dead- services and public standing of nel directly or indirectly as- stores details of all past prob- locked complaints. an organization in the eyes of its sociated with the system en- lems and solutions. Each call is Once all these components customers. BS8600 holds that suring all are given the re- logged and progress tracked. were assembled and established managing complaints is also sponsibility to deal quickly Every morning the databases they were allowed to run for vital to creating and maintain- and efficiently with routine are searched to provide status three months before being suc- ing an organization’s effective- complaints. reports and to identify any cessfully subjected to a detailed ness. By actively encouraging • Escalation. To ensure that in major problems and areas for audit by the local Vaisala complaints Vaisala gains a sec- the case of a serious com- improvement. Where request- Quality Assurance manager. ond chance to capture customer plaint, things do not stand ed by the customer, the team The senior management of loyalty and approval. An effec- still, key personnel are alert- also reviews the performance of Vaisala Birmingham then con- tive complaints management ed and whoever deals with the customer’s ice prediction ducted a formal Management system is essential for customers the problem has the right system throughout the previ- Review of the system and the to be able to make a significant expertise. ous twenty-four hours and re- BSI Auditor was invited to contribution to the long-term • Provision of a means of an port any potential problems to carry out the accreditation success of the company. independent route to com- the customer. audit. From the customer’s point plaint resolution when inter- In July 2001 the BSI Auditor of view, only three things mat- nal processes become dead- The accreditation conducted the formal Audit of ter if something goes wrong. locked. process the Vaisala Birmingham Com- They need to know where to • Follow up action in order to plaints Management System complain, they need to know learn from mistakes so the Prior to accreditation a “Com- and confirmed her recommen- how to complain and they products and services, and plaint Management System dation to BSI that Vaisala Bir- need to be made to feel confi- the complaints management manual (CMS manual)” was mingham should be accredited dent that their complaint will system itself, can be im- compiled. This included the to BS 8600. be dealt with seriously. To this proved. derivation of a detailed Com-

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European Meteorological Society reflected upon from commercial services. Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, the KNMI has chosen to give up Future Trends in commercial services altogether. Role of the European Meteorology at ECAM Meteorological Society The European Meteorological Society, which was founded in September 1999, held its first an- nual general meeting in The annual general meeting of the European Meteorological Society Budapest. The future of the EMS and the European Conference on Applications of Meteorology were was another much-discussed held in Budapest in September 2001. The events brought together topic. One of the key tasks of the European meteorologists to share their views on the applications of EMS is to advance meteorology and related sciences at the pan- meteorology. A central theme of discussions was reflection on the European level. EMS will assist challenges imposed on meteorological services by current demands the development of meteorologi- on selection and quality of services. cal and related applications for the public benefit in Europe and elsewhere. The delegates seemed to agree that EMS has a bright fu- ture and that the annual meeting he European Confer- European Meteorological Society will gradually be developed from ence on Applications (EMS). this modest beginning into a T of Meteorology major event, with several parallel (ECAM) brought to- Lively discussions on conferences covering all the fields gether representatives of the me- commercialization of meteorology. The event could teorological community to ex- be developed to correspond to change information on the ef- Commercialization was the sub- the model that the American forts that are being taken by the ject of most intense debate. The Meteorological Society has suc- meteorological community and participants discussed whether cessfully applied to its meeting service providers to meet the national meteorological services and conference. This will hope- current demands regarding the should do business, or leave it to fully also make the meeting more selection of services and their private enterprises and concen- interesting from the instrument quality. The conference partici- trate instead on developing the manufacturers’ point of view and pants included European na- infrastructure and providing data. attract a larger number of compa- tional meteorological services, The strategies that different coun- nies to exhibit their products and international organizations, tries in Europe are adopting with to give presentations. At this government agencies, universi- respect to commercialization meeting, the corresponding exhi- ties, private service providers seem to vary greatly. For exam- bition was rather small and the and users of meteorological ser- ple, in Sweden the Swedish presentations concentrating on vices. The main themes were Meteorological and Hydrological observations and instruments use of forecasting tools, applica- Institute (SMHI) is doing busi- were scarce – perhaps not too sur- tions, commercialization of ser- ness eagerly, with some 50 % of prising for an event of this kind vices and the role of the its budget already originating held for the first time.

Interesting new applications

At ECAM, a few interesting new applications of weather forecasts were presented. The subjects var- ied from energy trading (Boris Kozlowski, Stadtwerke Munchen GmbH) and prediction of work- load of health services and onset of illnesses (Roger Hunt, UK Met Office) to the ice-layer thick- ness model used for predicting skating conditions on Dutch canals (Robert Mureau, KNMI).

Vaisala showcased new products at the exhibition, which was arranged in connection with the ECAM conference. 158/2002 35 42826Ymi_158VAISALANEWS 14.12.2001 17:54 Sivu 36

New service contract concept allows a ucts, “packages” of various ser- vices, we realize that there is a need for flexibility,” explains Koivula. For this reason, three Focus on Core Operations different service contract levels have been defined to meet var- ied customer needs. For an ideal level of operational back- up, the service contracts are The new Vaisala Service Contract for surface and upper air weather ob- flexible and have a modular structure. Additionally, you can servation products and systems allows our customers to concentrate on attach optional services of 24h core operations and use their equipment to the full at all times. Three Online help or Annual service contract levels are available to cater for different operational re- Maintenance to any level select- quirements and business needs. All the service contract levels are de- ed. The Vaisala Service Contract opens up new oppor- signed to ensure that high quality measurement data is constantly avail- tunities to outsource service able - to keep the productivity of core activities high. and maintenance tasks. Service contracts for guaranteed promptness

Koivula says that the service con- he service contracts tract concept has been well re- help users of ceived. For example, most of the T Vaisala’s surface and DigiCORA III Sounding System upper air weather ob- users have opted for a higher ser- servation products and systems vice level than that of standard minimize system downtime, delivery (level 1). “From the cus- which means they will benefit tomer’s point of view, it’s essential from their investment at all not to tie resources to something times. For instance, upgrading that can be outsourced at a rea- the sounding system software to sonable cost. This translates into the most advanced level means improved efficiency and higher that new features are always data availability,” stresses Koivula. available and the equipment will keep up with the changing Level 1 environment,” stresses Vesa - Software upgrades Koivula, Technical Support Technical Support personnel at Vaisala Helsinki offer assistance in the and maintenance Manager at Vaisala Helsinki. maintenance of Vaisala upper air and surface weather products. From the left “Even if our objective has Vesa Koivula, Ismo Kupiainen, Markku Markkanen, Rauno Mettälä, Pekka Software upgrades and mainte- been to define standard prod- Rouhiainen, Matti Räsänen, Heikki Lihavainen and Päivi Peltoniemi. nance keep your operating sys-

DWD comments on service contract Software All three systems have received Gerhard Limberger, Deutscher Wetterdienst, Referat TI35, Fachgruppe Aerologie some updates so far and even the remote PCs could be easily The German Weather Annual Maintenance Helpdesk updated either online or with Service (Deutsche Although the contract has been We appreciate the Helpdesk telephone support. Wetterdienst) uses three effective for only a short time, service very much, as it results Vaisala AUTOSONDE we are very satisfied with the in prompt support either by Areas for improvement Systems, located at Essen, work carried out so far. The an- phone or email. Through this The service personnel have not Stuttgart and Halle. Since nual inspection and mainte- service, faults can be identified always been able to speak January 1, 2001, these nance was recently carried out and corrected either by con- German sufficiently fluently, systems have been cov- on all three AUTOSONDE sys- necting remotely to the system which has sometimes led to ered by a Vaisala mainte- tems, with some defective sys- or by shipping spare parts, so communication difficulties. nance and service con- tem components being re- that there is no interruption of Moreover, Vaisala engineers tract, including a 24-hour placed immediately. It is re- system operation or only a min- are used to making service Helpdesk, software main- markable that the AU- imal break. Fortunately, a true trips on weekends, too, which tenance, annual inspec- TOSONDE systems continued 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week is not possible, or is possible to operate without any interrup- tion and maintenance service has not been needed only with great difficulty, for our tion to soundings while the and a spare part depot. so far, so that we cannot report own personnel. Therefore, maintenance work was being on our experience in this re- good planning of service trips DWD comments on their carried out. experiences as follows: gard. is required.

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Noora Linnermo Marketing Assistant Vaisala Helsinki tems and other software up and Finland running. The operators will also be kept up to date on the latest versions with new user’s guides and manuals. Configuration Extensive customer survey for management includes systems, settings and parameters as well as software and hardware. Enhanced Level 2 - Spare parts service Information Exchange Guaranteed spare parts avail- ability gives your operations more stability. With original Last spring, a major survey was conducted specific products or applica- spare parts readily available, un- among Vaisala weather observation customers, tions were mentioned as being necessary downtime and the important web site material by need for on-site stocks can be to update customer contact information and to 56 %. Over 40 % of respon- reduced to a minimum. The in- collect additional information on customers’ dents would use the Vaisala coming request is handled, and fields of operation. The aim was for Vaisala to web site for reading about your spare parts are dispatched, weather phenomena and mea- typically within 24 hours - guar- be better equipped to provide its customers with suring solutions in general, anteed the next working day. relevant information according to their areas of should such information be You will also enjoy the possibil- interest. Respondents also answered questions available. One third of respon- ity to purchase spare parts at a on how they obtain information and how they dents read Vaisala News at the considerably reduced price. Vaisala web site itself and would like to use the Vaisala web site. The sur- would like to read Vaisala’s Level 3 vey provided plenty of valuable information, press releases, too. - Emergency calls which will be used to develop operations. The potential for download- ing material from the web site Guaranteed response times for came up as an important fea- emergency calls increase pre- lmost 6000 ques- Customers presented many ture in many answers. About dictability in unexpected situa- tionnaires in several ideas and comments concern- 60 % would like to have tions. By choosing this service A languages were sent ing the Vaisala web site. This in- brochures, manuals and articles contract level, you will know in to customers, who formation has been used as a available for downloading from advance the response time for returned the questionnaires by guideline for planning, imple- the Vaisala web site, and about on-site technical assistance and mail or fax. In all, 1500 re- menting and further develop- 30-40 % of the respondents expert service. Vaisala’s service sponses were received from 140 ing the new web site, which was would also like to have soft- and maintenance engineer will countries (a response rate of 25 launched in fall 2001. ware updates, photos and draw- commence travel typically %). 30 prize draw cameras were ings available at the site in a within 48 hours, guaranteed on sent to winning respondents in Internet rated as the downloadable format. site within three working days. 17 countries from all over the predominant source of world. information More relevant 24h online help In addition to updating their information to contact information, customers The results of the survey clearly customers The Technical Assistance Service were given the opportunity to show that the Internet has real- is available 24 hours a day, seven define segments relevant to ly become a “standard tool” Merja Jukola emphasizes that days a week. Your operational or them and to describe their ex- among our customers. Only 3 the results of the survey enable technical questions requiring pectations regarding distribu- per cent of respondents stated Vaisala to better plan marketing special expert services are typi- tion of Vaisala information. that they never use the Internet activities so that customers re- cally answered within 24 hours, This enabled us to chart cus- whereas 69 % use the Internet ceive the information that is guaranteed the next working tomer satisfaction regarding the daily. most relevant to them. A large day. The 24h online help is an current handling of Vaisala in- Approximately half of re- number of new customer seg- optional module available on all formation distribution. spondents (51 %) prefer using ments were defined for this three service contract levels. the Internet as a source of in- purpose, and are already being Valuable input formation, although Vaisala utilized in several projects. Annual maintenance News is rated almost as high Jukola points out that the study Overall, it seems that our cus- (49 %). Newsletters and provided lots of ideas that will For a long and reliable service tomers are quite satisfied with brochures were considered im- be useful when developing fu- life the optional annual site the way that Vaisala distributes portant, too. Over 80 % of re- ture e-solutions. In the future, maintenance visit is just the information. However, cus- spondents use or would like to questionnaires will be used for right module. Annual mainte- tomers were also interested in use the Vaisala web site for updating the customer data- nance performed by our experi- helping us improve the quality reading about Vaisala products. base again, since an up-to-date enced staff gives you the assur- of our actions. According to Almost half of respondents use customer contact database is ance of smoothly running oper- Merja Jukola, Global Market- the web site to access general the key to providing customers ations and processes. ing Manager, this is something information about Vaisala. with relevant information. that is much appreciated. Vaisala newsletters relating to

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Vaisala office in Boston turns 20 Professional team serves North American customers

Vaisala Inc. was founded in Boston 20 years ago tions and activities. However, radiosonde market already in considering that the initial em- the early days of Vaisala Inc.’s to strengthen the company’s presence in the phasis would be on Vaisala’s operations. United States. Since then, operations have commercial humidity products “Looking back at those grown remarkably and Vaisala’s foothold in the rather than its meteorological times, one must admit that it U.S. has been strengthened by acquisitions. At instruments and systems for was difficult to win acceptance. Government customers, it was There were many obstacles. For present, Vaisala Inc. has offices at four locations finally decided that an East instance, international politics across the country and the number of employ- Coast location would be prefer- did not favor a Finland-based ees has grown to approximately 90. able, not least because this radiosonde manufacturer. would also facilitate travel be- There was a lot of prejudice and tween the U.S. and Finland. misunderstanding about the Therefore, the first Vaisala of- political role of Finland, mixed Stronger presence in fice in North America was es- with ‘Buy American’ sentiment, North America tablished at Woburn, near and these tended to divert peo- Boston, in 1981, with Steven ple from the hard facts, such as In 1980, realizing that the com- Chansky as its Managing product quality, technical per- pany’s presence should be Director. formance and specifications,” strengthened in the North says Chansky, an old hand in American market which of- Focus on humidity marketing and sales activities in fered interesting business op- measurement in the North America. According to portunities at that time, the early years Chansky, this explains why it management of the Vaisala took more than ten years for Group decided to investigate The new office initially focused the first Vaisala radiosondes to the possibility of establishing on the humidity measurement be delivered to the U.S. an office in North America. business in which sales could National Weather Services. It Accordingly, one of the Vaisala be generated more quickly than was 1983 when Vaisala Inc. managers moved to the United in the meteorological instru- started radiosonde production States for a year to elaborate on ment business. Even if it was in Woburn, but 1995 when they this idea and find the best loca- acknowledged that entering the supplied the first radiosondes to tion for the purpose. Initially, meteorological instrumenta- the NWS. Fortunately, howev- the most “natural” location was tion market would require a er, strong business relationships assumed to be Boulder, long time, the challenge was were developed with many Colorado, with its important taken up and attempts were other customers, including the meteorological research institu- made to gain a foothold in the U.S. military and Environment Canada. Steven Chansky, Managing Director and Ken Goss, Quick growth in Upper Air Marketing/Sales industrial Manager, stress that the years measurements at Vaisala have been challenging and rewarding at “Sales of industrial measure- ment products developed the same time. “Growth has rapidly in the early years and brought new technologies - soon exceeded USD 2 million. and a whole lot to learn!”. The growth flattened out to Goss at the left, Chansky at some extent in the mid to late the right in a picture from the 1980s, but resumed after some early days. technical performance issues were resolved and quality was improved,” notes Chansky. Currently, the U.S. market ac- counts for 40 % of the Vaisala

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New Vaisala Office in London, Ontario Supporting Customers in Canada

Group’s global sales in these The Canadian market has always been an active products. They have won broad acceptance among thou- area for Vaisala. In January 2001, Vaisala estab- sands of companies, because of lished a regional office in London, Ontario, to en- their accuracy and reliability. hance its presence in Canada. At the new office, Sales Engineer Karl Boivin serves the Weather Success in ceilometers and automatic weather Observation needs of Canadian customers in the observation systems both official languages of the country.

The surface weather observa- tion business has been boosted by two major contracts which n Canada, having a says Boivin. Beside learning the have put Vaisala ‘on the map’ bilingual presence is products, he has familiarized in the North American market. I a must, since people himself with a new business en- The first was the 1985 contract always prefer to do vironment. In my previous job to develop and manufacture business in their mother I was working in the private ceilometers for the NWS. “As a tongue even when they are sector. Now, I’m serving cus- result, Vaisala has delivered ap- bilingual”, says Karl Boivin, tomers in both the government proximately 3000 ceilometers himself a bilingual Canadian and industry. and we have become the mar- whoand converses in both The major customer groups in ket leader in this field, with a French and English. “Besides Canada consist of governmental global market share of about this requirement, Canada poses institutions, e.g. Meteorological 80 per cent,” notes Chansky. a unique challenge because of Services Canada (MSC) and The second important contract its huge geographical area,” he provincial governments, and was the recent TACMET pro- points out. Karl’s responsibili- customers in the private sector, ject to equip several branches ties are focused on Vaisala’s such as hydroelectrical power of the U.S. military with tacti- meteorological instruments plants. Boivin explains that one cal automatic weather observa- and systems. He provides tech- of the largest projects presently tion systems. nical support to the Canadian underway in Canada is support- Sales Engineer Karl Boivin finds customers, initiates marketing ing Hydro Quebec with the up- the challenge of operating in two Ready to meet future efforts and uncovers new op- grade of their hydrological net- languages in a vast geographical challenges portunities. work. The objective is to up- area very interesting. According to Boivin, the ad- grade to a High Data Rate According to Chansky, the role dition of this regional office GOES radio which will allow of Vaisala’s Boston office will will not only enhance customer more stations with the same also be strong in the future, service in Canada but also amount of time allocation from even if the development of the bring a new view to the market, the GOES satellite. The current economy seems difficult to pre- since he is a newcomer to the network will no longer be func- dict at present. He stresses that weather industry. However, he tional by 2011. Hydro Quebec the dedicated staff, which in- has a strong technical selling wants to get this project done in cludes plenty of long-time em- background. Karl Boivin at- good time to be able to work out ployees (30 staff members have tended Université Laval in the potential problems that may been with Vaisala for 10 years or Quebec City and obtained a arise before 2011. Another inter- longer), has developed solid ex- Baccalaureat in mechanical en- esting area for Vaisala in Canada pertise in both the products gineering. He then worked in is the aviation industry. “We and the local market. “Their the field of robotics for a num- have supplied our first AWOS in commitment and know-how ber of years before joining Canada this year”, says Boivin. are of great benefit to our cus- Vaisala. “Looking for a new “The addition of such equip- tomers in meeting their weather challenge brought me to ment is necessary to improve on observation and industrial mea- Vaisala. Here in my current po- safety as well as to increase flight surement needs,” concludes sition the challenge is no frequency”. Chansky. longer an issue but a reality,”

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www.vaisala.com

Europe North America

VAISALA Oyj VAISALA Inc. P.O. Box 26, FIN-00421 Helsinki 100 Commerce Way FINLAND Woburn, MA 01801-1068 Telephone: +358 9 894 91 USA Telefax: +358 9 8949 2227 Telephone: +1 781 933 4500 Telefax: +1 781 933 8029 Vaisala Malmö Drottninggatan 1 D VAISALA Inc. S - 212 11 Malmö Columbus Operations SWEDEN 7450 Industrial Parkway Telephone: +46 40 298 991, in Plain City, Ohio 43064-9005 Sweden: 0200 848 848 USA Telefax int.: +46 40 298 992, in Telephone: +1 614 873 6880 Sweden: 0200 849 849 Telefax: +1 614 873 6890 Vaisala GmbH Vaisala Inc. Achter de Weiden 10 Boulder Operations D-22869 Schenefeld 8401 Base Line Road GERMANY Boulder, CO 80303-4715 Telephone: +49 40 839 03 207 USA Telefax +49 40 839 03 211 Telephone: +1 303 499 1701 Telefax: +1 303 499 1767 VAISALA Impulsphysik GmbH Achter de Weiden 10 Vaisala Meteorological D-22869 Schenefeld Systems Inc. GERMANY 5600 Airport Boulevard Telephone: +49 40 839 030 Boulder, CO 80301-2340 Telefax +49 40 839 03 110 Telephone: +1 303 443 2378 Fax: +1 303 443 1628 Vaisala GmbH Bonn Office VAISALA Inc. Adenauerallee 46 a Sunnyvale Operations D-53110 Bonn 1288 Reamwood Ave. GERMANY Sunnyvale, CA 94089-2233 Telephone: +49 228 912 5110 USA Telefax: +49 228 912 5111 Telephone: +1 408 734 9640 Telefax: +1 408 734 0655 VAISALA GmbH Stuttgart Office Vaisala Inc. Regional Office Pestalozzi Str. 8 Canada D-70563 Stuttgart P.O. Box 2241, Station “B” GERMANY London Telephone: +49 711 734 057 Ontario N6A 4E3 Telefax: +49 711 735 6340 CANADA Telephone: +1 519 679-9563 Vaisala GmbH Telefax: +1 519 679-9992 Bremerhaven Office Buchtstrasse 45 Asia and Pacific 27570 Bremerhaven Telephone: +49 471 170 1655 VAISALA KK Telefax: +49 471 170 1755 42 Kagurazaka 6-Chome Shinjuku-Ku Vaisala GmbH Tokyo 162-0825 Hamburg Office JAPAN Axel-Springer-Platz 2 Telephone: +81 3 3266 9611 D - 20355 Hamburg Telefax: +81 3 3266 9610 Telephone +49 40 3410 7879 Telefax: +49 40 3410 7887 VAISALA KK Osaka Branch VAISALA Ltd 1-12-15, Higashimikuni Birmingham Operations Yodogawa-Ku, Osaka 532-0002 Vaisala House JAPAN 349 Bristol Road Telephone: +81 6 6391 2441 Birmingham B5 7SW Telefax: +81 6 6391 2442 UNITED KINGDOM Telephone: +44 121 683 1200 VAISALA Pty Ltd Telefax: +44 121 683 1299 3 Guest Street Hawthorn, VIC 3122 VAISALA Ltd AUSTRALIA Newmarket Office Telephone: +61 3 9818 4200 Unit 9 Telefax: +61 3 9818 4522 Swan Lane ABN 58 006 500 616 Exning Newmarket VAISALA Beijing Suffolk CB8 7FN Representative Office UNITED KINGDOM Wangfujing Grand Hotel Telephone: +44 1638 576 200 Room 518 - 520

Telefax: +44 1638 576 240 57, Wangfujing Street ISO 9002 Beijing 100006 VAISALA SA PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF 2, rue Stéphenson (escalier 2bis) CHINA F-78181 Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Telephone: +86 10 6522 4041 Cedex +86 10 6522 4050 FRANCE +86 10 6522 4151 Telephone: +33 1 3057 2728 Telefax: +86 10 6522 4051 Telefax: +33 1 3096 0858 Vaisala Regional Office Malaysia VAISALA SA Level 36, Menara Citibank 7, Europarc Ste-Victoire 165 Jalan Ampang F-13590 Meyreuil 50450 Kuala Lumpur FRANCE MALAYSIA Telephone: +33 4 4212 6464 Telephone: +60 3 2169 7776 Telefax: +33 4 4212 6474 Telefax: +60 3 2169 7775 C210014en 2002-01 Sävypaino 2001