FAQs

Most smaller airports do not have 20 acres of open space available to set aside, as required for regular AWOS.

Regular AWOS have a 30 ft (10m) mast that is a hazard near any runway. Regular AWOS must therefore be installed 750 feet from the nearest runway centerline. At many smaller airports, this would be off-airport property.

In addition to runway setbacks, regular AWOS are required to have 500 feet clear around, and height restriction out to 1,000 feet.

Regular AWOS siting requirements require an airport to have and set aside 20 acres (8 hectares) of empty real estate for the exclusive use of the AWOS.

At very large airports complying with regular AWOS siting requirements is easy. At smaller airports, regular AWOS requirements are often physically impossible.



SOLUTION – Everything about MicroTower is designed to be quick, simple, easy and affordable. It can be installed as simply as any windsock, having no requirements and imposing no restrictions on airport property.

Standards for all AWOS are from the original 1980’s program by the US National Weather Service (NWS). In the 1980’s the only sources of weather were thinly-spread human weather observers calling in hourly reports, weather balloons launched from few locations, and occasional reports from pilots to air traffic.

To improve forecasting the NWS built a nationwide network of 900 Automated Surface Observation Systems (ASOS) across the USA.

NWS standards for ASOS were for a scientific platform for atmospheric models, with nothing to do with aviation. Installation at airports was convenient but incidental.

While any basic windsock is perfectly acceptable for aviation, AWOS requires a 30-foot mast, clear areas, and slow-moving algorithms that provide trend information.

At that time the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was also seeking to reduce the high labor costs of maintaining human weather observers at commercial airports, by replacing them with automation. To minimize foreseeable controversy over technical merits, FAA simply adopted NWS’ already-accepted standard for the NWS ASOS Government procurement.

For scientific measurement, ASOS and AWOS are ideal, but only practical where sufficient funds, open space, and infrastructure are available.

Unfortunately, traditional ASOS AWOS are only affordable at a small number of locations where paid for out of national authority budgets, and remain too costly and impractical for most of the world’s smaller airports and heliports.

SOLUTION – MicroTower was designed with simplicity, affordability, and ease of support in mind. Using sophisticated automation and AI, MicroTower makes it possible for smaller communities to have a level of air traffic services similar to larger airports, but without the initial or ongoing costs of control tower or regular AWOS.

MicroTower’s sophisticated AI emulates the skill, experience, judgment, training, and communication skills of a human pilot.

Every airport’s busy VHF air traffic frequency is like being in a room full of people, where everything they have to say is critical to safety, but must share a single radio channel over which only one person can talk at a time.

SOLUTION – To avoid interfering with many critical conversations taking place on the VHF channel, the first requirement is to hear everyone else, so you don’t talk (transmit) over them. To ‘hear’ all the conversations at altitude, from the ground, requires an extraordinarily high sensitivity radio technology.

Once able to ‘hear a pin drop’ on the VHF frequency, the next requirement is for the system to be smart enough to know what to say, when. This is where AI emulates the expertise of a human pilot, that understands flight operations, the airport’s local procedures, and even how to communicate over busy radio frequencies.

Regular AWOS all require a 30-foot mast for forecast modeling.

Yet, windsocks are perfectly acceptable for aviation use.

MicroTower provides the best of both worlds:

A) Traditional two-minute averaging like any AWOS, best for forecasting and trend purposes, plus

B) Real-time wind like a talking windsock, ideal for the rapidly changing conditions common at smaller and encroached landing sites

The over-riding inter-agency policy document the Federal Meteorological Handbook ( FMH-1), while encouraging the ‘standard, allows for many other ways to determine ‘wind.’

Regular AWOS all have a rigid 30 foot (10m) metal mast so that their wind sensor can be optimally positioned for consistent scientific forecast models. However, the tall metal mast introduces a significant safety obstruction hazard if placed near any runway. This is why regular AWOS must be installed so far away from any runway, and which also condemns 20 acres (8 hectares) of airport real estate for forecast models.

The only limitation of any windsock is that they are only visible at a short distance. Windsocks are indistinguishable from altitude or on a low-weather approach to landing

SOLUTION – MicroTower’s mast has been designed similar to any windsock, so that it can be installed as simply and with common-sense as any windsock. MicroTower’s structure and mast are also ‘frangible’ (breakable), and lighted for night operations, just like any windsock.

Unlike regular AWOS, MicroTowerhas two sets of simultaneous wind algorithms, designed specifically for aviation, to provide the best of both worlds.

Regular AWOS wind algorithms were designed for general trends and forecast models with aviation use only secondary.

Large heavy aircraft operate differently than smaller aircraft. They approach at high speed and so must make their initial runway decision early, typically from the trend information coming from an AWOS or ATIS.

All aircraft are expected to then switch to approach control, tower, or Unicom, for the most up to date information about winds and runway selection.

Smaller lighter aircraft are more affected by rapidly changing conditions. At small confined airports the slow-moving two-minute average wind from regular AWOS can actually be misleading or dangerous.

SOLUTION – MicroTower provides two types of wind information, more ideal for small aircraft operations at smaller airports and heliports. Wind information sent remotely to flight planning and weather services follows the appropriate, traditional, slow-moving, general-trending algorithms of regular AWOS. Wind information given to pilots over the VHF frequency is much more real-time, like a ‘talking windsock.’

MicroTower’s rapid-algorithms are also essential for determining windshear and crosswind, and runway selection, which regular AWOS cannot do.

Human weather observers are fundamentally more capable than automation, because humans observe much wider sample areas.

For example, regular AWOS lasers take thousands of measurements of cloud cover, but at only one tiny spot directly overhead the airport. Aircraft descending to land do not land overhead. At 500 foot cloud deck an aircraft will actually be descending from the clouds about 2 miles away.

Human weather observers use lasers when available, but also look around the horizon and along the airport’s approach courses to make their more interpretive report.

Similarly, AWOS only measure a tiny 2 cu ft sample of air directly at the sensor, interpreted as ‘area visibility.’ A human observer looks at pre-measured distance markers. For example, when a building at a known 3 miles is visible, the visibility is 3 miles. The human is looking through 3 miles of air, while the automation looking only at 2 cu ft directly at the sensor.

It is not unusual for visibility to vary significantly from any one sensor. This is what at very large airports multiple visibility sensor are placed along runways, providing ‘runway visual range’ for each specific location.

Automated systems are not ‘as good’ as human observers, but are generally accepted as ‘good enough’ to provide an acceptable level of service at locations where human observers are not practical or available.

Regular AWOS are only practical or affordable at the largest 5% of the world’s largest airports because of their cost and complexity.

Billions have been spent, but mostly upgrading just 5% of the world’s largest airports.

Traditional government-program solutions for large airports, staffed Control Towers and regular AWOS, are generally not practical for the ‘other’ 95% of the world’s smaller airports, and mostly impractical for any heliport.

As an example, the USA has more than 5,000 public-use airports, 14,000 private-use airports, and many heliports. Yet, in 2012, FAA reported only 1,600 total automated weather stations nationwide, a small fraction of the available airports.

Even with FAA willing to fund AWOS at many public airports, 70% of the PUBLIC airports remain un-served, even in the USA.

Of the 1,600 automated systems, 874 were the original NWS ASOS from the 1980’s, 198 regular AWOS serving human observers at major commercial airports, and 537 regular AWOS only serving about 10% of the remaining public airports.

The reasons regular AWOS are not cost-effective or practical for most smaller airports or heliports are self-evident.

a) Initial costs can approach $500,000 USD or more,

b) Inability for smaller airports to meet NWS sensor clear area siting requirements,

c) Extraordinarily long project implementation schedules,

d) Prohibitively high ongoing inspection, maintenance, repair costs.

SOLUTION – MicroTower is simple and affordable, a practical solution for the unaddressed 95% of the worlds smaller airports, where regular AWOS and Control Towers will never be practical or affordable.

AWOS are used by human weather observers at large commercial airports.

Human weather observers still rely on regular AWOS to make routine reports, but human observers amend AWOS reports when necessary.

Human observers also provide backup at all large commercial airports, to assure commercial airlines can continue to operate if/when AWOS information is not available.

AWOS are still commonly used at towered airports for weather as well.

MicroTower’s footprint, size, frangibility, and space requirements are small, allowing it to be installed anywhere.

MicroTower’s mast is similar to any windsock, and its solar panels extend only a few feet to either side.

Yes! The following Technical Briefing will answer most questions.

The SA 1000 and SA 2000 were approved multiple times by FAA Flight Standards, meeting flight requirements, then certified two more times by FAA Air Traffic, to enable FAA AIP grant funding.

METAR weather information from MicroTower is similar to an AWOS3, but different.

Wind – The wind senor is NIST certified, the highest scientific standard available. For very good reasons discussed earlier, MicroTower measures wind at ‘windsock height,’ not from the top of regular AWOS standard 30 foot mast. This enables easy equipment siting more proximate to the actual runway, without condemning airport property, a very practical and good compromise for very good reasons.

In theory, wind measured below 30 feet could be fractionally less, affected by ‘surface friction’ and fluid dynamics. However, MicroTower has been co-located with National Weather Service ASOS, (KMGJ and other sites), and no significant difference ever observed.

As a practical matter, even if there were some small difference, to a pilot choosing a runway, there is no real difference between 7 and 9 knots, or 20 and 22 knots, the operational decisions remain the same.

Wind data sent remotely for flight planning and forecasting follows traditional AWOS algorithms for consistency.

Beyond regular AWOS, MicroTower uses real-time wind and other factors to pro-actively call runways, crosswinds, windshear, and even rapidly changing winds.

Temperature and Dewpoint – MicroTower uses sensors that are NIST traceable, easily maintained or replaced if need arises.

Visibility – MicroTower uses a state of the art visibility sensor, well recognized as a gold standard for any application.

Precipitation – MicroTower does not use a traditional AWOS/ASOS precipitation sensor. To aviation, the significant distinctions are between rain, freezing rain, or snow. MicroTower combines sensor data from multiple sensors to detect moisture then categorize, rain, mist, potential freezing, or snow.

Sky / Cloud cover – Regular AWOS use standard laser ceilingometers to measure cloud cover. Unfortunately, these high-power high maintenance sensors are incompatible with MicroTower’s low-power, low-maintenance requirements.

To provide some cloud information, MicroTower uses its proprietary sensor and algorithms to measure the base of clouds overhead, if any.

Although not as precise as a laser ceilingometer, MicroTower can provide a general estimate of cloud cover and height above ground.

Is precise cloud cover a requirement?

Remember, even a laser ceilingometer is only measuring a tiny spot directly over the airport, through which no aircraft over actually descends.

Visibility and knowing height above ground, either electronic or barometric, are the only requirements for low-weather operations. Cloud information neither enables or prevents flight, except in very rare circumstances: During low-weather operations pilots are required to use a forecast of visibility and clouds to pre-identify an alternate airport for emergency landing, should they be unable to get into their primary destination. In certain situations there may be a set ceiling minimum for emergency divert or return, but these are rare.

If a pilot is in visual conditions, they can see it. Aircraft descending through clouds follow an electronic 3D ‘IFR approach course’ which brings them safely to just above the end of the runway. if the pilot can see the runway, it is safe to land. If not, the pilot may either try again or go elsewhere. Cloud base information provides pilots a general sense of what to expect on descent.

Remember, even a laser ceilingometer is only measuring a tiny spot directly over the airport, through which no aircraft over actually descends.

Actual Low Weather (IFR) Requirements – If a pilot is in visual conditions they can see where they are going. Aircraft descending through clouds follow an electronic 3D ‘IFR approach course’ which brings them safely to just above the end of the runway. if at the minimum descent altitude (MDA) or Decision Height (DH) the pilot can see the runway, it is safe to land. If not, the pilot may either try again or go elsewhere. Cloud base information only provides pilots a general sense of what to expect during a low-weather descent.

Cloud information neither enables or prevents flight, except in very rare circumstances: During low-weather operations pilots are required to use a forecast of visibility and clouds to pre-identify an alternate airport for emergency landing, should they be unable to get into their primary destination. In certain situations there may be a set ceiling minimum for emergency divert or return, but these are rare.

The only requirements for low-weather operations are that reported visibility, or through the aircraft windshield, must be above published minimums, and the pilot knows their height above ground, either by pressure (BAROM), GPS (LPV) or onboard radio altimeter.

Advanced built in diagnostics, verification, remote calibration and adjustment – Regular AWOS continue to follow the inspection and verification practices from the original 1980’s Weather Services ASOS program. They require constant, periodic physical human inspection and adjustment.

Globally Networked – MicroTower takes advantage of modern technology and networking. It incorporates advanced diagnostics, remote control that provide remote verification, calibration and even adjustment. The proprietary radio transceiver has its own built-in radio laboratory that allows for continuous monitoring and adjustment, remotely. These unique features combine to essentially eliminate any need to train or send a technician physically to the site.

Having a MicroTower is like having an always-attentive, professional pilot at the airport 24/7 continually monitoring the CTAF and politely responding to other pilots with useful information.

Beyond any regular AWOS, MicroTower also listens for and greets inbound pilots, and responds to standard radio calls to inform the inbound pilot MicroTower is present and how to activate. Provides the best runway for wind and current traffic, a heads up of other aircraft in the area, based on radio communications, various alerts of crosswind, windshear, suddenly changing conditions, recommended traffic patterns, a pre-takeoff two-way radio check, and even monitors and remotely reports potential aircraft accidents.

With built-in sensors similar to AWOS3, it provides essential weather. With knowledge of its airport, traffic pattern, and operations, allows its AI to provide smart, brief responses, dynamically adapting to frequency congestion in real-time.

MicroTower Service Comparison

The following provides MicroTower’s installation, dimensions, and a brief specification of the basic sensors.



MicroTower Technical Sensors Description

A robot is any machine that performs a repetitive task. An Artificial Intelligence (AI) like MicroTower is ….more an expert system able to factor in broad multi-dimensional information to provide dynamically adaptive services, emulating the experience, training, behavior, perceptions, and ability similar to a human pilot.

While certain aspects are pre-programmed, interpretation of what is being said, what information is needed, how and with what to respond, are dynamic, adapting in real-time to many factors.

The following graphic explains the various services available at major commercial airports

The graphic also shows how MicroTower provides some basic comparable services for non-towered airports.

MicroTower Service Comparison

Any AWOS can report weather, that part is easy to do. MicroTower …more goes beyond AWOS being an AI expert in flight operations and radio communications, able to intelligently and adaptively interact with human pilots, even on the busiest air traffic frequencies. See elsewhere on this site for MicroTower’s extensive features.

The simple answer is, MicroTower costs only a fraction the total project cost of any AWOS.

But even that is too expensive for most smaller airports and heliports.

MicroTower is priced to be affordable.

MicroTower is manufactured in the USA and exported worldwide. Pricing varies by region and complexity of getting to the installation site.

For example, shipping and installing a MicroTower in the lower 48 states of the USA is generally very simple.

In contrast, exporting, shipping, and installing MicroTower to a remote foreign location is more costly and often far more complex and costly.

Even then, MicroTower still costs a small fraction the cost of even a basic AWOS.

Please contact us to get a quote for your situation at 202-575-5700

Inquire for current export status.

As of today, export is restricted to Iran, Sudan, Cuba, and North Korea.

Delivery is heavily dependent on inventory status and prior commitments….more

Like most capital equipment manufacturing, MicroTower is manufactured in production runs of multiple systems.

Sometimes production positions get taken before a run is complete, which can delay additional equipment by 12-14 weeks or more.

Sometimes delays in projects make equipment available immediately.

We try to accommodate all clients in as timely a manner as possible.

If your timing is critical, please contact us for current status 202-575-5700.

MicroTowers are installed across four continents, all across the globe.

Click here for publically available sites.

MicroTower has been certified as Class II equipment for -40C to 85C.

MicroTowers have proven decades of service across the most extreme conditions around the world, from the driest deserts of the middle east, to rain-soaked forests in Indonesia, highly-corrosive ocean fronts in Asia and the USA, to the icy cold of Alaska and the Dakotas.

For decades, MicroTower equipment has proven reliable all around the world, in all types of climates and conditions.

MicroTower’s basic sensors are cost-effective, commonly-available, NIST certified, and readily meet applicable standards, in common use around the world.

For wind, MicroTower uses different siting criteria than traditional AWOS to greatly reduce land requirements, give better real-time readings at the runway, and more practical at smaller airports that are unable to meet traditional AWOS open space requirements.

For pressure we use multiple cross-correlating pressure sensors, the extreme temperature range type commonly used on the highest=end NWS scientific weather equipment.

For visibility we use the BIRAL series, world-renowned for accuracy and reliability.

MicroTower is all super-low power and super- low maintenance, which renders traditional high-power laser ceilingometers not possible.

For Sky condition, MicroTower uses a proprietary technology that looks up at the base of clouds from below, to estimate conditions overhead.

MicroTower are routinely used by all flight operations under all conditions, routine and emergency.

Because MicroTower is 100% self-contained and 100% off grid, linked by global satellite, it continues to function regardless of local conditions, even during total power loss and other emergencies. It is perfect for emergency preparedness.

MicroTower is designed for aviation and can be installed like any common-sense windsock.

As per FAA guidance, the system should be installed “In a location that best reflects the runway environment.”

Like a windsock, the mast is frangible (breakable), marked and even lighted when activated.

There is no need to bring power or communications to the site, merely install the base and assemble it on site.

Setback requirements consider the wingspan of the largest aircraft likely to use the facility and the lowest visibility minimums that may apply: Large aircraft or very low visibility minimums require the larger setback from the runway, for obvious reasons).

MicroTower is 100% self-contained and powered entirely by the sun. It also links to the internet through a built-in satellite. MicroTower can also connect via the airports internet connection, if one is available. MicroTower needs no connection to any external power or communications and will operate anywhere.

This means there is no need to bring AC power or communications to the site, and no need to do any civil works engineering or obtain any permits. MicroTower can simply be installed in the ground, anywhere, fully installed and functional in just a few hours.

This short 90-second time-lapse video shows how easily anyone can install MicroTower anywhere.

Applying the philosophy and practices similar to cardiac pacemakers and GPS satellites, MicroTower has been designed to be ‘fire and forget.’

MicroTowers are physical devices, often in harsh environmental conditions. Equipment can be damaged by external events, vandalism, and induced failures.

With over 20 years of proven design refinement, the only maintenance left is minor and easily performed by whoever may be convenient to the site.

Every component has been designed to be modular, heavily protected, and easy to swap or replace. In one isolated case the electronics cabinet door was left wide open, and the equipment flooded y heavy rains. Modular design made MicroTower easy to disassemble and ship the entire unit to manufacturing to be refurbished and re-installed.

Frankly, we are not sure. All of the enclosures are all stainless steel, to resist corrosion. All of the external connectors are mil-spec type, or equivalent.

Many of the original equipment from the late 1990’s continues to be in service.

By conservative design we have only seen very isolated component failures over many years, quickly and easily fixed or replaced. Our very earliest equipment originally used 1.44 floppy drives for software updates, which were easily upgraded to modern memory.

Other than replacing batteries, current MicroTower systems have no practical life limit.

The only complaint we get occasionally is from flight instructors whose jobs require they listen to the unicom frequency for hours every day. Hearing MicroTower consistently replying to pilots, even though constantly changing and dynamic, can become repetitive.

But then again, a human making the same radio calls would be just as repetitive…

MicroTower also does not use a laser ceilingometer. Our low-power maintenance free sky sensor, which we must use for our off-grid system, is only able to estimate sky coverage and altitude.

Numerous heliports have installed MicroTowers because. MicroTower is quick, simple, is cost-effective, off-grid, low maintenance, and easy to sustain, anywhere, by anyone.

MicroTower’s real-time winds are especially appreciated by helicopter operations that are often going into challenging locations.

Designed by an experienced fixed-wing and helicopter pilot, MicroTower is smart enough to change its behavior for heliports.

Helicopter operations have different priorities than fixed wing, and usually do not have any specified runway, of a heliport. MicroTower changes its behavior more appropriate to heliports when selected.

MicroTower algorithms adjust depending on if the landing facility is a heliport, has single runway, up to three parallel runways, and even cross runways.

MicroTower senses wind, obviously but also senses patterns of area radio communications.

MicroTower does not understand words or record communications (although that may be an option in the future).

From a combination of weather, knowledge of the runways, airspace, and real-time communications, MicroTower can consistently provide the best runway incorporating wind and traffic currently in the area.