Contributions to Chinese Approved Meteorological System

The VPF-730 Present Weather and Visibility Sensor from meteorological specialist Biral (UK), has been successfully incorporated into MicroStep-MIS’ IMS4 Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS), which has recently received certification from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

The IMS4 AWOS has been approved by the CAAC for applications across Chinese airports, to help the organisation to detect and monitor current weather conditions and judge the meteorological impact on operations. The certification approves the MicroStep-MIS IMS4 AWOS, including Biral’s VPF-730, for all new airports in China under the CAAC’s five year plan to build around 10 new international airports and many local airports per year.

Nathan Neal, Sales and Marketing Director at Biral commented, “We have a long, successful partnership with MicroStep-MIS and supply our sensors to help create some great and innovative instruments and equipment. We are especially pleased to have contributed to their AWOS that has been approved by the CAAC. The overall project will involve some great applications and it will be very rewarding for all involved.”

The MicroStep-MIS IMS4 AWOS is designed to measure, process, store, present and communicate meteorological data from an airfield, providing data to observers ATC controllers and pilots in the form of real-time reports. The configuration and structure of the system can be tailored to meet the demand and requirements of each application, depending on the size and category of the airport.

Biral’s VPF-730 sensors have been chosen by MicroStep-MIS for this particular contract, as well as previous projects and installations due to their efficiency, reliability and performance. The sensors are a compact and robust package which makes it particularly suitable for aviation applications where strong winds and other damaging conditions are often present. The VPF-730 allows the AWOS to achieve accurate and reliable results due to its open design, which allows a free passage of air for a greater measurement. The system is also often used for Runway Visual Range (RVR) equipment as it reports on the quality of visibility on the runways.