ARW
120-Day Re-Assessment Plan
Site Visits
2.3.8 Bacon County Airport, Alma, GA
Background
A team visited Alma, GA on May 6, 1997. A meeting was held at the Alma City Hall that was followed by a visit to the Bacon County Airport (AMG). AMG is a non-towered airport and weather observations are provided under an FAA contract. Four full- and part-time weather observers provide 16 hours of coverage daily, 365 days a year. The ASOS is not commissioned and the site is designated a Service Level D location. The Flight Service Station was closed 15 years ago.
The air traffic count at Alma is very low and is composed mostly of agricultural aircraft. There are few aircraft based at Alma and no scheduled carriers. Instrument flight rules arrival and departure traffic for the airport is controlled by the Atlanta Air Route Traffic Control Center, which has a remote transmitter/receiver located on the field for clearance delivery. Notice to Airmen issuance services are provided by the Automated Flight Service Station, located in Macon, GA.
Data from the FAA Airport Master Record as of December 11, 1996 indicates that a total of 9 aircraft are based at the Alma airport. Operations for the 12 months ending December 11, 1996 totaled 4,000 including 1,250 general aviation local and 2,750 general aviation transit.
South Georgia is flat swampy terrain and is also known as the coastal plains. The climate is a blend of the maritime and continental types. Frontal activity weather is very pronounced during the winter, and most marginal weather is associated with this type of activity. Both the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico affect South Georgia. It is common to see thunderstorm activity develop in the Gulf of Mexico or the coastal area of Georgia and then move inland with tops between 50,000 and 55,000 feet. There is an average of 60 to 70 thunderstorm days per year.
Participants
Mayor of Alma, Georgia State Representative, Intergovernmental Relations Representative, staffer from Congressman Chambliss’ office, newspaper reporter, concerned citizens, and FAA/NWS team.
Synopsis of User Comments
This section of the report is a record of the comments received during the meetings, interviews and discussions that took place during the site visits. It is intended to present a summary of the input from the users on a particular subject. These comments may include technical inaccuracies and user perceptions that do not reflect actual conditions.
The main issue discussed at this meeting was the planned termination of the contract for weather observations (and the associated loss of weather observer jobs) when the ASOS is commissioned. The local pilots and the affected contracted weather observers perceive the ASOS (operating without a human observer) as a degradation of safety to the flying public.
The pilots also pointed out that -
"Alma is used by pilots mainly because it provides a human observation and the ASOS cannot be trusted!"
The mayor stated -
"The termination of the contract weather observer contract would have an adverse economic impact on the community. The airport is important to economic development in the community; $350,000 has been spent on airport enhancement."
The Georgia State Representative stated -
"They were very concerned about the loss of jobs due to the contract weather observer termination."
"The State supported and would assist in maintaining a contract weather observer presence at the Alma Airport."
The team stated they would mail information on the Non-Fed Observation Program to the Intergovernmental Relations Representative.
It was brought to the team’s attention that the Alma ASOS still had software that reported the weather in the old, SAO format instead of the new, METAR format. The NWS representative stated that the METAR software would be installed the week of May 12, 1997.
The airport manager stated -
"There were 1,000 operations per month at Bacon County Airport."
"Alma is a major flight route for pilots from north to south, some from as far as Ohio."
"He believes the airport needs a human observer to be considered an alternate airport."
A local pilot stated that -
"During IFR (instrument flight rules) conditions, ceiling and cloud cover reports are inaccurate, especially during rapidly changing weather."
Another pilot stated that -
"Ceiling data is not accurate, and he believes that no automated weather data is accurate!"
Other attendees reported -
"The system did not accurately report wind, temperature, or precipitation and the ASOS reported snow when the temperature was 65 degrees."
The users expressed a need for additional visibility and ceiling sensors, as well as, lightning detection sensors.
There was concern over the lengthy outages of the ASOS in the past and about future outages with no contract weather observer to backup the system.
As part of the re-assessment strategy, system access (i.e., access by the contract weather observers to the computer display of the weather observation generated by the ASOS) was shut off in order to conduct a "blind comparison" test. The "blind comparison" test compared the ASOS observation with the human observation. The site has no ceilometer to measure cloud height, however, a ceiling light is available at night. Determination of cloud height by the contract weather observer is made strictly by estimation. However, the contract weather observer provides observations from a trailer that has an unobstructed view of the airport.
Information Provided
The team described the processes used to determine service levels and to commission ASOSs. They discussed system maintenance prior to and after ASOS commissioning. A reorganization of NWS technicians places a technician in Jacksonville, FL, which will provide better response for Alma.
Issues Identified
The loss of contract weather observer jobs and the potential adverse economic impact on the community from this loss were the issues of primary concern to the Alma airport personnel and the community. Reports of inaccurate ceiling heights, wind, temperature, and precipitation and unrepresentative cloud coverage were the most predominate issues on ASOS equipment/functions. Requests for lightning detection and additional sensors were received. Maintenance issues concerned the outdated software and/or hardware. Poor response to previous outages raised questions about the reliability of maintenance once the site is commissioned.