Air Force Met data online--viable secondary source for FA fires.In response to questions from the field, the Field Artillery School, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, conducted an informal study of the Air Force Weather Agency (AFWA AFWA Air Force Weather Agency AFWA Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (Washington, DC) AFWA Asthma Foundation of Western Australia AFWA Australian Federation for the Welfare of Animals ) meteorological me·te·or·ol·o·gy n. The science that deals with the phenomena of the atmosphere, especially weather and weather conditions. [French météorologie, from Greek (Met) data and validated that the data is a viable secondary Met source for artillery fires. The March through May 2005 study captured firing data using the agency's data as the Met source and compared it to firing data, using other sources of Met. During the dry-fire assessment, the FA School compared the AFWA data to data generated using Pibal, the meteorological measuring set (MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) An enhanced transmission service that enables graphics, video clips and sound files to be transmitted via cellphones. Developed as part of the 3GPP project, MMS phones are generally backward compatible with SMS and EMS. ) and standard (default) Met. During the live-fire assessment, the school compared the AFWA data to live-firing data generated using MMS-produced Met. The results of the study are as follows. * FA units should use data from MMS or MMS-Profiler as their primary source of Met, when available. * Units should consider AFWA data as a secondary source for cannon and rocket Met; standard Met is not as accurate as AFWA data, so units should use standard Met as the last choice. * AFWA Met data supports the five requirements for accurate predicted fire. However, when the tactical situation permits, units using AFWA data should register to mitigate risk during danger-close missions. * The Operational Test and Evaluation (testing) operational test and evaluation - (OT&E) Formal testing conducted prior to deployment to evaluate the operational effectiveness and suitability of the system with respect to its mission. Command (OTEC OTEC Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion OTEC Orchid Technologies Engineering & Consulting, Inc. OTEC Operational Test & Evaluation Center ) will be conducting further tests on the AFWA Met data's being used for artillery fires. The website and the procedures for accessing AFWA Met data are shown in the figure. If units have questions, they can contact me at the FA School Meteorological Section at (580) 442-2406 or DSN DSN - Digital Switched Network 639-2406 or at smithe@sill.army.mil. MSG MSG: see glutamic acid. (R) Ernest D. Smith. FA FA Met Training Specialist, 30th FA Regt Fort Sill, OK 1. Go to the AFWA website at https://www.login.afwa.af.mil/front_door/knock.cgi. The log-in (Welcome) screen will appear. 2. Click on the picture in the center of the screen. The AFWA log-in (User Name and Password) screen will appear. 3. Enter your User Name and Password and click on the log-in button. 4. New users should click on the New User area of the screen, complete the New User Request Form and submit it Your User Name and Password will be provided via email in 24 hours. Steps to Access Meteorological (Met) Data on the Air Force Weather Agency (AFWA) Website |
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