Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and State of Colorado Division of Aeronautics officials said the entities have reached an agreement to install weather cameras on 13 Automated Weather Observing Systems (AWOS) as part of the FAA’s weather camera safety program.
The installation, which will begin in the spring of 2020, in mountainous regions involves a cost-reimbursement agreement.
The camera installation expands on the success of a 20-year-old program in Alaska that has improved safety by providing near-real-time video to pilots from a network of more than 230 cameras across the state. In 1999, the FAA determined pilots operating under Visual Flight Rules would benefit from actual views of the current weather conditions where they were destined and the FAA Weather Camera Program was created.
The Colorado cameras will be the first to be integrated into the FAA Weather Camera Program outside of Alaska. The effort aids pilots planning to fly above the Colorado Rockies by providing the ability to see real-time weather conditions along routes before they depart airports.
Officials outlined a $226,000 reimbursable agreement in which the FAA will assist the state with the camera installations while the state will own and maintain the cameras. The FAA’s weather camera website will display still images that each camera captures.