Forecasting for mission success

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Roy Lynch
  • 8th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
KUNSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea -- --  Air Force weather technicians deliver accurate, relevant and timely environmental information, products, and services, anywhere in the world. They directly impact decision superiority by enhancing predictive battle space awareness and enabling commanders at all levels to anticipate and exploit the battle space environment, from the mud to the sun.

"In the Air Force, a weather forecaster does just that -- forecasts the weather," said Capt. Jon Schiefelbein, 8th Operation Support Squadron weather flight commander. "However, we do so at a far more specific level than the typical TV meteorologist."

Air Force weather technicians deliver the highest quality tailored weather and space environment information, products and services. They also issue warnings and advisories to alert users of mission critical weather.

"The weather flight is also involved in resource protection of the base," said Capt. Schiefelbein. "We disseminate warnings and advisories to the base. These include lightning, high winds, snow, etc."

Weather forecasters use fixed and deployable meteorological sensors to measure and evaluate atmospheric and space weather conditions.

"Here, at Kunsan, we utilize the FMQ-19 and the Weather Surveillance Radar-1988 Doppler," said Tech. Sgt. Steven Fisher, 8th OSS airfield services element non-commissioned officer in charge.

A FMQ-19 accurately samples, measures and reports: temperature, wind speed and direction, visibility, cloud base height and amount of coverage, pressure, liquid equivalent precipitation accumulation, and ice accretion during freezing precipitation. These measurements are processed to create properly formatted, fully automated observations that comply with applicable various reporting standards and protocols defined in the Federal Meteorological Handbook (FMH-1), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), National Weather Service (NWS), and military reporting standards.

Weather Surveillance Radar-1988 Doppler, more commonly called Doppler radar, detects precipitation and atmospheric movement or wind. It returns data which, when processed, can be displayed in a mosaic map which shows patterns of precipitation and its movement.

Weather forecasters adapt weather resources to meet mission requirements and manage weather operations.

"The atmosphere is where aircraft operates," said Captain Schiefelbein. "This makes knowledge of the current state of the atmosphere critical."

For further questions about weather forecasting contact Captain Jon Schiefelbein at 782-4501 or the weather desk at 782-4262.