SXDFC From United States of America, joined Dec 2007, 2041 posts, RR: 19 Posted (4 months 1 day 12 hours ago) and read 3145 times:
Hello All:
Was working A/C 496WN the other night, and I came across the white oval device as seen in the picture below. I've noticed many of our 737s ( both -300 and -700's ) have this and was always curious about the overall purpose of it.
ALL views, opinions expressed are mine ONLY and are NOT representative of those shared by Southwest Airlines Co.
barney captain From United States of America, joined Nov 2001, 762 posts, RR: 14 Reply 5, posted (4 months 14 hours ago) and read 2539 times:
I can't recall the specifics, but it's an atmospheric sensor that reads and sends back real-time information to (I think) NOAA. I'm heading to wok today, so I'll see if I can't get more details.
Btw, the upgrade to the classic's mentioned in ZAN's link is DOA.
ZANL188 From United States of America, joined Oct 2006, 3258 posts, RR: 0 Reply 6, posted (4 months 14 hours ago) and read 2515 times:
Quoting barney captain (Reply 5): I can't recall the specifics, but it's an atmospheric sensor that reads and sends back real-time information to (I think) NOAA. I'm heading to wok today, so I'll see if I can't get more details.
Excellent... When in doubt ask the man who flies one...
Quoting barney captain (Reply 5): Btw, the upgrade to the classic's mentioned in ZAN's link is DOA.
I gave it a shot...
Water vapor sensor. Looks like a joint Southwest/ARINC/NOAA project...
737tdi From United States of America, joined Sep 2007, 468 posts, RR: 0 Reply 8, posted (4 months 1 hour ago) and read 2150 times:
Wow, Barney Captain, someone pays attention. You are right and so is ZAN. I think we only have 4 aircraft that have these installed. I can't recall the exact date these were done but it has been 3 or 4 years on the classic.
dairbus From United States of America, joined Nov 2003, 587 posts, RR: 2 Reply 15, posted (3 months 3 weeks 6 days 10 hours ago) and read 1371 times:
A friend who works in SWA engineering told me that they have the sensor installed on about 60 aircraft (about half on-300's, half -700s). They are looking to install them on -800s but they haven't done any of them yet.
The program is a partnership with the National Weather Service. Rumor is the NWS is absolutely thrilled with the data they get from the airplanes. They also have other airlines participating in the experiment but he doesn't know who.
"I love mankind. It's people I can't stand." - Charles Shultz
ZANL188 From United States of America, joined Oct 2006, 3258 posts, RR: 0 Reply 16, posted (3 months 3 weeks 6 days 7 hours ago) and read 1320 times:
Quoting dairbus (Reply 15): The program is a partnership with the National Weather Service. Rumor is the NWS is absolutely thrilled with the data they get from the airplanes. They also have other airlines participating in the experiment but he doesn't know who.
From the Spectra Sensor website:
4.0 State of the WVSS-II Network in the U.S.
As of June 2012, there are 56 WVSS-II equipped aircraft in the U.S. network, including 25 units installed on UPS 757-200 aircraft, and 31 units installed on Southwest Airlines (SWA) 737-300 aircraft. An additional 36 units are scheduled for installation in 2012 on SWA 737700 aircraft. Figure 3 illustrates the data collected from the aircraft that were in operation within the U.S. during a 24 hour period, June 13, 2012. While there are still many areas in space and time that have yet to be covered, this demonstrates the growing spatial and temporal coverage that is obtained through aircraft observations with WVSS-II.
There are 12 WVSS-II units currently delivered to various organizations in Europe for use in operational and research applications. Short term plans are in place for further expansion in Europe. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology has also begun to expand their AMDAR network, starting with 3 WVSS-II units in 2012. Planning is underway for implementations at various other National Meteorological and Hydrological Services around the world.
While researching this topic earlier I'm quite sure I saw that LH was the European participant in the program.
Legal considerations provided by: Dewey, Cheatum, and Howe
Sponsor Message: 
From United States of America, joined Dec 2007, 2041 posts, 
From Ireland, joined Dec 2006, 2495 posts, 
From India, joined Jan 2001, 31228 posts, 
Sponsor Message: 
Printer friendly format
