Originally Posted by
SilentHandover
SAMOS is corrected at Gatwick, the only time it is left on AUTO mode is when staff are unavailable e.g. due sickness.
That is good to know. Unfortunately in the U.S., FAA ATC personnel seem to frequently leave ASOS reporting unrepresentative conditions, even when they are "logged in" to the system. Sometimes ATC personnel don't even log into the system and leave the observations in AUTO even when the control tower is open.
At the largest airports there are still weather observers which do quite a good job at augmenting the automated data. I believe ASOS operates with the same type of technology as SAMOS, however ASOS was designed in the early 1990s.
You would think the FAA would understand the need for reasonably accurate weather data and would understand the liability if the data is not up to standards, however this just isn't so.