Meteorological Measuring Systems & Weather Stations
Discover cutting-edge solutions from leading global suppliers
Providers of advanced environmental-sensing solutions, Intellisense Systems Inc. has been awarded an AFWERX Strategic and Tactical Funding Increase (STRATFI/TACFI) contract by the U.S. Air Force to further advance its Integrated Weather Observation System (IWOS®).
Addressing the most pressing weather challenges for the Department of the Air Force, the IWOS consolidates over a dozen key weather parameter sensors into a single, ruggedized, and innovative interlocking cylindrical design.
Parameter sensors measure:
- Temperature
- Pressure
- Humidity
- Wind speed/direction
- Cloud layer height to 25,000 ft.
A smaller, man-portable, tactical meteorological observing system (TMOS), the IWOS design enables end users to customize the system and monitor the exact weather parameters they need. It weighs just 25 lbs., fits inside a single case, and takes only a few minutes for one service member to install. By contrast, the previous remote weather station consisted of multiple components, weighed approximately 100 lbs., and required more time and at least 2 to 3 service members to set up.
This latest Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) sequential Phase II contract will provide funding to further ruggedize and enhance the IWOS, which was recently selected as the primary man-portable weather station used by the USAF in gathering essential meteorological data from remote airfields in austere terrain.
The IWOS has already been deployed in remote and unmanned landing zones around the world and is set to fully replace all TMOS weather stations by 2027. The solution will greatly improve the efficiency of USAF operations and the safety of Air Force service members in hostile terrain, where meteorological data is limited and needed.
The Air Force Research Laboratory and AFWERX have partnered to streamline the SBIR and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) process. They set out to achieve this by accelerating the small business experience through faster proposal to award timelines, changing the pool of potential applicants by expanding opportunities to small business, whilst eliminating bureaucratic overhead by continually implementing process improvement changes in contract execution.
Christian Veeris, Vice-President of Corporate Business Development at Intellisense Systems, commented; “The IWOS will soon be the most widely used tactical weather station for the Air Force.
“It supplies warfighters with a ruggedized, high-fidelity weather sensing solution in an innovative, small form-factor package. It provides our servicemen and women with an agile, light, and highly accurate solution in dangerous terrain. This contract award is really a credit to our team who have revolutionized tactical weather stations with the IWOS.”
