LAWRS defined:

• At stations without Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) or Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS) - A facility where observations are taken, prepared, and transmitted by National Weather Service (NWS) certified personnel at  FAA control towers or Flight Service stations on a limited basis to support aviation requirements.
  

• At stations with ASOS or AWOS - A facility where ASOS/AWOS observations are augmented or backed up; then, prepared, and transmitted by National Weather Service (NWS) certified personnel at  FAA control towers or Flight Service stations on a limited basis to support aviation requirements.
   
  Backing up is necessary when the ASOS or AWOS experience partial or total failure.  In this case  observations are taken manually, prepared in a limited format and then transmitted.

  ASOS outages are reported by the observer on duty to the ASOS Operations and Monitoring Center    (AOMC).  AWOS outages are handled in house by the FAA electronic technicians.

  ASOS stations at major airports are staffed around the clock, while AWOS stations are generally not. Staffing hours and requirements at  ASOS stations are ruled by the FAA's ASOS Service Levels.

All NWS/FAA regulations pertaining to the LAWRS program may be found in FAA ORDER 7900: Surface Weather Observing.

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SAWRS
(Suplementary Aviation Weather Reporting Stations)

SAWRS issue observations so that aircraft operations at certain locations comply with the weather requirements of the Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR's).  The observation program at these stations is limited to those observations and elements required for local operation.  Because of this, SAWRS observations do not satisfy network requirements for data.  Details on the operations of SAWRS are given in Chapter B-14 of the Weather Service Operations Manual.

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The Hydro Met staff at the Miami WFO monitors the following LAWRS/SAWRS sites:

	Name of Station	Station ID	Type of Station	Automation Equipment
1.	William P. Gwinn Airport	06FA	SAWRS	None
2.	West Palm Beach International Airport	KPBI	LAWRS	ASOS *
3.	Boca Raton Airport	KBCT	LAWRS	AWOS
4.	Pompano Beach Airpark	KPMP	LAWRS	ASOS
5.	Fort Lauderdale International Airport	KFLL	LAWRS	ASOS *
6.	Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport	KFXE	LAWRS	ASOS *
7.	Hollywood/North Perry Airport	KHWO	LAWRS	ASOS
8.	Opa Locka Airport	KOPF	LAWRS	ASOS
9.	Miami International Airport	KMIA	LAWRS	ASOS *
10.	Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport	KTMB	LAWRS	ASOS *
11.	Naples Municipal Airport	KAPF	LAWRS	ASOS

*  These stations are augmented and backed up around the clock.      For details about the station, and its current observation, please select the links under the Station ID column.

All Hydro Mets at the Miami WFO  monitor constantly the observations from these sites  to ensure their dissemination to the world and their entry into  the NWS database. These observations are then quality controlled for all required elements and accuracy.  If errors are detected, the sites are contacted in order to implement amendments or corrections.

The Data Acquisition Program Manager (DAPM) or the Surface Observations Focal Point(s) visit LAWRS stations once a year in order to stay in touch with the stations' needs and personnel changes, and to assess personally the integrity of the station's observing program.  SAWRS sites are visited every six months.

Our only SAWRS site does not transmit observations long line on hourly basis.  Instead, their observations are recorded in NWS Form MF1M-10C and sent to us once a month.  Once received, the Focal Point quality controls the observations and then forwards them for archiving at the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC).

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Besides the LAWRS/SAWRS sites, we also monitor observations from automated sites called Data Collection Platforms, also known as HANDARs.

HANDAR is a name carried over from a former company that made the instruments for these platforms.  

Weather data from HANDARs is acquired using the new Vaisala Enhanced 555 Data Collection Platform (DCP).

These platforms are located at Miami Beach, Flamingo and Everglades City.  Hourly observations from these sites can be found in the sections for SOUTHEAST FLORIDA and SOUTHWEST FLORIDA AND KEYS of the  Florida State Weather Roundup.