The Remote Automated Weather Stations (RAWS) system is a network of weather stations run by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management and monitored by the National Interagency Fire Center, mainly to observe potential wildfire conditions. A wide variety of systems of interconnected components are called networks. ... A technician checks data from a weather station. ... The USDA Forest Service, a United States government agency within the United States Department of Agriculture, is under the leadership of the United States Secretary of Agriculture. ... The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior which administers Americas public lands, totaling 262 million acres (1,060,000 km²) or one-eighth of the landmass of the country. ... A continuing function that uses systematic collection of data on specified indicators to provide management and the main stakeholders of an ongoing development intervention with indications of the extent of progress and achievement of objectives and progress in the use of allocated funds ... The Old Fire burning in the San Bernardino Mountains (image taken from the International Space Station) A wildfire, also known as a forest fire, vegetation fire, grass fire, brush fire, or bushfire (in Australasia), is an uncontrolled fire often occurring in wildland areas, but which can also consume houses or...

Unlike the ASOS and AWOS systems run by the National Weather Service at nearly every airport large and small, RAWS stations are often located in remote areas, particularly in national forests. Because of this, they usually are not connected to the electrical grid, but rather have their own solar panels, and a battery to store power for overnight reporting. Some instead run off of a generator. In both cases, data important to operating the station itself, such as battery voltage or fuel level, is often included in the hourly reports. The Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) and the older Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS) are sensors used to measure and record hourly and significant weather conditions at airports across the United States. ... The National Weather Service (NWS) is one of the six scientific agencies that make up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States government. ... This article is on national forests in the United States. ... Electric power transmission is the second process in the delivery of electricity to consumers. ... Solar Panel (photovoltaic array) A laundromat in California powered by solar panels on the roof. ... Four double-A (AA) rechargable batteries In science and technology, a battery is a device that stores energy and makes it available in an electrical form. ... Electrical generator Generator (Mathematics) ... This article may be too technical for most readers to understand. ... For the workstation, see SGI Fuel. ...

Also because of the remote locations, most communicate with a modem via telephone, or via a VSAT conection to a GOES satellite. Some stations are also portable. A modem (a portmanteau word constructed from modulator and demodulator) is a device that modulates a carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. ... Telephone This article is about telephone technology. ... VSAT is short for Very Small Aperture Terminal. ... Goes is a municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands, in Zuid-Beveland. ... A satellite is any object that orbits another object (which is known as its primary). ... Portable communications devices refer to hand-held or wearable devices. ...

External links

• National Interagency Remote Automated Weather Stations (RAWS) Homepage