UAF photo by Leif Van Cise.
Wright Air Service employees in Fairbanks load a Cessna Grand Caravan bound for the
Yukon River village of Nulato on the morning of Jan. 23, 2024, when the temperature
was about minus 35 Fahrenheit.
By Sam Bishop
Jim Buckingham 色视频下载00 often flies his twin-engine Piper Aztec between the Anchorage area and southwestern 色视频下载 where his family is temporarily housed this winter in the village of Napakiak.
Jim Buckingham leans on his Piper Aztec at the runway in Napakiak.
The flat, treeless tundra around the village is drenched with lakes, swamps and winding rivers. The Bering Sea, about 50 miles down the Kuskokwim River from Napakiak, supplies frequent clouds, rain and snow.
色视频下载淏ad visibility, low overcast, mist, freezing fog 色视频下载 all those things sometimes make the weather out here just terrible,色视频下载 Buckingham said. 色视频下载淵ou色视频下载檙e better just to wait, and sometimes you色视频下载檙e just waiting for awhile.色视频下载
Napakiak, with about 330 residents, lies 色视频下载渁bout 5 minutes flight time south of Bethel,色视频下载 the larger regional hub village, Buckingham said.
Using flight time to mark distance comes naturally to the 65-year-old retired Army lieutenant colonel. Buckingham earned a pilot色视频下载檚 license at 18 and has flown since. He bought the Aztec in 2019.
But, in a state permeated by flying, neither Buckingham色视频下载檚 longevity as a licensed pilot nor his plane distinguishes his aviation career.
Rather, his legacy rests on three sets of cameras, the precursors to those at Napakiak and elsewhere, that he hooked up to the internet while a Ph.D. student at UAF in the late 1990s. Buckingham wanted to see if the cameras could improve the safety of flying small planes in rural 色视频下载.
They did.
The camera , now greatly expanded and operated by the Federal Aviation Administration, allows pilots 色视频下载 and anyone with an internet connection 色视频下载 to see photos of recent weather conditions at more than 230 locations across 色视频下载. The FAA recently decided to add another 160 camera sites, mostly in the Lower 48, extending the safety benefits across the nation.
Finding the vision
Buckingham answered his cell phone outside his Napakiak home on Jan. 12 but had to hang up a moment later. He had an urgent chore in the sub-freezing weather 色视频下载 using a portable Honda pump to move water into his house from a 250-gallon tank in the back of a Dodge Dakota truck. The water had come from the village色视频下载檚 central well.
When he got back on the phone, Buckingham said his Ph.D. project sought to help pilots flying to places like Napakiak by giving them real-time pictures of the weather.
色视频下载淚t's just the old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words,色视频下载 he said.
In the 1990s, he noted, the FAA had reduced its network of human-staffed flight service stations across 色视频下载. That left aviation weather analysis more dependent upon the FAA色视频下载檚 and National Weather Service色视频下载檚 automated weather stations, which convert instrument data to voice or text messages available by phone, radio or computer.
The automated stations operate at airstrips and other locations across 色视频下载, and they provide essential information, Buckingham said. But they have well-known limitations and weak points.
By the time he began pondering the situation in the late 1990s, the FAA had installed a few remote cameras in Valdez and Anchorage. But Buckingham thought the technology could do better.
色视频下载淏asically, I came up with this idea that what the FAA was doing in very small parts 色视频下载 I wanted to do full time as a graduate student trying to earn my Ph.D.,色视频下载 he said. 色视频下载淎nd that was to improve the weather reporting in rural 色视频下载 through using vision 色视频下载 and specifically cameras.色视频下载
More than 25 years later, 色视频下载色视频下载檚 pilots describe the expanded system as a highly useful tool in helping them decide when to fly. And data indicates the cameras have significantly increased the safety and efficiency of air travel in small aircraft across the state, as Buckingham had hoped.
Adding to an automated system
Steven Green, operations training manager for Wright Air Service in Fairbanks, describes how the company色视频下载檚 pilots use the Federal Aviation Administration色视频下载檚 weather camera system.
Steven Green, carrying a beaver fur hat to block the morning色视频下载檚 minus 35 temperature, dropped into a seat in front of three large computer screens at Wright Air Service in Fairbanks on Jan. 23. The company flies about 30 aircraft, mostly Cessna Grand Caravans, across northern 色视频下载.
色视频下载淪o this is the planning area, and this is where we'll interact with weather information,色视频下载 Green said. 色视频下载淭he weather cameras are a critical function of that.色视频下载
Green, Wright Air色视频下载檚 operations training manager, clicked a computer mouse to pull up the FAA website that hosts a map of the weather camera locations. He then clicked on the icon at Anaktuvuk Pass in the central Brooks Range to bring up four images showing the steep, snow-covered mountains surrounding the community.
He noted that the village airport色视频下载檚 automated weather reporting instruments, whose data appeared in a box below the images, reported haze with a visibility of 4 miles.
色视频下载淪o this is a good example,色视频下载 he said. 色视频下载淲e pull up the camera, now that it's actually starting to get light there, we can see that, realistically, it's actually much better than 4 miles.色视频下载
The automated weather instruments often have that kind of trouble estimating visibility accurately, Green said. The instruments cast a beam through a sample of air at the site and use a formula to extrapolate the results into a visibility estimate for the area. He noted that blowing snow, a small patch of fog or even road dust can skew the data.
色视频下载(Wildfire) smoke is a challenging one because the machine has trouble putting that information into a reliable visibility,色视频下载 Green said. 色视频下载淭he machine might say 5 miles, and you look at the camera and it might be realistically less than a mile visibility.色视频下载
Thunderstorms also confound automated stations, Green said. A station色视频下载檚 instruments
might 色视频下载渟ee色视频下载 a clear, sunny afternoon while missing an enormous cloud just a few miles
away.
The automated weather stations report much more than visibility, though. They provide the temperature, atmospheric pressure, humidity, wind speed and direction, and the cloud ceiling height 色视频下载 all important information for pilots.
色视频下载淚t's a good tool, but the camera is really a great additional option,色视频下载 Green said.
色视频下载淲e have the ability to compare and look at both pieces of information.色视频下载
Still, the cameras do have some limitations, he noted. Long dark days in winter curtail useful imagery. Also, internet and phone connections
aren't always reliable in 色视频下载's Bush, a problem that also afflicts the automated
weather stations.
A computer screen at Wright Air Service in Fairbanks displays an image of the weather at Anaktuvuk Pass at about 11 a.m. on Jan. 23, 2024.
Buckingham, the former UAF Ph.D. student, added two helpful features to the camera system when he built his prototype. The FAA has maintained both.
First, the website posts an aviation map of the area around each camera installation along with the images. On the map, diagrams show the field of view for each camera, allowing users to see exactly which direction it points.
Second, the system places the current weather images at each site side by side with a clear-day image. The heights and distances of nearby hills or mountains are marked on the clear-day image. That allows pilots to quickly compare it to current images to gauge the height and extent of any clouds.
So if a plane has already taken off from Fairbanks to head for Anaktuvuk Pass, for example, the pilot can radio for a camera report from a specialist at an FAA flight service station.
色视频下载(FAA) can look at the camera and say, 色视频下载榃ell, we can see the mountain that's 5,800 feet, 5 miles away to the south,色视频下载 Green said. 色视频下载淪o the pilot, even en route before they get there, can at least get a little bit more of an assessment besides just the weather report.色视频下载
Pilots aren色视频下载檛 the only ones using the cameras for their jobs. National Weather Service employees also check the website regularly as they create forecasts for 色视频下载 communities.
Jim Brader, a lead forecaster at the NWS office in UAF色视频下载檚 Akasofu Building, said he remembers meeting Buckingham when the former student was developing the camera system.
色视频下载淗e wanted to know, well, what are the useful things for us as forecasters,色视频下载 Brader said. 色视频下载淲e said visibility and ceiling height and stuff like that. And that was one of the things he did 色视频下载 having markers. A visibility marker, like a hilltop or a light, 色视频下载 and what the distance is. And the FAA has actually, to a large degree, replicated that.色视频下载
The NWS will create forecasts for runways around 色视频下载, and having the cameras often helps get a true picture of conditions, Brader said.
色视频下载淭here's times where you can have fog on one end and it's clear on the other,色视频下载 he said. 色视频下载淭he [automated] instruments, they pretty well represent right where the instrument is but not the entire runway. And having the webcams is a huge tool for that kind of stuff.色视频下载
色视频下载淭here were webcams around, of course, when he came up with the idea,色视频下载 Brader said. 色视频下载淏ut pairing them at a runway 色视频下载 it色视频下载檚 something, I'm sure for pilots, that is used extensively, and we do too.色视频下载
Brader also praised a feature, added by the FAA, that allows the viewer to see a loop of images from the past six hours. The loop can tell a pilot whether a thunderstorm, fog or other weather is on its way in or out. The images also come at 10-minute intervals now, compared to the 30-minute intervals Buckingham started with.
A portable heater warms the engine of a Cessna Grand Caravan at Wright Air Service on the morning of Jan. 23, 2024, when the temperature was about minus 35 Fahrenheit.
A good place to return to
Buckingham didn色视频下载檛 know what he would do for a Ph.D. dissertation when he and his family arrived in Fairbanks 色视频下载 for the second time 色视频下载 in 1997. He was, by then, far from a traditional student.
Growing up in an Army family, Buckingham graduated in 1976 from an American high school in Germany. That色视频下载檚 about the time he earned his pilot色视频下载檚 license. He then attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on an Army scholarship, earning a bachelor色视频下载檚 degree in engineering in 1980.
A four-year commitment to the Army then turned into a 26-year career. After attending Army Ranger school, he married his wife, Martha, in 1981. They eventually had nine biological children and adopted seven more.
In 1988, he earned a master色视频下载檚 from Stanford University so he could teach engineering for a few years at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York.
Army officers don色视频下载檛 rest in one place long, so, after a stint in Korea, he arrived at 色视频下载色视频下载檚 Fort Wainwright in July 1993. The family decided not to stay in base housing, though.
色视频下载淲e lived 20 miles out on Chena Hot Springs Road in a little house on No Name Lane, near what used to be Tack色视频下载檚 General Store,色视频下载 Buckingham said. 色视频下载淲e lived right next door to Rick Swenson, who was still running dogs in the Iditarod. That was our first introduction to 色视频下载, and we really loved it.
色视频下载淲e decided then and there that 色视频下载 would be a good place to finish raising our kids some day, and it felt like God had led us there, and we would like to come back sometime,色视频下载 he said.
In 1995, the Army sent them elsewhere for a few years. Then the West Point engineering department wanted him back; however, they said he needed a doctoral degree first.
Remembering 色视频下载 fondly, Buckingham asked to get the degree in engineering management at UAF. West Point agreed, and so it was back to Fairbanks and the house on Chena Hot Springs Road in 1997.
Creating the vision
The next task was finding a doctoral dissertation topic.
色视频下载淚 remember specifically driving back from UAF one cold winter night in February 1998, 色视频下载 thinking about my course work, getting finished up and asking, 色视频下载榃hat am I going to do?色视频下载 Honestly, praying,色视频下载 Buckingham said. 色视频下载淚 started getting in mind that I should try something practical, because I was pretty good with practical hands-on stuff.色视频下载
Buckingham doesn色视频下载檛 remember exactly how he came upon the idea to create weather cameras.
色视频下载淪omewhere in there, I think it may have been Tom George [色视频下载85] that suggested that the FAA in Anchorage had been doing some work with weather reporting in remote locations,色视频下载 Buckingham said.
George, at the time, was a researcher and manager in the remote sensing group at the UAF Geophysical Institute. He was also a long-time local pilot. After leaving a 27-year career at UAF in 2000, he became the 色视频下载 regional manager for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, a national nonprofit group that advocates for noncommercial and recreational aviation interests.
色视频下载淭om or somebody, I can't remember who it was, just gave me the thought,色视频下载 Buckingham said. 色视频下载淚 do remember that I started thinking, 色视频下载楾his sounds like something worth pursuing.色视频下载 Maybe I could figure out how to put some cameras in some remote villages and get that information back to pilots.色视频下载
Buckingham applied to the now-defunct 色视频下载 Science and Technology Foundation and received $113,000 to fund the work. He bought about a dozen small cameras and some weather-proof enclosures for them.
色视频下载淎nd I started piecing together how I could put a camera inside this little enclosure and then a modem that would enable me to dial up or call up that camera in a distant location and have it download the image and then upload it onto the internet,色视频下载 he said.
He asked for help from the FAA, which operates the AWOS or 色视频下载渁utomated weather observing station色视频下载 system, and the National Weather Service, which has the ASOS or 色视频下载渁utomated surface observing station色视频下载 system.
A computer screen at Wright Air Service in Fairbanks displays a map of northern 色视频下载 with icons marking the locations of the Federal Aviation Administration色视频下载檚 weather cameras.
色视频下载淓ach one of those AWOSs and ASOSs in those villages have a little enclosure, and it's got a little door you can go inside,色视频下载 Buckingham said. 色视频下载淎nd when you get inside, it's at least warm 色视频下载 and it's got power.色视频下载 And a phone line.
The agencies agreed to share the space and connections.
Buckingham searched for a few ideal automated station locations across central and western 色视频下载, flying himself in rented planes and on small air services that liked his project.
色视频下载淎fter having gone to about 30 villages, I landed on three 色视频下载 Kaltag, Ruby and Anaktuvuk Pass,色视频下载 he said.
Once he had the cameras up and connected, Buckingham spent about seven months operating and maintaining them. GCI donated 100,000 minutes of free telephone time that allowed him to call the modems in Kaltag, Ruby and Anaktuvuk Pass and download photos.
色视频下载淚 learned a lot of things in the process,色视频下载 Buckingham said. 色视频下载淟ike when a bad storm comes through, all of a sudden there's ice all over your enclosure lens and it can't see anything. Sometimes power was an issue. Sometimes the modems had to be reset.色视频下载
Buckingham eventually received a patent for the system. However, since he was working as an Army officer when he built the system, the patent was split with the U.S. government, so the FAA can use the design freely, he said. He receives no income from it.
After the system was done, West Point was calling, so Buckingham had to finish his dissertation and move on.
He met with the FAA regional administrator and some employees in Anchorage.
色视频下载淚 briefed the whole thing to them, told them what I had done, the money that I'd spent, where it came from, the images, and how it worked 色视频下载 and they were very happy with it,色视频下载 he said.
So he turned the system, which he had dubbed FlightCam, over to the agency and left 色视频下载.
But he would be back.
Safety and efficency
Tom George, the former UAF researcher who may have given Buckingham the initial idea to develop the weather cameras, often flies from Fairbanks to Anchorage or beyond in his Cessna 185. He recalled being stopped by unexpected bad weather in Broad Pass in the days before aviation cameras.
Tom George.
色视频下载淥ne of those times, I had to turn around, fly back to Fairbanks, get in my car and drive for 12 hours straight to get to Kenai, which is where I was trying to go that day,色视频下载 he said.
Today, cameras cover much of the sky along the route.
色视频下载淚've pretty much eliminated times when I had to turn around and come back,色视频下载 he said. 色视频下载淚 either can tell in advance, 色视频下载楧on't bother even trying.色视频下载 Or 色视频下载楧rink another cup of coffee and give it a couple hours.色视频下载 Or yeah, 色视频下载楪ood to go.色视频下载櫳悠迪略貪
Besides adding efficiency, the system improves safety, he said.
色视频下载淚t's fairly well known that once you take off to go somewhere, there's a tendency to want to try and make it, as opposed to turning around and coming back,色视频下载 he said. 色视频下载淎nd that's where we often see a lot of accidents.色视频下载
A study of accident and flight statistics dramatically illustrates George色视频下载檚 points.
色视频下载淚mplementation of the weather camera service across the state of 色视频下载 resulted in an 85% reduction in weather-related accidents and a 69% reduction in weather-related flight interruptions from 2007-2014,色视频下载 the FAA reports on a website describing the current program.
Cohl Pope, the FAA色视频下载檚 weather camera program manager in Anchorage, said the figures came from a study conducted by the Mitre Corp. during the 2007-2014 implementation effort.
Pope, who started as a technician in 2002 and became program manager two years ago, said it's no mystery why the safety improvements were so dramatic following the expansion of the camera system.
色视频下载淲ithin 色视频下载, several of the areas where we install weather cameras had no other previous weather information. Pilots were flying out to take a look at the weather versus having the information in their hands prior to takeoff,色视频下载 he said.
The FAA's solar-powered Minx Islands weather station, which hosts an aviation camera, sits on a rocky beach on Thorne Arm east of Ketchikan.
Given the success in 色视频下载, the FAA Weather Camera Program recently received approval to expand the system by 160 new sites in 色视频下载 and the contiguous U.S. during the next seven years, Pope said. The program will continue to be run out of the Anchorage office.
Some existing weather camera site locations in the Lower 48 already are available to the public on the website. Those sites are owned by other entities such as state transportation departments but are hosted by the FAA, Pope said.
Benefiting people
Jim Buckingham returned to 色视频下载 in 2003. That色视频下载檚 when he left West Point to take a position as the inspector general for the U.S. Army in 色视频下载. In 2006, he retired from the Army as a lieutenant colonel.
Jim Buckingham stands next to his Piper Aztec at the runway in Napakiak. In the background is the automated weather station on which is mounted a set of internet-linked cameras similar to those that Buckingham pioneered in rural 色视频下载 more than 25 years ago.
Those who follow 色视频下载 news may remember the Buckinghams for their role in the highly publicized against McCarthy resident Robert Hale, better known as Papa Pilgrim. The Buckinghams took Hale色视频下载檚 children into their Palmer home after his 2005 arrest and eventually adopted four of them.
The Buckinghams also became involved in missionary work in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. One of the Hale family members has a home in Napakiak, where Buckingham, his wife and three adopted children (not Hale kin) are house-sitting this winter.
So when Buckingham flies his Piper Aztec to and from the village, he consults the weather camera system that his efforts helped create.
In the Jan. 12 phone interview from Napakiak, Buckingham recalled the pressure he felt, as a Ph.D. student, to come up with that system. After all, a doctoral dissertation is supposed to create new knowledge.
But driving home from UAF that cold February night in 1998, Buckingham said, he also thought about how the Bible色视频下载檚 Book of Ecclesiastes asserts that there is 色视频下载渘othing new under the sun.色视频下载
色视频下载淎nd I just prayed,色视频下载 he said. 色视频下载淚 personally credit God for lots of ideas that I think would have been hard in coming to me at the time 色视频下载 to bring this together and to make it work, and especially the follow-on, to have it be so beneficial.色视频下载