METAR SMS Text Message Service to Support Part 107 Compliance: A Classroom Lab Exercise

Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) have been used to support a wide range of industries.  Code of Federal Regulations Title 14 Part 107 provides the rules that govern most commercial UAS missions.   Section 107.51 of the regulations limits the maximum UAS altitude to 400 feet above the ground or structure and a minimum clearance of 500 feet below clouds.  The required cloud clearance is often easy to comply with as most cloud coverage is thousands of feet above the ground and well above the 400-foot ceiling.  However, many missions require the UAS to fly nearly low-altitude clouds or early morning fog.  In these situations, the pilot must know the altitude of the clouds to maintain the necessary clearance.  Accurately estimating cloud height visually is very difficult to do.  However, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has partnered with Leidos Flight Services to develop an SMS text service through the 1800wxbrief.com service to receive real-time Meteorological Aerodrome Report (METARs) weather reports in plain text.  This paper shows how this new tool can be used to determine cloud height and incorporate it into a classroom activity to support Part 107 compliance.