What type of AWOS weather information is available?
Iowa has 113 public use airports. Of these, the 41 airports with AWOS towers fulfill approximately 270,000 aircraft landings and takeoffs every year. An AWOS tower at the airport provides pilots with more informed flight planning information, as well as for a safer descent to a lower legal altitude for landing approaches.
AWOS Tower Collection of AWOS weather information?

The AWOS data is Atmospheric Weather Data and includes temperature, dew point, barometric pressure, wind speed, wind direction, wind speed, peak gusts, altimeter setting, density altitude, visibility, and cloud height. The stations operate 24 hours a day and the weather data is updated every minute.

How else can I get AWOS weather information?

A computer-synthesized voice broadcasts the weather data that can be received either by ground-to-air radio or by telephone. The weather information can also be accessed through the computer network. The computer network is a statewide network that uses dedicated phone lines to connect all of the AWOSs to a host computer via personal computers located at each AWOS site. The personal computer at each site can be used to access AWOS weather information form all of the other AWOS sites that are in the network. It is also programmed to access the Federal Aviation Administration's Direct Access Terminal (DUAT) system to receive national weather information and file flight plans.

The computer at an airport site may be called from any personal computer to access weather observations. A communications program such as HyperTerminal® for Microsoft Windows® or comparable program must be used to access the airport computer. The computer must also have a Hayes-compatible modem with a transmission rate between 1,200 and 56,000 bps (56k). The modem setting should be 8 data bits, 1 stop bit and no parity. After successfully calling one of the airport sites, the information on the computer screen will have instructions for the viewer to follow to acquire the desired weather data.

In addition to the 41 AWOS locations, 14 modems have been installed at 13 other airport sites as part of the statewide AWOS computer network.