<s>
Automated	B-Operating_System
Weather	I-Operating_System
Source	I-Operating_System
(	O
AWS	B-Application
)	O
was	O
a	O
partnership	O
and	O
later	O
a	O
corporation	O
founded	O
in	O
1992	O
by	O
James	O
Michael	O
“	O
Mike	O
”	O
Bailey	O
and	O
Charles	O
“	O
Topper	O
”	O
Shutt	O
of	O
Montgomery	O
County	O
,	O
Maryland	O
,	O
whose	O
purpose	O
was	O
to	O
create	O
a	O
network	O
of	O
weather	O
stations	O
located	O
at	O
public	O
schools	O
and	O
recreational	O
facilities	O
throughout	O
the	O
Mid-Atlantic	O
region	O
of	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
network	O
of	O
primarily	O
school-based	O
weather	O
stations	O
became	O
the	O
first	O
to	O
generate	O
real-time	O
meteorological	O
data	O
for	O
use	O
on	O
broadcast	O
television	O
when	O
the	O
AWS	B-Application
network	O
was	O
first	O
referenced	O
on	O
September	O
11	O
,	O
1992	O
,	O
during	O
the	O
nightly	O
newscast	O
of	O
WUSA-TV	O
(	O
Channel	O
9	O
)	O
in	O
Washington	O
,	O
D.C.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
AWS	B-Application
concept	O
encouraged	O
academic	O
and	O
recreational	O
institutions	O
to	O
increase	O
localized	O
community	O
awareness	O
by	O
soliciting	O
donors	O
to	O
help	O
them	O
join	O
the	O
network	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
real	O
time	O
data	O
was	O
shared	O
with	O
the	O
general	O
public	O
on	O
broadcast	O
media	O
and	O
provided	O
to	O
the	O
National	O
Weather	O
Service	O
(	O
NWS	O
)	O
for	O
internal	O
use	O
and	O
eventual	O
integration	O
into	O
AFOS	O
(	O
Automation	O
of	O
Field	O
Operations	O
and	O
Services	O
)	O
,	O
the	O
computer	O
system	O
in	O
place	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
linking	O
NWS	O
offices	O
for	O
the	O
transmission	O
of	O
weather	O
data	O
now	O
known	O
as	O
AWIPS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Headquartered	O
in	O
Darnestown	O
,	O
Maryland	O
,	O
the	O
Automated	B-Operating_System
Weather	I-Operating_System
Source	I-Operating_System
partnership	O
formed	O
in	O
1992	O
was	O
incorporated	O
in	O
January	O
1994	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Implementations	O
of	O
AWS’	O
core	O
concept	O
,	O
often	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
“	O
SchoolNet	O
”	O
or	O
“	O
WeatherNet	O
,	O
”	O
then	O
began	O
to	O
expand	O
into	O
many	O
other	O
major	O
US	O
television	O
markets	O
over	O
the	O
course	O
of	O
the	O
1990s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Prior	O
to	O
the	O
formation	O
of	O
the	O
AWS	B-Application
partnership	O
formed	O
in	O
1992	O
by	O
founders	O
Bailey	O
and	O
Shutt	O
,	O
Bailey	O
,	O
an	O
amateur	O
weather	O
enthusiast	O
,	O
worked	O
with	O
meteorologist	O
Andrew	O
Stern	O
,	O
then	O
lead	O
forecaster	O
at	O
the	O
Sterling	O
,	O
Virginia	O
National	O
Weather	O
Service	O
forecast	O
office	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Subsequently	O
,	O
Shutt	O
and	O
Bailey	O
formed	O
the	O
Automated	B-Operating_System
Weather	I-Operating_System
Source	I-Operating_System
Partnership	O
,	O
funding	O
the	O
purchase	O
and	O
donation	O
of	O
three	O
weather	O
stations	O
to	O
Washington-area	O
schools	O
to	O
seed	O
what	O
became	O
the	O
nation	O
’s	O
first	O
public	O
school	O
network	O
of	O
weather	O
stations	O
to	O
generate	O
weather	O
data	O
for	O
use	O
on	O
broadcast	O
TV	O
at	O
WUSA-TV	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
September	O
11	O
,	O
1992	O
,	O
Automated	B-Operating_System
Weather	I-Operating_System
Source	I-Operating_System
Network	O
became	O
an	O
on-air	O
reality	O
and	O
its	O
use	O
quickly	O
grew	O
in	O
the	O
nation	O
’s	O
8th	O
largest	O
TV	O
market	O
DMA	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Within	O
a	O
year	O
Montgomery	O
,	O
Fairfax	O
,	O
Howard	O
and	O
Loudoun	O
County	O
Public	O
Schools	O
were	O
the	O
first	O
of	O
the	O
local	O
technology	O
and	O
transportation	O
coordinators	O
that	O
joined	O
the	O
AWS	B-Application
network	O
as	O
it	O
grew	O
to	O
over	O
thirty	O
sites	O
in	O
the	O
Washington	O
area	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Automated	B-Operating_System
Weather	I-Operating_System
Source	I-Operating_System
Network	O
segment	O
was	O
self-promoting	O
on	O
air	O
and	O
became	O
a	O
community	O
outreach	O
tool	O
for	O
WUSA-TV	O
9	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Stevenson	O
shelters	O
were	O
built	O
and	O
used	O
to	O
house	O
the	O
outdoor	O
sensors	O
on	O
the	O
roofs	O
of	O
existing	O
sites	O
that	O
appeared	O
in	O
the	O
Automated	B-Operating_System
Weather	I-Operating_System
Source	I-Operating_System
Network	O
television	O
segment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
AWS	B-Application
network	O
had	O
grown	O
to	O
30	O
sites	O
as	O
the	O
data	O
sets	O
generated	O
were	O
also	O
used	O
to	O
provide	O
near	O
real-time	O
observations	O
from	O
school	O
rooftops	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
AWS	B-Application
agreed	O
to	O
provide	O
NWS	O
access	O
to	O
the	O
data	O
from	O
the	O
network	O
on	O
an	O
hourly	O
basis	O
for	O
integration	O
into	O
the	O
AFOS	O
computer	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	O
from	O
each	O
AWS	B-Application
station	O
was	O
compiled	O
and	O
transcribed	O
in	O
ASCII	B-Protocol
format	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
code	O
written	O
to	O
interpret	O
the	O
TWI	O
observation	O
was	O
ingested	O
into	O
AFOS	O
,	O
a	O
system	O
that	O
has	O
since	O
transitioned	O
to	O
AWIPS	B-Application
,	O
a	O
more	O
modern	O
interface	O
used	O
to	O
interpret	O
the	O
same	O
meteorological	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
use	O
of	O
computers	O
and	O
dial-up	O
modems	O
with	O
access	O
to	O
digitized	O
resources	O
was	O
in	O
its	O
infancy	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
of	O
AWS’	O
founding	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Television	O
networks’	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
meteorological	O
observations	O
encouraged	O
the	O
growth	O
of	O
the	O
AWS	B-Application
concept	O
and	O
the	O
participation	O
of	O
local	O
businesses	O
in	O
the	O
growing	O
effort	O
to	O
donate	O
resources	O
to	O
help	O
facilitate	O
this	O
cause	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
the	O
Washington	O
,	O
D.C.	O
,	O
metro	O
area	O
school	O
systems	O
bought	O
into	O
the	O
concept	O
,	O
AWS	B-Application
began	O
working	O
on	O
a	O
way	O
to	O
better	O
archive	O
and	O
manipulate	O
the	O
data	O
generated	O
for	O
use	O
as	O
a	O
teaching	O
tool	O
for	O
computer	O
science	O
,	O
mathematics	O
,	O
geography	O
,	O
and	O
science	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Eventually	O
,	O
an	O
AWS	B-Application
subcontractor	O
wrote	O
a	O
program	O
that	O
would	O
automatically	O
access	O
the	O
existing	O
sites	O
and	O
download	O
data	O
for	O
current	O
observations	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
limited	O
historical	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
AWS’	O
founders	O
and	O
employees	O
chose	O
school	O
rooftops	O
to	O
place	O
their	O
weather	O
stations	O
because	O
of	O
such	O
locations’	O
accessibility	O
,	O
security	O
,	O
proximity	O
to	O
electrical	O
power	O
and	O
ease	O
of	O
maintenance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Meteorologists	O
both	O
in	O
the	O
NWS	O
and	O
the	O
private	O
sector	O
expressed	O
concern	O
that	O
AWS	B-Application
sites	O
might	O
be	O
subject	O
to	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
confounds	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
skewing	O
of	O
wind	O
direction	O
by	O
rooftop	O
structures	O
,	O
the	O
heat	O
retained	O
on	O
dark	O
rooftop	O
surfaces	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
hot	O
exhaust	O
from	O
rooftop	O
air	O
conditioning	O
units	O
,	O
all	O
of	O
which	O
were	O
thought	O
to	O
cause	O
inaccuracies	O
in	O
the	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Despite	O
these	O
concerns	O
,	O
meteorologists	O
used	O
AWS	B-Application
data	O
to	O
assist	O
in	O
the	O
study	O
of	O
various	O
weather	O
phenomena	O
,	O
including	O
the	O
heat	O
island	O
effect	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
of	O
Colorado	O
State	O
University	O
,	O
cited	O
examples	O
and	O
placement	O
of	O
multiple	O
AWS	B-Application
network	O
sites	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
WUSA-TV	O
Automated	B-Operating_System
Weather	I-Operating_System
Source	I-Operating_System
Network	O
on-air	O
segment	O
soon	O
attracted	O
the	O
attention	O
of	O
Bill	B-Operating_System
Mengel	I-Operating_System
,	O
then	O
founder	O
and	O
owner	O
of	O
EAI	O
Corporation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mengel	O
sent	O
then-EAI	O
employee	O
Robert	O
“	O
Bob	O
”	O
Marshall	O
to	O
meet	O
with	O
AWS	B-Application
founders	O
Shutt	O
and	O
Bailey	O
to	O
discuss	O
the	O
possibility	O
of	O
manufacturing	O
a	O
more	O
sophisticated	O
weather	O
station	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
discussions	O
led	O
to	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
a	O
prototype	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
AWS-manufactured	O
weather	O
station	O
and	O
data	O
display	O
unit	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
refined	O
software	O
needed	O
to	O
access	O
and	O
utilize	O
the	O
AWS	B-Application
network	O
in	O
schools	O
and	O
on-the-air	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Within	O
4	O
months	O
of	O
partnering	O
with	O
Mengel	O
and	O
EAI	O
,	O
the	O
Automated	B-Operating_System
Weather	I-Operating_System
Source	I-Operating_System
Partnership	O
converted	O
to	O
a	O
corporation	O
,	O
AWS	B-Application
Convergence	O
Technologies	O
,	O
Inc	O
.	O
Its	O
principal	O
owners	O
included	O
Topper	O
Shutt	O
,	O
Mike	O
Bailey	O
,	O
Bill	B-Operating_System
Mengel	I-Operating_System
,	O
Bob	O
Marshall	O
and	O
Chris	O
Sloop	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
September	O
2018	O
,	O
the	O
company	O
sold	O
the	O
aws.com	O
domain	O
to	O
Amazon	B-Application
Web	I-Application
Services	I-Application
.	O
</s>
