## 5 Conclusions  
The current paper discusses some of the weaknesses of the aeronautical meteorological observations that are related to the necessity of the presence and the experience of the professional meteorological observers directly at the target airports. The difficulties are associated with the meteorological variables, such as visibility, cloud base height, and cloud coverage. Although specific automated sensors (ceilometers, transmissiometers, and forward scatter sensors) exist for the observation of these elements, due to their predominantly point character of measurements they cannot fully emulate a comprehensive way of perception of human observers. The proposed solution to overcome the weaknesses of the observation of these variables is to use a system that, with the help of camera-based images and a user-friendly human-machine interface, allows for remote observation of visibility and cloud properties. A validation experiment was designed and carried out at the Poprad-Tatry Airport to assess the first performance measures of the remote observations (RO) in comparison with the local observations (LO, declared as ground truth) and the measurements obtained by the standard automatic weather observation system (AWOS). The results of the validation experiment were promising, and indicated that the RO approach was viable. For all the variables (prevailing visibility, maximum cloud coverage, and minimum cloud base height), the RO considerably outperformed the AWOS, and at the same time, the performance of the RO was comparable with the LO approach. The case studies demonstrated that the automated sensors do suffer of shortcomings in certain, predominantly spatially inhomogeneous meteorological situations. These are, for instance, occurrence of several layers of clouds or unevenly covered sky in the case of ceilometers, and fog in patches or fog with spatially variable density in the case of transmissiometers/forward scatter sensors. All the limitations of the automated sensors stem in their point character of measurement. Therefore, they are particularly useful in homogeneous meteorological conditions, and/or for decisions that only require point character of information--e.g., for an estimation of the runway visual range for the certain third of the runway. For a correct estimation of the prevailing visibility, cloud cover, and cloud types, these sensors alone are inadequate; however, the camera-based remote approach to observations seems to be a promising supplement to eliminate the sensors' deficiencies, in terms of the:* Quality--The proposed solution makes use of high quality camera records for all the eight cardinal directions to determine visibility and the possible presence of dangerous cloud types; and high quality'stitched' image of the full hemisphere to determine the cloud coverage. All of these materials ensure that estimation of the given meteorological variable is not a point-based one. * Objectivity--The remote method of observation offers a number of annotated markers to determine visibility (considerably more markers than the local observers have), and a mesh grid of concentric circles to determine cloud cover in an objective way. The degree of objectivity is further increased by the fact that the records of the weather situations are instantaneously archived in a database, and thus, they can be repeatedly double-checked at any time. * Efficiency--With the proposed remote observing systems installed, the physical presence of an observer at the site of interest is not necessary. The observer can estimate the meteorological variables from a centralized office effectively, even for a number of target sites. This option is particularly useful in COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 conditions. It is not meant that the proposed remote observation methods should entirely replace the existing sensors. Instead, a combination of the standard and the novel methods would result in synergies that would bring benefits for all the parties involved in providing higher quality aeronautical services.