Chapter 1

METEOROLOGICAL SERVICE FOR

INTERNATIONAL AVIATION
1.1 GENERAL
1.1.1 Meteorological service for international aviation is provided by
meteorological authorities designated by
States. Details of the meteorological service to be provided for international
aviation are determined by each State in
accordance with the provisions of Annex 3 and with due regard for regional air
navigation (RAN) agreements, which
apply to specific areas designated as air navigation regions by ICAO. Each State
also establishes a suitable number of
meteorological offices, i.e. aerodrome meteorological offices, meteorological watch
offices (MWOs) and aeronautical
meteorological stations. Meteorological offices and aeronautical meteorological
stations provide information required for
operational planning, flight operations, the protection of aeronautical equipment
on the ground, and for various other
aeronautical uses. The information provided includes observations and reports of
actual weather conditions at
aerodromes and forecasts; it is made available at aerodrome meteorological offices
and is disseminated as appropriate
to aeronautical users, including operators, flight crew members, air traffic
services (ATS) units, search and rescue (SAR)
units, airport management and others concerned with the conduct or development of
international air navigation.
1.1.2 Forecasts of en-route conditions, except forecasts for low-level flights
issued by meteorological offices, are
prepared by world area forecast centres (WAFCs) (see 1.5). This ensures the
provision of high-quality and uniform
forecasts for flight planning and flight operations. It also permits MWOs to
concentrate on keeping watch on weather
conditions in their flight information regions (FIRs) and permits meteorological
offices at aerodromes to concentrate on local
aerodrome forecasting, to keep watch over local (aerodrome) conditions and to issue
warnings of weather conditions that
could adversely affect operations and facilities at the aerodrome (e.g. aerodrome
and wind shear warnings).
1.1.3 SIGMET and AIRMET information concerning the occurrence of specified en-
route phenomena which may
affect the safety of aircraft operations are issued by MWOs (see 1.3). In the
specific case of tropical cyclones and
volcanic ash, in addition to SIGMET, advisory information is issued by designated
tropical cyclone advisory centres
(TCACs) and volcanic ash advisory centres (VAACs) (see 1.6 and 1.7).
1.1.4
The responsibility for the provision of meteorological service for international
air navigation mentioned in
1.1.1 rests with the meteorological authority designated by each State in
accordance with Annex 3, 2.1.4. The
meteorological (MET) authority may wish to provide the service or may arrange for
the provision of the service by other
providers on its behalf.
1.1.5
Terms additional to the “MET authority” are being used in the context of safety
oversight audits related to
institutional arrangements in States. In particular, use of the terms
“meteorological (MET) inspectorate”, “meteorological
(MET) regulator” and “meteorological (MET) service provider” has raised questions.
The following list attempts to clarify
these terms which are neither specified nor used in Annex 3:
a)
b) --`,,```,,,,````-`-`,,`,,`,`,,`--
the “MET inspectorate” refers to the entity that is responsible for conducting
safety oversight for the “MET
authority” over the “MET service provider” in the State concerned;
the “MET regulator” can be considered to be simply another term for the “MET
authority”, i.e. the body
responsible for the facilities and services to be provided in accordance with Annex
3. This term is used to
highlight the regulatory aspects of its functions; and
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c)
the “MET service provider” is the entity that is providing the MET facilities and
services as required in ICAO
provisions. In the context of safety oversight audits, the term “entity providing
the MET service” is sometimes
used to designate the “MET service provider”.
There are no provisions currently in place that would prevent the “MET
inspectorate” to be part of the same organization
as the “MET authority”. Furthermore, in accordance with Annex 3, the “MET service
provider” could be either within the
“MET authority” or, alternatively, within an independent organization. However, in
some States or regions (e.g. under the
European Single Sky), the legislation stipulates that the “MET regulator” (i.e.
“MET authority”) and the “MET service
provider” have to be separated, at least functionally. In cases where the “MET
service provider” is part of the same
organization as the “MET authority”, it would be preferable that the oversight
function be carried out by an outside,
independent “MET inspectorate”. In such cases, the inspectorate could be an
independent MET expert involved in the
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certification audit of the
“MET service provider”, or be part of the
ministry overseeing the “MET authority” or part of the civil aviation authority
(CAA), provided that such a CAA-based
inspectorate is a third-party, independent body with qualified MET personnel. Such
arrangements would avoid any
conflict of interest between inspection and service provision. Irrespective of the
administrative arrangements, it is
considered important that the “MET inspectorate” have close coordination with the
entity responsible for the more
general safety oversight (located in most cases within the CAA).
1.1.6 In order to meet the objectives of meteorological service for
international air navigation and provide users
with the assurance that the service, including the meteorological information
provided, complies with the aeronautical
requirements, the MET authority must establish and implement a properly organized
quality system in accordance with
the ISO 9000 series of quality assurance standards. The system is to be certified
by an approved organization.
Note.— Specific guidance on this subject is contained in the Manual on the Quality
Management System for the
Provision of Meteorological Service to International Air Navigation (Doc 9873),
published jointly with World
Meteorological Organization (WMO).
1.1.7 Properly educated and trained personnel should be employed in the
provision of meteorological service for
international air navigation. It is, therefore, an important responsibility of the
MET authority to ensure that widely
recognized standards are applied to the qualifications, education and training of
all of the personnel involved in the
provision of meteorological service for international air navigation. With respect
to meteorological personnel, the
requirements of the WMO should be applied.
Note 1.— The requirements are given in WMO Publication No. 49, Technical
Regulations, Volume I — General
Meteorological Standards and Recommended Practices, Chapter B.4 — Education and
Training. Detailed guidance is
provided in the WMO Guidelines for the Education and Training of Personnel in
Meteorology and Operational Hydrology,
Volume I (WMO-No. 258) which relates to the training and qualification requirements
for aeronautical meteorological personnel.
Note 2.— Education and training in aeronautical meteorology of aeronautical
personnel (e.g. pilots, ATC personnel,
flight dispatch officers), required by the aeronautical authorities concerned, must
comply with the relevant ICAO
documents (i.e. Training Manual, Part F-1 — Meteorology for Air Traffic Controllers
and Pilots (Doc 7192)).
1.2 METEOROLOGICAL OFFICES
Meteorological offices serving aviation are often located at aerodromes, in which
case they are called aerodrome
meteorological offices. The meteorological offices issue aerodrome forecasts as TAF
and trend forecasts on the basis of
RAN agreement. In addition to maintaining a continuous survey of meteorological
conditions over the aerodrome(s)
under their responsibility, preparing forecasts of local meteorological conditions,
aerodrome warnings and wind shear
warnings, these offices also provide briefing, consultation and flight
documentation or other meteorological information,
and display weather charts, reports, forecasts, meteorological satellite images and
information derived from ground
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Chapter 1. Meteorological Service for International Aviation
1-3
based weather radar or a radar network. Much of the information is obtained from
WAFCs or from other meteorological
offices (which may be located in a different country). Furthermore, meteorological
offices supply operational
meteorological (OPMET) information to aeronautical users and exchange such
information with other meteorological
offices. This also includes the exchange of OPMET information required by RAN
agreement. In addition, where
necessary, meteorological offices supply information regarding pre-eruption
activity, volcanic ash eruptions or the
presence of volcanic ash in the atmosphere to their associated ATS units, the
aeronautical information services (AIS)
units and the MWO concerned, as agreed between the ATS, AIS and meteorological
authorities concerned. However,
not all international aerodromes have a meteorological office, and for such
aerodromes the relevant air navigation plans
(ANPs)/facilities and services implementation documents (FASIDs) indicate the name
and location of the meteorological
office designated to supply OPMET information concerning the aerodrome to
operators, ATS units and others concerned.
1.3 MWOs
1.3.1
States accepting responsibility for an FIR have to either designate an MWO to serve
that FIR or arrange for
another State to designate a MWO on its behalf. The MWOs designated in accordance
with RAN agreement are listed in
the relevant ANP/FASID to indicate the overall plan for providing meteorological
service for the FIR within each ICAO
region. They maintain a continuous watch over meteorological conditions affecting
flight operations within their areas of
responsibility, issue information on the occurrence or expected occurrence of
specified hazardous en-route weather
conditions which may affect the safety of aircraft and low-level aircraft
operations (SIGMET and AIRMET information,
respectively) and supply this and other weather information to their associated ATS
units, usually an area control centre
(ACC) or a flight information centre (FIC). In addition, MWOs exchange SIGMET
information issued by other MWOs as
required by RAN agreement. The AIRMET information issued is transmitted to MWOs and
meteorological offices in
adjacent FIRs (for details see Chapter 4). In preparing SIGMET and AIRMET
information, MWOs normally make use of
special air-reports, and satellite and radar data.
1.3.2 MWOs also supply the information received on pre-eruption volcanic
activity, volcanic eruptions and volcanic
ash clouds, for which SIGMET information has not already been issued, to their
associated ACC(s)/FIC(s), and in
accordance with RAN agreement, to the VAACs concerned. It is also the
responsibility of MWOs to supply information
received concerning an accidental release of radioactive materials into the
atmosphere within the area of their responsibility
to their associated ACC(s)/FIC(s) and to the relevant AIS units, as agreed by the
ATS, AIS and MET authorities concerned.
This information is usually obtained from the WMO regional specialized
meteorological centre (RSMC) which specializes in
the provision of computer-generated dispersion model products for radiological
environmental emergency response.
1.4 METEOROLOGICAL STATIONS
1.4.1
The actual weather observations at aerodromes and offshore structures are made by
aeronautical
meteorological stations. The specific types of observations and related reports are
disseminated either locally, or to
other aerodromes, as required, in accordance with RAN agreement.
1.4.2
In the areas prone to volcanic eruptions, aeronautical meteorological stations make
observations regarding
volcanic activity and volcanic eruptions. These observations form the basis for the
issuance of volcanic activity reports.
Details on the content and dissemination of such reports are given in 2.5.
1.5 WAFCs
The two WAFCs are components of the world area forecast system (WAFS), which is
designed to supply MET
authorities and other users with forecasts of global upper winds, upper-air
temperatures, tropopause heights and
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temperatures, maximum winds, humidity, cumulonimbus (CB) clouds, icing, and in-
cloud and clear air turbulence in the
binary GRIB code form for direct input into meteorological and/or flight planning
computers. The WAFS also supplies
global forecasts of significant weather (SIGWX) in the binary BUFR code form.
Note.— Further information on the WAFS is given in Appendix 1.
1.6 TCACs
TCACs are meteorological centres designated by RAN agreement on advice from WMO.
They monitor the development
of tropical cyclones in their areas of responsibility, using geostationary and
polar-orbiting satellite data and other
meteorological information sources (e.g. numerical weather prediction models).
TCACs provide MWOs, providers of
international OPMET databanks established by RAN agreement, providers of the
aeronautical fixed service (AFS)
satellite distribution systems and, as necessary, other TCACs with advisory
information regarding the position of the
centre of the tropical cyclone, its forecast direction and speed of movement,
central pressure and maximum surface
wind near the centre of the cyclone. The advisory information is to be used by MWOs
in support of the issuance of
SIGMET information for tropical cyclones. The information is also made available to
aeronautical users through the AFS
satellite distribution systems.
1.7 VAACs
1.7.1 VAACs are meteorological centres designated by RAN agreement on advice
from WMO. They monitor
relevant satellite data to detect volcanic ash in the atmosphere. Subsequently,
VAACs run volcanic ash numerical
dispersion models to forecast the movement of a volcanic ash cloud. VAACs maintain
contact with State volcano
agencies in their respective areas of responsibility in order to obtain expert and
timely information on significant pre
eruption volcanic activity and volcanic eruptions of concern to international air
navigation. As a result, the VAACs
provide, as required, MWOs, ACCs, FICs, NOTAM offices, WAFCs, international OPMET
databanks established by
RAN agreement, AFS satellite distribution systems and other VAACs, with advisory
information regarding the lateral and
vertical extent and forecast movement of volcanic ash in the atmosphere following
volcanic eruptions. The advisory
information is to be used by MWOs in support of the issuance of SIGMET information
on volcanic ash clouds. The
information is also made available to aeronautical users through the AFS satellite
distribution systems.
1.7.2
VAACs form part of the ICAO International airways volcano watch (IAVW). The
international arrangements
set up within the IAVW are aimed at monitoring volcanic ash in the atmosphere and
providing warnings to aircraft of
volcanic ash and associated volcanic activity.
Note.— Detailed information on the IAVW can be found in the Manual on Volcanic Ash,
Radioactive Material and
Toxic Chemical Clouds (Doc 9691) and in the Handbook on the International Airways
Volcano Watch (IAVW) —
Operational Procedures and Contact List (Doc 9766) (available in electronic format
at http://www.icao.int/anb/iavwopsg).
1.8 STATE VOLCANO OBSERVATORIES
A number of States that have active volcanoes in their territories maintain a
network of volcano observatories to monitor
selected volcanoes. The selected volcano observatories that are required to provide
information on significant pre
eruption volcanic activity and volcanic eruptions to the IAVW (see 1.7.2) are
designated by RAN agreement and listed in
the FASID for the ICAO regions concerned.
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Chapter 2
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS AND REPORTS
2.1 GENERAL
2.1.1 Observations of meteorological conditions are made by means of instruments
and visual estimation and are
used for landing and take-off, en-route navigation and flight performance, and as a
basis for forecasting. Those
observations used primarily for aircraft operations are called “OPMET information”
while those used primarily for
forecasting purposes are considered to be “basic meteorological data”. OPMET
information includes aerodrome reports,
landing forecasts, aerodrome forecasts, special aircraft observations, SIGMET and
AIRMET information, tropical cyclone
and volcanic ash advisories and WAFS forecasts. Basic meteorological data include
synoptic surface and upper-air
observations, satellite images, weather radar data and routine aircraft
observations. OPMET information is described in
detail below.
Note.— The total costs related to the provision of OPMET information can be
recovered from international civil
aviation through air navigation charges, while the costs related to the provision
of basic meteorological data are to be
allocated between aeronautical and non-aeronautical users. Detailed guidance
related to cost allocation is given in the
Manual on Air Navigation Services Economics (Doc 9161).
2.1.2 At many locations, observations are made by use of fully automatic
observing equipment. The equipment
normally forms part of an integrated automatic system, with displays at local
aeronautical meteorological station(s),
meteorological office(s), briefing facilities and ATS units. Semi-automatic
observing equipment provides for the manual
insertion of meteorological elements which the equipment is not capable of
observing.
Note.— It should be noted that Human Factors principles should be observed in the
design of these systems as well
as of other systems and equipment used in the provision of meteorological service
to international air navigation.
Guidance material on the matter is given in the Human Factors Training Manual (Doc
9683).
2.1.3 High-quality and timely meteorological observations and reports for
international air navigation are the
foundation upon which an effective aeronautical meteorological service is based and
of direct consequence to aviation
safety. In view of this, the provision of meteorological observations and reports
must form an integral part of the quality
system established by the meteorological authority.
2.1.4
To the extent practicable, aerodrome observations are made at locations considered
to be suita