ICAO 9377 PDF

INTRODUCTION

Note.— There is a close operational affinity in many States between air traffic services (ATS) and search and rescue services. Both services are often provided by the same department responsible for civil aviation. Substantial parts of this manual are therefore applicable to the coordination between search and rescue services and meteorological services, even in cases where specific reference to search and rescue services is not made.

The objectives of ATS are to:

a) prevent collisions between aircraft in the air or on the manoeuvring area of an aerodrome;

b) prevent collisions between aircraft on the manoeuvring area and obstructions on that area;

c) expedite and maintain an orderly flow of air traffic;

d) provide advice and information useful for the safe and efficient conduct of flights; and

e) notify appropriate organizations regarding aircraft in need of search and rescue aid and assist such organizations as required.

It is clear that in order to achieve these objectives effectively, ATS units require a great deal of meteorological information and service. This has been recognized in the specifications for the meteorological service to be provided for international air navigation, which describe how operators, flight crew members, ATS units, search and rescue services centres, airport management and others concerned with the conduct of international air navigation are to be supplied with the meteorological information necessary for the performance of their respective functions.

The meteorological information required by ATS units can be divided into two kinds:

a) that needed to carry out air traffic control functions (e.g. surface wind data for establishing runways in use, weather radar data for guiding aircraft, and upper-air forecasts for tactical decision-making); and

b) that needed to provide information to aircraft in flight (en route, landing or taking off).

The meteorological data required by ATS units to carry out these two functions have grown over the years in number and complexity. With the use of voice communications (HF and VHF) and the implementation of data link communications, ATS units have become an important intermediary for the transmission of meteorological data to aircraft. Even when information is broadcast to aircraft, ATS units are usually responsible for some of these broadcasts (e.g. routine broadcasts of meteorological information for aircraft in flight (VOLMET broadcasts), and automatic terminal information service (ATIS) broadcasts) and also for receiving meteorological information from aircraft through air-reports (AIREPs). The latter are very important since the occurrence of certain weather phenomena, such as turbulence, icing and low-level wind shear, can, to a large extent, only be diagnosed and confirmed in this manner.

The lowering of aerodrome operating minima and the implementation of all-weather operations have increased the need for accurate and timely information on local weather conditions at aerodromes for which modern, automated meteorological instrumentation and observation systems are used. The exclusion of weather echoes from many ATS radar systems has made it necessary to provide information to controllers from weather radar and weather radar networks. Much of this information has been integrated with processed meteorological satellite data. In order for centralized ATS units to achieve efficient air traffic flow management (ATFM) and track selection, digital grid point upper wind and upper-air temperature forecasts from the world area forecast system (WAFS) have become necessary input for air traffic control computers.

To ensure that exchanges of meteorological information take place speedily and effectively, there is a need for efficient coordination between air traffic and meteorological services and their respective authorities. Requirements for such coordination are stated or implied in many parts of Annex 3 — Meteorological Service for International Air Navigation, Annex 11 — Air Traffic Services, Annex 12 — Search and Rescue and the Procedures for Air Navigation Services — Air Traffic Management (PANS-ATM, Doc 4444).

The Ninth Air Navigation Conference (1976) considered that there was a need for a manual on modern methods for the provision of meteorological information to ATS units and the use of that information by those units. It was intended that the manual should make available to States information and guidance based on practical experience concerning ways and means of improving the coordination between ATS and meteorological offices and stations serving the same aerodrome and between area control centres/flight information centres (ACCs/FICs) and their associated meteorological watch offices (MWOs). The manual was also to contain information on relevant modern methods employed by States, particularly in respect of the provision to ATS units of weather radar data and weather information required by flights operating below flight level 100.

The primary aim of this manual is to meet the general intent of the requirements expressed by the Ninth Air Navigation Conference. It also provides information regarding the coordination between search and rescue and meteorological services.

The manual does not define in detail each function of the offices, stations, units and centres concerned since that information is already provided in Annexes 3, 11, 12 and the PANS-ATM; it only gives a general idea of those functions in order to ensure mutual understanding and the provision of the necessary information to aeronautical users.

In order to discuss the coordination between air traffic and meteorological services, it is necessary to provide adequate background information concerning:

a) the organization of air traffic and meteorological services;

b) the meteorological information to be provided to ATS units and search and rescue services centres by meteorological offices and stations (i.e. by aerodrome meteorological offices, MWOs and aeronautical meteorological stations); and

c) the meteorological information obtained by ATS units from sources other than the aerodrome meteorological offices, MWOs and aeronautical meteorological stations (e.g. air-reports from various phases of flight).

This background information is given in Chapters 2 to 4. It should be noted that the words “shall” and “should” are not used in this document with the same regulatory meaning as in the Annexes to the Convention, which should be consulted for the status of the provisions concerned.

This sixth edition of the manual updates the existing chapters and appendices to reflect the relevant amendments that have been made to the ICAO Annexes and includes material important to the coordination between air traffic and meteorological services. This edition preserves the manual’s compatibility with Amendment 75 to Annex 3 and includes material related to the Global Air Traffic Management Operational Concept (Doc 9854) and the Global Air Navigation Plan (Doc 9750), in response to ASIA/PAC Air Navigation Planning and Implementation Regional Group (APANPIRG) Conclusion 18/49.

All aspects of the progress that has been made in the provision of meteorological service to international air navigation and in the development of contemporary meteorological techniques and modern information and communications technologies to supply meteorological information to ATS units are duly reflected in this edition. Also, contributions from two States describing the methods, arrangements and technologies currently applied in those States to achieve coordination between ATS units and meteorological offices and stations are reproduced in Appendices 4 and 5.

A chapter concerning the coordination between aeronautical information services (AIS) units and meteorological authorities and their meteorological offices and stations has been included to reflect the increasing interaction between these parties. In this context, it may be recalled that, for example, the timely provision of information and warnings to aircraft regarding volcanic eruptions, pre-eruption volcanic activity, volcanic ash, and radioactive and hazardous chemical substances "clouds" cannot be achieved without close coordination between AIS units, meteorological offices and stations, and ATS units.

It is envisaged that the current ATS system will be fundamentally improved through extensive implementation of communications, navigation and surveillance (CNS) technologies to accommodate the expected increase in flight operations in all regions. In view of the implementation of air traffic management (ATM), the manual contains a chapter which outlines the sources of, and the plans and future requirements for, meteorological support to the ATM system.