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availability of timely and accurate upper-air observations at

various forecasting centres, including the two WAFCs, has

resulted in positive impacts on aviation forecast accuracy.

CBS is also responsible for developing and updating the aero-

nautical meteorological codes used to disseminate

meteorological aviation information. In this context, any new

or updated aeronautical requirements included in ICAO Annex

3 are subsequently reflected in the WMO Manual on Codes

following approval by CBS. ICAO is also interested in the emer-

gency response activities of CBS, in particular the

Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization/WMO

Emergency Response Activities. The potential usefulness of

monitoring information for the early detection of explosive

volcano eruptions could serve as an early indication of the possi-

ble presence of airborne volcanic ash that is a serious threat to

flight safety.

The contribution of the WMO Commission for Instruments

and Methods of Observations (CIMO) is essential for ensur-

ing that the latest information concerning the capability of

automatic meteorological observing systems are forwarded to

ICAO for the development of future requirements. The

Commission for Atmospheric Sciences (CAS), through its

World Weather Research Programme, is accelerating research

on the prediction of high-impact weather and encouraging the

use of advances in weather prediction systems to the benefit

of all WMO programmes including the AeMP.

WMO is responsible for the training and qualification of

personnel providing meteorological services for international

air navigation. In this regard, guidelines for the education and

training of personnel in aeronautical meteorology, as well as

relevant training material, are developed by the WMO

Education and Training Programme (ETR) in close collabora-

tion with relevant CAeM structures and the active involvement

of ICAO. This collaborative effort is expected to be actively

pursued in the future.

Key challenges to the meteorological community for ensuring

the continued availability of good-quality, timely and cost-effec-

tive meteorological service to aviation include the need for

ensuring the sustainability of the WMO World Weather Watch

programme that provides the basic data, data processing, trans-

mission and forecasting on which meteorological services to

aviation are based; increased automation of aerodrome meteoro-

logical observing systems; and improved terminal forecasts.

Capacity building needs to be enhanced to ensure that aeronau-

tical meteorologists, particularly those in developing countries,

are abreast of new technologies and adequately trained.

Other challenges include increased reliance on the recovery

of meteorological service costs from the aviation industry to

fund aeronautical meteorological activities and meteorologi-

cal infrastructure, particularly in view of a noted trend toward

the disengagement of states from fully funding the traditional

providers of service to aviation, namely National

Meteorological Services (NMS). This tendency has resulted in

the increased use of alternative service delivery for aeronauti-

cal meteorological services, including the commercialization

of some of these services and, increasingly, the establishment

of fully autonomous national meteorological entities.

Continued closer contacts with aviation users and their repre-

sentative organizations at the global, regional and national levels

are particularly important to ensuring that the services provided

meet users’ needs and that users understand the existing capa-

bilities and limitations of such providers to deliver the required

services to the aviation industry. In view of the financial diffi-

culties being experienced by a number of airlines, due in part

to increased expenditure on fuel, and other constraints such as

more competition among air carriers, the airline industry is more

than ever before insisting on the transparency of charges paid

to air navigation service providers.

The airlines have developed strict procedures for the use of

meteorological information to improve safety and cost effec-

tiveness, based on a thorough evaluation of the value and

limitations of meteorological observations and forecasts. With

continuing aviation growth and demands for safety, efficiency

and capacity, airlines and air-traffic management organizations

are more than ever dependent on weather information for plan-

ning and safety. Future challenges will be for meteorological

service providers to exploit the increasing availability of infor-

mation and relevant detail in predictions from numerical

models to improve the accuracy, content and relevance of the

information provided to the aviation industry.

Future perspectives

The future requirements for aeronautical meteorology are

expected to reflect technological developments which will

allow more efficient methods of production and dissemination

of meteorological information. The recent investments in

research by the two WAFCs are expected to result in their

ability to produce gridded forecasts of turbulence, icing and

convective clouds. Conceivably, in the future, these forecasts

will replace the current significant weather information.

Gridded forecasts will provide aviation users with more accu-

rate information at the pre-flight planning stage and that the

production of such forecasts will be more efficient and will,

ultimately, be fully automated.

One of the most important anticipated developments over

the next few years will be the introduction of table-driven codes

(principally BUFR) for METAR/SPECI and TAF. The current

communications infrastructure operated by ICAO is not able

to cope with such digital codes. A careful planning process for

this migration at the global, regional and national levels will

therefore be necessary. The intention is that the migration will

be completed globally by 2015.

Requirements for meteorological information in support of

the ICAO air traffic management (ATM) concept are expected

to be developed by a number of ICAO initiatives over the next

few years. The purpose of the ATM systems is the optimiza-

tion of the use of airspace. In this context, it is expected that

new requirements will be formulated for meteorological infor-

mation. Work in this area will involve close coordination with

the relevant Air Traffic Services authorities, and it is expected

that specific proposals by ATM and meteorological experts will

be developed by ICAO in close coordination with WMO.

EUROCONTROL and the Single European Sky

Since 2001, air traffic management in the European Union (EU) has

been undertaken by member states cooperating through

EUROCONTROL, an intergovernmental organization comprising EU

member states and most other European States.

The Single European Sky initiative is intended to organize airspace

and air navigation at a European rather than at a local level. It will

organize this airspace uniformly, with air traffic control areas based on

operational efficiency, not national borders, integrating civil and

military air traffic management.