Course aim

This course is designed for ATS personnel who make meteorological observations for aeronautical purposes. This can either be an additional function of a tower controller or AFIS operator, or the role of a dedicated aeronautical meteorological observer.

The course provides knowledge and skills needed to make accurate and standardised surface meteorological observations. After this course, the participants can progress further to practical On-the-Job training at an aeronautical meteorological station.

After completion of this course, the participants can encode and reliably transmit:

• Local routine reports (MET reports).
• Local special reports (SPECIAL).

Course structure

The course takes 5 days. Participants gain a thorough understanding of the subject matter by learning the theory in classroom training, workbook exercises, and discussions. Additionally, they receive practical training through encoding exercises.

We can adapt the course to the customer’s requirements, for example by adding practical observations and a study visit.

Content in brief

The course covers topics such as, but not limited to:

• Generic observation techniques and interpretation of meteorological instruments to code aeronautical meteorological observations.
• Requirements and abbreviations used in the local routine report (MET REPORT).
• Requirements and abbreviations used in the local special report (SPECIAL).
• Requirements and codes used in METAR.

Prerequisites

• Completion of the meteorological parts of our Basic ATC course or Basic FIS course. If the students have taken neither of these courses, we recommend adding five days of basic meteorological theory.
• We recommend an English language proficiency of at least ICAO level 4.

Compliance with regulations

• Course content is based on ICAO annex 3, Meteorological Service for International Air Navigation and Easy Access Rules for Air Traffic Management/Air Navigation Services (Regulation (EU) 2017/373).