Chapter 12

Commonly used aviation

meteorological data

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Section 1 Aviation weather chart

•1 Surface Aviation Weather Report Chart

•2 Significant Weather Prognostic Charts
•3 Wind And Temperatures Aloft Forecast

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 1.1 Surface Aviation Weather Report

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 The function of aviation routine
weather report

Estimate at present weather conditions

and determination weather forecast
accuracy, understanding weather change
tendency

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 The content of aviation routine
weather report
Station name, time (Universal Time), wind
direction, wind speed, visibility /RVR
(Runway visual range), weather phenomena,
cloud, temperature/dew-point, barometric
pressure value and supplement explanation
and so on

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1.1.1 The Surface Aviation Weather
Report station model

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 Plotting explanation
• At the left side, the temperature, the weather
phenomena, the visibility and the dew point fill in
the method the same as the surface weather char

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 The total sky cover
• fills in according to eight minute systems
cloud amounts, the sky unclear fills in “×”

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 The wind direction and
wind speed
• The wind direction indicated according to 360°
or 16 positions with the arrow pole that, the
wind speed sections out with the number, the
unit is m/s

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 Barometric pressure
• use the QFE or the QNE (according to needs to choose)
and expression by hPa.

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 Cloud amount, cloud type,
cloud height.

1. The cloud amount with

eight minute systems,
generally fills in the
accumulation cloud
amount, the cloud type
uses the plotting mark,
cloud height uses the
numerical code, the
unit is m.
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example of aviation weather report

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1.2 Surface Aviation Weather Report Chart

• frequently is by the route form. The

meteorological observatory fills in the
weather live on the chart along the route at
the identical time, enables the pilot clearly
to understand the present weather in the
route and the landing station, but several
such live charts also will be allowed to see
the tendency which the weather changes

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 Surface Aviation Weather Report Chart

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 2 Significant Weather
Prognostic Charts

• Significant weather prognostic charts, called

progs, it depicts weather conditions that are
forecast to exist at a specific time in the future
shown on the chart, portray forecast weather to
assist in flight planning.

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 The classification of significant
weather prognostic chart
The significant weather prognostic charts are generally
divided in three kinds of height layer to offer:
• Low-Level Significant Weather Prog Chart (SWL)
• —the flight height is lower than FL100 (10 000 feet).
• Middle-Level Significant Weather Prog Chart (SWM)
• —the flight height is from FL 100 to FL250 (10 000 feet
– 25 000 feet).
• High-Level Significant Weather Prog Chart (SWH)
• —the flight height is from 25,000 feet to 63,000 feet.
This encompasses FL250 to FL630

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 Low-Level Significant Weather
Prog Chart (SWL)
• Main contents of the Significant Weather
Prognostic Charts
• Example of Low-Level Significant Weather
Prog Chart

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 主要内容
（1）Significant weather
（2）Important weather system
（3）Cloud accompanying with significant weather
（4）Surface visibility below 5 000 m
（5）pressure centre and fronts and their expected
movements and developments;
（6）below FL100 0℃ isothermal layer altitude
（7）Sea-surface temperature and state
（8）location of volcanic eruptions which are producing
ash clouds of significance to aircraft operations,
name of volcano and time of first eruption, if known;
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Symbols for significant weather

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 Important weather system

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Cloud accompanying with significant weather

The cloud amount describes with the abbreviation

The cloud type uses the simple form mark.
The important weather and the cloud area scope
encircles with the undulation line, the somewhat
important weather and the cloud also section out
the lower limit highly with the upper limit
altitude, sometimes also uses the abbreviation to
explain

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 Significant weather forecast
commonly used abbreviation

• Cloud type
• CI = Cirrus CC = Cirrocumulus
• CS = Cirrostratus AC = Altocumulus
• AS = Altostratus NS = Nimbostratus
• SC = Stratocumulus ST = Stratus
• CU = Cumulus CB = Cumulonimbus

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Significant weather forecast commonly
used abbreviation
• Cloud amount
• Clouds except CB
• FEW = few (1/8 to 2/8)
• SCT = scattered (3/8 to 4/8)
• BKN = broken (5/8 to 7/8)
• OVC = overcast (8/8)
• SKC = sky clear (0/8).

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Significant weather forecast commonly
used abbreviation
• CB only
• LOC = some places have CBs (local)
• ISOL = individual CBs (isolated)
• OCNL = well-separated CBs (occasional)
• FRQ = CBs with little or no separation
(frequent)
• EMBD = CBs embedded in layers of
other clouds or concealed by haze
(embedded)
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Example of Low-Level Significant Weather
Prog Chart

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Example of Low-Level Significant Weather
Prog Chart

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 2.3 Middle-Level Significant Weather
Prog Chart (SWM)
• On the Middle-Level Significant Weather
Prog Chart the main content still was Figure
12-4 Significant weather phenomena, with
Figure 12-5 weather system.
• With the Low-Level Significant Weather
Prog Chart the different does not have the
Surface visibility, the pressure centre, 0℃
isothermal layer altitude, Sea-surface
temperature and state.
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 2.3 Middle-Level Significant
Weather Prog Chart (SWM)
Inc re ase d appe are d i n the upp e r a i r fl i g h t
meteorological condition:
• 1. Heavy broken line delineation of area of clear air
turbulence (CAT), and its intensity is denoted by
symbols.
• 2. Heavy solid line show the position of jet stream
axis with indication of wind direction,
• interrupted by wind speed in KT or km/h and
height in flight levels.
• 3. Ash cloud (AV).

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Example of Middle-Level Significant
Weather Prog Chart

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High-Level Significant Weather Prog
Chart (SWH)

High-level significant weather prog chart

have predicted all weather phenomenon of
the middle level, Unlike it the cloud only
predicts cumulonimbus, still have the height
in flight levels of tropopause, the unit is 100
feet.

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High-level Significant Weather Forecast Chart

Jet stream with maximum wind

speed and height

Cumulonimbus (CB)

AMC: Asia
WAFS
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：Asia-Europe, Australia-Asia, Pacific
High-level Aviation Meteorological Parameter

Jet streams
– Location
– Strength (≥80KT)
– Depth of the 80KT
(for jetstreams
≥120KT)
Here the speed
change 20KT.

140KT at FL390
with jet within
FL300 — 470

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High-level Aviation Meteorological Parameter

• Cumulonimbus（CB）
CB top
– ISOL (EMBD ) CB
– OCNL (EMBD) CB
– FRQ CB CB bottom

• ISOL: individual CBs, with maximum spatial coverage <50%

• OCNL: well-separated CBs, with maximum spatial coverage 50% ~75%
• FRQ : little or no separation, with maximum spatial coverage >75%
• EMBD : CB embedded within cloud layers and cannot be readily recognized

CB：thunderstorm, hail, moderate or severe icing and turbulence

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Example of High-Level Significant
Weather Prog Chart

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Example of High-Level Significant
Weather Prog Chart

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 3 Wind And Temperatures Aloft Forecast

• The Wind And Temperatures Aloft Forecast

provides is on the grid mesh point the
different high wind direction, the wind
speed and the temperature, these
forecasts when makes the flight plan is
extremely important.

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 Wind expression on the Wind And
Temperatures Aloft Forecast

• In the wind and temperatures aloft forecast

charts, the temperatures is noted by degrees
Celsius they are all negatives unless prefixed
by “+”.
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 The wind and temperature on
standard constant-pressure surface

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