World Area Forecast Center
Encyclopedia
A World Area Forecast Centre (WAFC) is a meteorological centre that provides real-time meteorological information broadcast
s for aviation
purposes. These broadcasts are supervised by ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) in order to fulfill requirements of the ICAO Annex 3 covering meteorological information which is necessary for flights. The role of the WAFCs is to provide meteorological messages with world-wide coverage for pilot briefing. They are usually part of the Pre-Flight Information Bulletin (PIB).
WAFC provides various types of data, including OPMET information, T4 charts (which are currently obsolete but some portions are still distributed due to legacy reasons), and GRIB
and BUFR
charts - these are Wind and Temperature charts and SIGWX
charts (Significant Weather Chart) for SWH (high levels) and SWM (medium levels).
There are only two World Area Forecast Centres, each providing a backup for the other. These are the UK Met Office
and Washington NOAA, working in duplicate so it would be possible to replace each other in a case of failure. Each of these two services operates its own satellite-based broadcast system to distribute data to airports all over the world. The UK Met Office
is called SADIS (SAtellite DIstribution System) and mainly covers Europe, Asia, Indian Ocean and Africa. The U.S. NOAA broadcast system is ISCS (International Satellite Communications System) and mainly covers America and the Pacific Ocean.
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
s for aviation
Aviation
Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...
purposes. These broadcasts are supervised by ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) in order to fulfill requirements of the ICAO Annex 3 covering meteorological information which is necessary for flights. The role of the WAFCs is to provide meteorological messages with world-wide coverage for pilot briefing. They are usually part of the Pre-Flight Information Bulletin (PIB).
WAFC provides various types of data, including OPMET information, T4 charts (which are currently obsolete but some portions are still distributed due to legacy reasons), and GRIB
GRIB
GRIB is a mathematically concise data format commonly used in meteorology to store historical and forecast weather data...
and BUFR
BUFR
The Binary Universal Form for the Representation of meteorological data is a binary data format maintained by the World Meteorological Organization . The latest version is BUFR Edition 4...
charts - these are Wind and Temperature charts and SIGWX
SIGWX
SIGWX is a Significant Weather Chart defined by ICAO.Weather charts being issued by World Area Forecast Centres , presenting the most important meteorological phenomena relevant especially for air traffic transport...
charts (Significant Weather Chart) for SWH (high levels) and SWM (medium levels).
There are only two World Area Forecast Centres, each providing a backup for the other. These are the UK Met Office
Met Office
The Met Office , is the United Kingdom's national weather service, and a trading fund of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills...
and Washington NOAA, working in duplicate so it would be possible to replace each other in a case of failure. Each of these two services operates its own satellite-based broadcast system to distribute data to airports all over the world. The UK Met Office
Met Office
The Met Office , is the United Kingdom's national weather service, and a trading fund of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills...
is called SADIS (SAtellite DIstribution System) and mainly covers Europe, Asia, Indian Ocean and Africa. The U.S. NOAA broadcast system is ISCS (International Satellite Communications System) and mainly covers America and the Pacific Ocean.