METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES FOR LOW LEVEL FLIGHTS IN ROMANIA Alexandru Hozoc - MET Expert Valentin Magureanu – Head of NCAM

OBJECTIVE Present the current practices related to meteorological services provided by ROMATSA for low level flights

CONTENTS MET services provision and responsibilities within ROMATSA ROMANIA Low level SIGWX Future targets and developments

Briefly … meteorological services in ROMANIA … National Meteorological Administration, Army Meteorological Service, ROMATSA Aeronautical Meteorological Service, each of them addressing different categories of users.

CONTENTS PART I: MET services provision and responsibilities within ROMATSA

MINISTRY OF TRANSPORTATION CIVIL AVIATION DIRECTORATE ROMATSA ANS provider TAROM national airline RCAA Authority Other companies

Romanian Air Traffic Services Administration ROMATSA ROMATSA is responsible for the provision of Air Navigation Services as defined by ICAO: - ATS, - AIS, - COM, - SAR (only Rescue Co-ordination Centres), - MET.

Romanian Air Traffic Services Administration ROMATSA DIRECTOR GENERAL OPERATIONAL DEPT. TECHNICAL DIR. ECONOMIC DIR. SAFETY & QUALITY DIR. AERO MET Unit Training Centre in Aeronautical Meteorology 17 MET Operational Units

Romanian Air Traffic Services Administration ROMATSA From the MET point of view ROMATSA acts as: - national provider for all aeronautical MET services, supplier for operators, flight crew members – including low level flights, ATS units, SAR units, aerodrome services with the necessary meteorological information,

Romanian Air Traffic Services Administration ROMATSA From the MET point of view ROMATSA also acts as (cont’d): - administrator of the national aeronautical MET databank, participant to the international OPMET data exchange within the frames of ICAO AFS. training centre in aeronautical meteorology

MET Operational Units Aeronautical meteorological offices (including AERO MET observing stations) at all 16 airports in Romania. and, National Aeronautical MET Centre, NAMC - responsible for forecasting and acting also as meteorological watch office for Bucharest FIR.

Meteorological Personnel There are 130 aeronautical meteorologists in total 100 meteorologists licensed to a medium degree - operational activities (weather observing and flight documentation) as MET Technicians at the 16 airports; 25 meteorologists licensed to a high degree - operational activities (forecasts and warnings) as MET Forecasters at NAMC; 5 MET experts licensed to a high degree (MET Forecasters) - management and training activities at the AERO MET Unit - ROMATSA HQ;

MET assistance for low level flights Aeronautical meteorological offices supply amongst others, meteorological services (flight documentation , briefing and consultation) for low level flights. MET flight documentation for low level flights is provided by MET Technicians using a dedicated software application.

MET assistance for low level flights Met. flight documentation provided for low level flights includes: METARs, TRENDs, TAFs, SYNOPs, SIGMETs and warnings, Upper wind and temperature Observations from PILOTs, Forecast charts for SFC, 1000hpa, 950hpa, 925hpa based on mesoscale ALADIN ROMANIA model, Forecast charts for 850hpa, 700hpa based on WAFC global model. Low level SIGWX for Romania, Dedicated forecasts for sports aviation (gliding, parachuting, aerobatic, ballooning) – only by request. Available GAMETs from neighbouring countries. METARs and SYNOPs are also presented in a decoded form.

MET assistance for low level flights

CONTENTS PART II: ROMANIA Low level SIGWX

ROMATSA Low level SIGWX Issued by forecasters from ROMATSA NCAM Uses a standard ICAO format (example 1 of chart models from ICAO Annex 3) Fixed time validity: 06:00, 09:00, 12:00 UTC and also 15:00, 18:00 UTC during summertime hours time period. Lead time of issuance is 3 hours. Used from two hours before their validity time until one hour after their validity time Area coverage: Romania, from ground up to 15.000ft. Distributed to all ATS units Uses NWP mesoscale model output

ROMATSA Low level SIGWX Includes information about: Synoptic features (fronts, pressure lows and highs) and QNH pressure, Clouds (coverage, type, base/top in hundreds of feet AMSL), Significant weather and related horizontal visibility NOTE: Icing and turbulence are indicated in hundreds of feet AMSL Obscured mountains, MTW, freezing level (multiple of five hundreds of feet) For better understanding, graphical symbols are used weather phenomena.

CONTENTS PART III: Future targets and developments

Future targets and developments Integrate MET flight documentation provided for low level flights into the existing self-briefing facilities for 12 airports, Issuance of AIRMET for ROMANIA, Enhancing the categories of data used for issuing ROMANIA LL SIGWX (i.e. AMDARs, better resolution mesoscale NWP models, etc.),

Future targets and developments Availability of the ROMANIA LL SIGWX for international exchange. Facilitate access to the databank for external users by web-server.

Thank you!