Meteorological information management

At EUROCONTROL we seek to help our stakeholders use weather information in innovative ways. We support the aviation industry in its efforts to achieve safer and more efficient operations so as to minimise environmental impact.

As rising traffic puts pressure on airspace capacity, the ability of the busiest airports and ATM to effectively operate in adverse weather diminishes.

In other words, when the weather is bad, it has significant impact on a congested network. The effects of climate change are also likely to create more frequent and more intense adverse weather problems in Europe.

Our vision for the future of aviation meteorology is to have tailored and consistent MET information services powered by SWIM. To deliver this, we identify user requirements for developing MET services and we serve as focal point of expertise in this field. Our objective is to improve the integration and availability of relevant MET information for ATM across Europe.

Weather is responsible for:

As the Network Manager, EUROCONTROL tackles disruption and manages crises on a regular basis so it develops strategic inputs for adverse weather plans. We play a role in the European Aviation Crisis Coordination Cell, which manages crisis responses in the European ATM network.

We make our expertise available to European Commission bodies to facilitate operational and strategic coordination on meteorological information management. In addition to this, we manage, direct and support the planning and implementation of meteorology research projects as part of the SESAR 2020 programme. Specifically, we led the development of two solutions in the SESAR 2020 4D Trajectory Management project (PJ18).

EUROCONTROL pushes for the deployment of SESAR 1 solutions which are being developed together with our industry partners. Three projects we support - introducing new pan-European MET services and/or infrastructure - were successfully implemented in 2021 and can be found in the SWIM Registry.

Even with current high technology aircraft, it is impossible to ignore the enormous power and potential hazards of weather systems. We organise various courses, describing how meteorology affects ATS operations and aircraft; the organisation of meteorological information services, their position in the ATM system and the regulatory framework.

We also offer an introduction to the basics of meteorology for ATCOs.

For information on these courses, check out our learning centre.

On the global stage led by ICAO, EUROCONTROL is an active contributing member of ICAO’s Meteorological Panel (METP), making our stakeholders’ voices heard on matters of implementation and regulatory evolution. We offer strategic direction, based on our expertise and experience. In the METP, we lead the working group on MET requirements and development and participate in all other ICAO METP working and management groups.