The EUMETNET Consortium – led by EUMETNET EIG with seven National Meteorological Services (Meteo France, UK Met Office, DWD, FMI, met.no, KNMI and SMHI) and three industry partners (Belgocontrol, NLR and Thales Air Systems) – has been awarded a contract by Eurocontrol on behalf of the SESAR JU to perform SESAR’s meteorological sub-work package 11.02 (Meteorological Information Services).

The SESAR Joint Undertaking recognises the critical impact weather will have on the performance of the future European air transport system. It has therefore established WP11.2 with the aim of investigating and demonstrating how the future air traffic management system can take maximum benefit from enhanced weather information and how these can be integrated into the industry’s operations and decision making.

Patrick Ky, the Executive Director of the SESAR Joint Undertaking said: “Meteorology is an important source of uncertainty in air traffic management. We are pleased to start working with Meteorological organisations and are looking forward to the first concrete results.”

Background information:

EUROCONTROL is a founding member of the SESAR Joint Undertaking.

EUMETNET EIG is grouping of 29 European National Meteorological Services. The organisation provides a framework to manage co-operative programmes between Members in the various fields of meteorology including observing systems, data processing, forecasting products, research and development and training. EUMETNET also provides a framework for its Members to collectively engage in projects with 3rd parties (such as the EC, SJU and EUROCONTROL).

EUMENET EIG forms part of the European Meteorological Infrastructure, including the 29 weather services in EUMETNET, EUMETSAT and ECMWF.

Future meteorological services will be addressed through two projects – the first promoting current and future MET capabilities with the aim of gathering robust and detailed user requirements for MET data and services. The second project will then design and demonstrate foundational capability improvements to MET infrastructure that will support the requirements, as well as design and build MET prototypes that will integrate and support developments being undertaken in other SESAR WPs. These prototype MET services will access requests from, and deliver their data to the SWIM network via a new 4D Weather Cube concept. The value of these new prototypes will be evaluated through SESAR validation exercises, fully supported by the EUMETNET consortium.