WorldMeteorologicalOrganization

AMDARONBOARDSOFTWARE
FUNCTIONALREQUIREMENTS
SPECIFICATION

FrankTamis
3092012

RevisionData

REVISIONSTATUS

STATUSDATE

DESCRIPTION

Draft

January17,2012

01

April18,2012

02

May15,2012

03

September29,2012

04

October27,2012

Originalrelease,skeletondraft
F.C.Tamis,
AircraftDataEngineering&Consultancy
FirstConcept
F.C.Tamis,
AircraftDataEngineering&Consultancy
SecondConcept
F.C.Tamis,
AircraftDataEngineering&Consultancy
CompleteDraft
F.C.Tamis,
AircraftDataEngineering&Consultancy
RevisionstocompletedraftbasedonWMOinput.
F.C.Tamis,
Airdatec

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TableofContents

1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................. 5
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6

BACKGROUND ....................................................................................................................... 5
OBJECTIVES .......................................................................................................................... 5
INTENDEDAUDIENCEANDSCOPE.............................................................................................. 5
CONVENTIONS ...................................................................................................................... 6
APPLICABLEDOCUMENTS ........................................................................................................ 6
ABBREVIATIONSANDACRONYMS .............................................................................................. 7

2 AMDARSYSTEMOVERVIEW.............................................................................................. 8
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4

AMDARSYSTEM .................................................................................................................. 8
AMDARONBOARDPROCESS .................................................................................................. 9
OTHERSPECIFICATIONS......................................................................................................... 10
FURTHERREADING .............................................................................................................. 11

3 AMDARONBOARDSOFTWAREREQUIREMENTS ............................................................. 12
3.1
3.2

DATAACQUISITION .............................................................................................................. 13
DATAHANDLING ................................................................................................................. 15

3.2.1 Dataacquisitionrate............................................................................................................... 15
3.2.2 DataValidation........................................................................................................................ 16
3.2.3 DataSmoothing ...................................................................................................................... 16
3.2.4 DerivedParameters ................................................................................................................ 16
3.2.4.1 PhaseofFlight................................................................................................................. 16
3.2.4.1.1 Ground ...................................................................................................................... 16
3.2.4.1.2 Ascent ....................................................................................................................... 17
3.2.4.1.3 EnRoute ................................................................................................................... 17
3.2.4.1.4 Descent ..................................................................................................................... 17
3.2.4.2 TurbulenceIndicator ....................................................................................................... 17
3.2.4.3 WaterVapor/RelativeHumidity/DewPoint................................................................ 17
3.2.4.4 RollAngleFlag................................................................................................................. 17
3.2.4.5 AircraftConfigurationIndicator ...................................................................................... 19
3.3 AMDAROBSERVATIONS ...................................................................................................... 19
3.4 OBSERVATIONFREQUENCY .................................................................................................... 20
3.4.1 EnrouteObservations ............................................................................................................ 20
3.4.1.1 MaximumWindObservation .......................................................................................... 20
3.4.2 PressureBasedScheme .......................................................................................................... 21
3.4.2.1 RoutineObservations ...................................................................................................... 21
3.4.2.2 Ascent.............................................................................................................................. 21
3.4.2.2.1 InitialObservation..................................................................................................... 21
3.4.2.2.2 AmbientStaticPressureatTakeOff......................................................................... 21
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3.4.2.2.3 AscentPart1 ............................................................................................................. 22
3.4.2.2.4 AscentPart2 ............................................................................................................. 22
3.4.2.3 Descent............................................................................................................................ 22
3.4.3 TimeBasedScheme ................................................................................................................ 23
3.4.3.1 Ascent.............................................................................................................................. 23
3.4.3.1.1 InitialObservation..................................................................................................... 23
3.4.3.1.2 Part1......................................................................................................................... 23
3.4.3.1.3 Part2......................................................................................................................... 23
3.4.3.2 Descent............................................................................................................................ 23
3.5 MESSAGECOMPILATION ....................................................................................................... 23
3.5.1 Content ................................................................................................................................... 23
3.5.2 Format..................................................................................................................................... 24
3.5.3 Transmission ........................................................................................................................... 24
3.6 SOFTWARECONFIGURATIONCONTROL .................................................................................... 25
3.6.1 ObservationFrequencyControl.............................................................................................. 25
3.6.2 ReportingControl.................................................................................................................... 26
3.6.2.1 Reportingon/off.............................................................................................................. 26
3.6.2.2 GeographicalControlboxes ............................................................................................ 27
3.6.2.3 Airportspecificreporting ................................................................................................ 28
3.6.2.4 TimeLimiting................................................................................................................... 28
3.6.3 ConfigurationMessage ........................................................................................................... 28
3.6.4 AMDAROptimizationMessage............................................................................................... 29

APPENDIXA
A.1
A.2
A.3

AOSFRSMESSAGEFORMATVERSION04 ....................................................... 30

INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 30
HEADER ............................................................................................................................. 30
BODY ................................................................................................................................ 31

A.3.1 BasicObservationsequence ................................................................................................... 31

A.3.2 OptionalParameters............................................................................................................... 31

APPENDIXB

AOSFRSCONFIGURATIONMESSAGE ............................................................. 35

APPENDIXC

OPTIONALDERIVEDPARAMETERS ................................................................ 37

C.1

TURBULENCE ...................................................................................................................... 37
C.1.1 DerivedEquivalentVerticalGust ............................................................................................ 37
C.1.2 EddyDissipationRate(EDR).................................................................................................... 40
C.2 ATMOSPHERICWATERVAPORCONTENT.................................................................................. 41
C.2.1 TheWVSSIISensor .................................................................................................................. 42
C.2.1.1 Introduction..................................................................................................................... 42
C.2.1.2 CurrentInputVariablesandCalculation ......................................................................... 42
C.2.1.3 Presentingthe5characterMixingRatioField................................................................ 43
C.2.1.4 TheQualityControlCharacter(Q)................................................................................... 44
APPENDIXD
D.1
D.2

DATACOMPRESSION..................................................................................... 46

BASE40COMPRESSION ....................................................................................................... 46
MESSAGEFORMAT,COMPRESSED........................................................................................... 48

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1 Introduction

1.1

Background

TheGlobalAircraftMeteorologicalDataRelay(AMDAR)ProgramisaprograminitiatedbytheWorld
MeteorologicalOrganization(WMO)incooperationwithaviationpartners,andisusedtocollect
meteorologicaldataworldwidefromcommercialaircraft.TheWMOAMDARObservingSystemisasub
componentoftheWMOIntegratedGlobalObservingSystem,whichisdefinedandmaintainedunder
theWMOWorldWeatherWatchProgram 1 .
Existingaircraftonboardsensors,computersandcommunicationssystemsareutilizedtocollect,
process,formatandtransmitthemeteorologicaldatatogroundstationsviasatelliteorradiolinks.Once
ontheground,thedataisrelayedtoNationalMeteorologicalServices,whereitisprocessed,quality
controlledandtransmittedontheWMOGlobalTelecommunicationsSystem(GTS).
Thedatacollectedisusedforarangeofmeteorologicalapplications,including,publicweather
forecasting,climatemonitoringandprediction,earlywarningsystemsforweatherhazardsand,
importantly,weathermonitoringandpredictioninsupportoftheaviationindustry.

1.2

Objectives

ThisdocumentprovidesacomprehensivefunctionalspecificationforonboardAMDARsoftware.Itis
intendedthatthespecificationprovidessufficientinformationtoenabledetailedtechnicalspecifications
tobeprovidedforAMDAROnboardSoftwareimplementationonsuitableavionicsplatforms.

1.3

IntendedAudienceandScope

Thespecificationisprimarilyintendedforusebybothmeteorologicalagenciesandavionicssoftware
developerstoallowthemtojointlydevelopAMDARsoftwarewithminimaladditionalinformation.It
definestheFunctionalSpecificationsoftheAMDAROnboardSoftwareonly.FunctionalSpecificationsof
otherpartsoftheAMDARdataflow,suchasgroundbasedprocessing,areoutsideitsscope.
Thespecificationwillbeapplicableforallkindsofonboarddataprocessingandcommunicationssystem
solutions,includingACARSand/orsuccessors.
Bydefinition,anaircraftbasedmeteorologicalobservingsystemthatconformstothisspecification,and
mostparticularlytothoserequirementsthataredesignatedasrequired(seeconventions,paragraph
1.4),canbeconsideredanAMDARobservingsystem.

TheWMOWorldWeatherWatchProgramme:http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/www/index_en.html

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1.4

Conventions

Thekeywords"must","mustnot","required","shall","shallnot","should","shouldnot",
"recommended","may",and"optional"inthisdocumentaretobeinterpretedasfollows:
1.ThetermsSHALL,"REQUIRED"or"MUST"meanthatthedefinitionisanabsoluterequirementof
thespecification.
2.ThephrasesSHALLNOTor"MUSTNOT"meanthatthedefinitionisanabsoluteprohibitionofthe
specification.
3.ThetermsSHOULDor"RECOMMENDED"meanthattheremayexistvalidreasonsinparticular
circumstancestoignoreaparticularitem,butthefullimplicationsmustbeunderstoodandcarefully
weighedbeforechoosingadifferentcourse.
4.ThephrasesSHOULDNOTor"NOTRECOMMENDED"meanthattheremayexistvalidreasonsin
particularcircumstanceswhentheparticularbehaviorisacceptableorevenuseful,butthefull
implicationsshouldbeunderstoodandthecasecarefullyweighedbeforeimplementinganybehavior
describedwiththislabel.
5.ThetermsMAYor"OPTIONAL"meanthatanitemistrulyoptional.Onevendormaychooseto
includetheitembecauseaparticularmarketplacerequiresitorbecausethevendorfeelsthatit
enhancestheproductwhileanothervendormayomitthesameitem.Animplementationwhichdoes
notincludeaparticularoptionMUSTbepreparedtointeroperatewithanotherimplementationwhich
doesincludetheoption,thoughperhapswithreducedfunctionality.Inthesameveinanimplementation
whichdoesincludeaparticularoptionMUSTbepreparedtointeroperatewithanotherimplementation
whichdoesnotincludetheoption(except,ofcourse,forthefeaturetheoptionprovides.)

1.5

ApplicableDocuments

Whereappropriate,referencesareprovidedtoWMO,InternationalCivilAviationOrganization(ICAO),
AeronauticalRadioIncorporated(ARINC)orotherdocumentsthataresubjecttoissueandreviewbythe
respectiveorganizations.Norecommendationsorotherinformationinthisspecificationoverridesor
supersedestherequirementscontainedinreferenceddocuments,unlessspecifiedotherwise.

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1.6

AbbreviationsandAcronyms

ACARSAircraftCommunicationAddressingandReportingSystem
ACMSAircraftConditionMonitoringSystem
AMDARAircraftMeteorologicalDataRelay
ARINCAeronauticalRadio,Incorporated
ASDARAircrafttoSatelliteDataRelay
DASDataAcquisitionSystem
DEVGDerivedEquivalentVerticalGust
EDREddyDissipationRate
GNSSGlobal Navigation Satellite System
IATAInternationalAirTransportAssociation
ICAOInternationalCivilAviationOrganization
Q/CQualityControl
SATStaticAirTemperature
TATTotalAirTemperature
UTCUniversalTimeCoordinate
WMOWorldMeteorologicalOrganization
VHFVeryHighFrequency

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2 AMDARSystemOverview
2.1

AMDARsystem

TheAMDARsystemisdefinedbythecharacteristicthatitisameteorologicalobservingsystemthat
utilizesaircraftinnatesensorsandonboardavionicsandcommunicationssystemsinordertocollect
processandtransmitmeteorologicaldatathathasbeendefined,sampledandprocessedaccordingto
WMOmeteorologicalspecifications.
ThefullAMDARsystemcomprisestheendtoendsystemofprocessesandpractices,startingfrom
measurementbyaircraftsensorsrightthroughtothedeliveryofthedatatoDataUsers.Ontheaircraft,
AircraftDataComputersobtainprocessandformatdatafromonboardsensors,andtransmitdatato
groundviastandardaircraftcommunicationsystems.Onceontheground,thedataarerelayedtothe
NationalMeteorologicalServices(NMS)andotherauthorizedusersasshowninFigure1.Dataare
receivedatthedataprocessingcentersoftheNMSwheretheyaredecodedandundergobasicquality
controlchecksbeforebeingreformattedfordistributiontoDataUsersbothinternaltotheNMSand
externallytootherNMSsviatheWMOGlobalTelecommunicationSystem(GTS).

Figure1:AMDARDataFlow

Thisdocumentisconcernedonlywiththespecificationoffunctionalrequirementsfortheairborneor
onboardsoftwarecomponentoftheAMDARsystem,theAMDAROnboardSoftware.

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2.2

AMDAROnboardProcess

ThepurposeoftheairbornepartoftheAMDARProcess,henceforthreferredtoastheAOP,istocollect,
processandtransmitmeteorologicaldatafromsensorsonboardtheaircraft.Theprimaryfunctionsof
theAOPare:

Interfacetoandacceptinputdatafromavarietyofaircraftinnateavionicsequipment;
Performhighlevelqualitychecksontheinputdata;
Performcalculationsupontheinputdatatoderiverequiredmeteorologicalvariables;
Atsetintervals,processcollecteddataintostandardoutputmessagesfortransmissionto
groundstations;and,
Acceptandprocessinputs,allowinguserstoaltertheAOSbehavior.

To meet these primary functional requirements, AMDAR relies on the availability of onboard data
acquisitionsystemsthatarecapableofbeingprogrammedtoperformtherequiredfunctions.Therefore,
the first and most fundamental requirement of the AMDAR Onboard System is that the aircraft must
have a Data Acquisition System (DAS) that must be programmable and support interfacing to all the
requireddatainputsandtotheaircraftscommunicationssystem.
AnexampleofsuchanonboardsystemisillustratedinFigure2,whichshowsschematicallytheprincipal
datasourcesfeedingintoaDAS.Notethattheconfigurationsandavailabilityofsystemsvarieswidely
betweenaircraftmodelsandairlinefleets.
1. Temperature
Wind Speed
Wind Direction
Altitude

CENTRAL
MAINTENANCE
COMPUTER

ACARS
2. Latitude
Longitude

1
3

3. Tail Number
Flight Number

AIR DATA
COMPUTERS

4. Time (UTC)

6
Data Aqcuisition
System
(programmable)

5. Vertical Acceleration
6. AMDAR report

2
INERTIAL
REFERENCE
UNITS

Flight Data
Recorder

Clock

Figure2:ExampleDataAcquisitionSystem

TypicalinputstotheDASare,forexample,PressureAltitudeorStaticAirPressure,WindSpeed/
Directionandothers.Theseinputparametersareprocessedbythesoftwareaccordingtopredefined
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samplingfrequenciesandtheresultingdatavariablesarestoredasameteorologicalobservation.
Then,dependingonthecommunicationssystemusedandrequirementsassociatedwithmessagecosts
andefficiency,datalatency,phaseofflightandotherparameters,whentherequirednumberof
observationshasbeenobtained,theyarewrittentoastandardizedmessagethatissubsequentlysentto
theground.
Theactualtriggeringoftheprogrammaticprocessesthatcreatetheseobservationsdependsonseveral
parametersthatareembeddedinthesoftware,manyofwhichareconfigurablethroughaninterfaceto
theAMDARsoftwareprogram.Theseparameterstellthesoftwarewhentoreportornottoreport.
Examplesofsuchparametersarephaseofflight,i.e.whethertheaircraftisascending,descendingorin
levelflight,pressurealtitude,geographicalpositionoftheaircraft,i.e.observationsaremadeonly
withinoroutsideofpredefinedgeographicallocations,andtimeofday,i.e.reportingisonlydonewithin
adefinedtimeframe.Bymakingtheseparametersconfigurable,theobservingandreportingregimefor
AMDARisabletobemodifiedaccordingtochangingmeteorological,programmaticoreconomic
requirements.
Additionally,bytakingadvantageoftwowayaircrafttogroundcommunicationsthatareoften
availablewithmodernaircraftavionicsandcommunicationssystems,itispossibletofacilitate
modificationoftheseprogramparametersviacommandsembeddedwithinuplinkmessages,whichare
usuallycompiledandsentbyautomated,groundbasedcontrolsystemsinnearrealtime.Thisprocessis
knownasAMDARdataoptimization.AMDARoptimizationsystemsallowNMSandairlinestomanage
datavolumesandeliminateredundantobservationsandmessagesthroughrealtimeAMDARsoftware
modificationeitherpriortoorduringaircraftflightandonaflightbyflightbasis.
TheendresultoftheAMDARonboardsystemistheproductionoftheAMDARmessagescontainingthe
meteorologicalobservations.Thesemessagesaretransmittedtothegroundbysuitabledatalink
communicationsystemsandrelayedbyaviationDataServiceProviderstotheNMS.Thecontentsofthe
messagesareprocessedandthedataareingestedintometeorologicaldatabasesandapplications.

2.3

OtherSpecifications

Therearemanypossibleformatspecificationsformeteorologicalmessagesfromaircraft.Inorderto
avoidtheproliferationofdataformatsandreducetheoverheadsandcomplexityforcomplianceby
groundprocessingsystems,thisdocumentprovidesafunctionalrequirementsspecificationthatwillbe
knownasAMDAROnboardSoftwareFunctionalRequirementsSpecification(AOSFRS)Version1.0.This
specificationisbasedontheASDARSpecification 2 ,theEAMDARAAAVersion2.0Specification(AAA
V2) 3 andtheAMDARAAAVersion3.0specification(AAAV3) 4 .Allinformationinthisdocument
supersedesthepreviouslymentioneddocuments.Someinformationinthisdocumentisderivedfrom

SoftwareRequirementsSpecificationfortheASDARProject,Issue3,MatraMarconiSpaceUKLimited,October
1994(reference116300016444).
3

EUMETNETAMDARAAAAMDARSoftwareDevelopmentsTechnicalSpecification,Version2,1August2000.

PROGRAMOPERATIONSANDSTANDARDSOBSERVATIONSSPECIFICATION20061,AMDARAAAVersion3.0
SoftwareRequirementsSpecification,23November2006

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ARINCspecification620(meteorologicalreportversion1thru5).TheARINCspecificationhoweverisnot
supersededbythisdocument.
Sincemostmeteorologicalmessagesshareacommonapproachtoprocessing,triggeringand
transmittingdataitispossibletousethisspecificationinconjunctionwithotherspecifications.In
particular,theARINC620MeteorologicalReportspecificationisarecognizedstandardforAMDARandit
isthereforefeasibleandacceptabletospecifythatparticulardownlinkformatstandardasanalternative
tothosespecifiedwithinthisdocument.
Toallowtheusertochoosebetweenoptionalformats,thisspecificationshallrefertotheARINC620
(latestversion)specificationwhereappropriate.

2.4

FurtherReading

AdetaileddescriptionoftheAMDARsystemisgivenintheAircraftMeteorologicalDataRelay(AMDAR)
ReferenceManual(WMONo958)availablefromtheWorldMeteorologicalOrganization,Geneva,
Switzerland:
http://www.wmo.int/amdar/Publications/AMDAR_Reference_Manual_2003.pdf
andintheWMOGUIDETOMETEOROLOGICALINSTRUMENTSANDMETHODSOFOBSERVATION,Part2,
Chapter3,AircraftObservations:
http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/www/IMOP/CIMOGuide.html

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3 AMDAROnboardSoftwareRequirements
Asdescribedinchapter2,theprimaryfunctionsoftheAMDAROnboardProcessare:

Acceptinputdatafromavarietyoftheaircraftinnateavionicsequipment.

Performhighlevelqualitychecksontheinputdata

Performcalculationsupontheinputdatatoderiverequiredmeteorologicalparameters

Atsetintervals,processcollecteddataintostandardoutputmessagesfortransmissionto
groundstationsand

Acceptinputs,allowinguserstoaltertheAMDAROnboardSoftwarebehavior.

Figure3showsahighlevelschematicoftheAMDARonboardprocess.Thischapteraimstotranslatethe
functionsinthisschematicintofunctionalrequirementsfortheAMDARonboardsoftware.

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Aircraft Avionics Data In

Data Aqcuisition

Configuration Settings (uplink/flight deck/code changes)

AMDAR ONBOARD SOFTWARE

Data Handling

Observation
Scheduler

Configuration
Module

Software
Configuration

Observations

Configuration
Message
Compiler

AMDAR
Message
Compiler

Configuration
Message

AMDAR Message

AMDAR Information Out AMDAR Messages, AMDAR Configuration

Message

Figure3:AMDAROnboardProcess

3.1

DataAcquisition

Thedataacquisitionsystemshallprovideadatainterfacetothehighestqualitydatasourcesavailable
fromtheaircraft.Incasethedirectsourceisnotavailabletotheacquisitionsystemitisacceptableto
useanindirectsource,aslongasthequalityofthedataismaintained(e.g.thelatitudecomesfromthe
inertialreferencesystembutthissourceisnotconnecteddirectlytotheAOS.Latitudeishowever
transmittedtotheFMCandthissourceisavailabletotheAOS.Aslongasdataqualityismaintainedthe
latitudecanbeobtainedfromtheFMCinsteadofdirectlyfromtheIRS)
Thetablesbelowprovidetheinputsignalsthatneedtobeacquired.Distinctionismadebetweensignals
thatshallbeacquired(Table1),shouldbeacquired(Table2)andsignalsthatareoptional(Table3).
Table1:InputSignalsRequired

DESCRIPTION

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UNIT

RANGE

ACQRATE
PREFERRED
MAX
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AIRCRAFTID
AIR/GROUNDSWITCHORWEIGHTONWHEELS
COMPUTEDAIRSPEED
DATEDAY
GMTHOURS
GMTMINUTES
GMTSECONDS
LATITUDE
LONGITUDE

STATICPRESSURE

WINDDIRECTIONTRUE
WINDSPEED

N/ A

N/ A

DISCRETE

N/ A

1HZ
1HZ
1HZ
1HZ
1HZ
1HZ
1HZ
1HZ

1HZ
2HZ
4HZ
2HZ
2HZ
2HZ
4HZ
4HZ

1HZ

2HZ

1HZ
1HZ
1HZ
1HZ

2HZ
1HZ
2HZ
2HZ

0TO800KNOTS
031
HH
0023
MM
0059
SS
0059
DEGR
90STO90N
DEGR
180ETO180W
1,000TO50,000
FT
FEET
DEGR.C
99CTO+99C
HPA(=MB)
DEGR
0TO360
KTS
0TO800KNOTS
DD

1)

2)

N/ A

KTS

PRESSUREALTITUDEINICAOSTANDARDATMOSPHERE
1)
BAROMETRICALTITDUEINQNHADJUSTEDATMOSPHERE
STATICAIRTEMPERATURE

INT

Note1: PressureAltitudeinICAOStandardAtmosphere=PALT
BarometricAltitudeinQNHadjustedatmosphere=BALT
IfbothPALTandBALTareavailable,PALTshouldbeused.
Note2:Ifstaticpressureisnotavailablefromtheaircraftsystemsitcanbecalculatedfrompressurealtitude
ForPALTequaltoorlessthan36089ft.,staticpressure(SP)isrelatedtoPALT(ft)bythefollowingexpression:
SP(hPa)=1013.25[1106x6.8756(PALT)]5.2559
IfPALTisgreaterthan36089ft,staticpressureisgivenby:
SP(hPa)=226.32exp((PALT36089)/20805)

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Table2:InputSignalsRecommended

DESCRIPTION

DEPARTURESTATION
DESTINATIONSTATION
VERTICALSPEED

3)

GROSSWEIGHT
VERTICALACCELERATION
ROLLANGLE
PITCHANGLE

UNIT

CHAR
CHAR
FT/MIN
KG
G
DEGR
DEGR

RANGE

N/A
N/A
2000TO2000
N/A
3GTO+6G
180TO180
90TO90

ACQRATE
PREFERRED
MAX
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
1HZ
1HZ
1HZ
16HZ
8HZ
4HZ
1HZ
1HZ
1HZ
1HZ

Note3: Verticalspeedisusedinphaseofflightdetermination.Verticalspeedmaybederivedfromaltituderateofchange
Table3:InputSignalsOptional

DESCRIPTION

WATERVAPORDATA/RELATIVEHUMIDITY

UNIT

NOTE4

ICINGDATA

DISCRETE

FLAPS

DEGR

GEARDOWN/UP

DISCRETE

GNSSALTITUDE

FT

GROUNDSPEED

KTS

TRUETRACK

DEGR

TRUEHEADING

DEGR

TRUEAIRSPEED

KTS

RANGE

N/A

N/A
1,000TO50,000FEET
0TO800KNOTS

0TO360
0TO800KNOTS

ACQRATE
PREFERRED

MAX

1HZ
1HZ
1HZ
1HZ
1HZ
1HZ
1HZ
1HZ
1HZ

4HZ
4HZ
4HZ
2HZ
1HZ
2HZ
2HZ
2HZ
2HZ

Note4: WaterVapor/Humidityismeasuredandreportedeitherasmixingratioorrelativehumidity,dependingonthetypeof
sensoremployed.Themassmixingratiovalueistobereportedasnnnnn=n1n2n3n4n5whichimpliesamassmixingratio
(3n5)
kg/kg;e.g.,ifnnnnn=12345,thenthemassmixingrationisgivenby1234x10(35)=1234x108
valueof(n1n2n3n4)x10
kg/kg.
RelativeHumidityisreportedasnnnnnwheretherangeofnnnnnisbetween00000and10000inhundredsofpercent.

3.2

DataHandling

3.2.1 Dataacquisitionrate
Inputdatacanbeacquiredatdifferentacquisitionrates.Forinstance,datacanbeacquired8timesper
secondbutitisalsopossibletohaveparametersacquiredonceeverytwoorfourseconds.Following
rulesdescribehowtohandleacquisitionrates.
1. Forinputdataacquiredoncepersecond,nospecialruleapplies
2. Forinputdataacquiredmorethanoncepersecond,thelastvalidsamplewithinthatsecond
shallbeused
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3. Forinputdataacquiredlessthanoncepersecond,thelastvalidsampleshallbeused.
3.2.2 DataValidation
InputDatashouldonlybeusedwhen:
1. Itisvalidatedusingapplicableavionicsvalidationstandardsand,
2. ItpassestheoutofRangecheck.Inputdatavaluesshouldbecheckedagainsttherangegivenin
Table1,Table2andTable3.Whentheinputdatavaluefallsoutsidethisrangeitisconsidered
invalid.
Datathatisinvalidshallnotbeusedinanycalculation.Observationsshallcontinuebutinvaliddatashall
eithernotreported,orbemaskedasspecified,usuallywithasolidi(/).
3.2.3 DataSmoothing
WhilepreviousspecificationsfortheAOShaveincorporatedalgorithmsforsmoothingoraveragingdata
parameters,thispracticeisnotrecommendedwithoutclearscientificallybasedjustification.Smoothing
oraveragingshouldnotbeimplemented.
3.2.4

DerivedParameters

3.2.4.1 PhaseofFlight
AMDARobservationintervalsshouldbelinkedtoaircraftflightphase.Thefollowingphasesofflight
conditionsshouldberecognized:
a) Ground
b) Ascent
c) Levelflight(orCruiseorEnroute)
d) Descent
AnassessmentofthePhaseofFlightshouldbemadeatregularonesecondintervals.Theaircraftwillbe
consideredtooccupyoneofthephasesofflightatanytime,buttransitionfromonephasetoanother
doesnotnecessarilyfollowtheorderlistedabove,exceptthatPhaseAscentshallalwaysfollowPhase
Groundfor60secondsminimum.
3.2.4.1.1
Ground
Theaircraftisconsideredonthegroundwhenitisnotinoneofthereportingflightmodes(ascent,en
routeordescent).Theaircraftisingroundphasewhen:
1. ComputedAirspeedisequaltoorlessthan100knotsorComputedAirspeeddataisinvalid,and
2. Air/groundswitchindicatesgroundorweightonwheelsistrue
Duringthisphasethesoftwareprocessesdatabutnoobservationnoraretransmissionsmade

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3.2.4.1.2
Ascent
Theaircraftisinascentwhen:
1. ComputedAirspeed>100ktsand
2. AltitudeRate>+200feet/minand
3. a.Pressurebasedscheme:PressureAltitude<=TopofClimb(seeTable7)or
b.Timebasedscheme:Flighttimesincetakeoff<=AscentTotalDuration(seeTable7)

WhenAscentfollowsthegroundphase,Ascentshallbeheldforaminimumof60seconds.
3.2.4.1.3
EnRoute
Theaircraftisinenrouteflightwhen:
1. ComputedAirspeed>100ktsand
2. a.Pressurebasedscheme:PressureAltitude>TopofClimb(seeTable7)or
b.Timebasedscheme:Flighttimesincetakeoff>Ascenttotalduration(seeTable7)
3.2.4.1.4
Descent
Theaircraftisindescentwhen:
1. ComputedAirspeed>100ktsand
2. AltitudeRate<200feet/minand
3. PressureAltitude<TopofDescent(seeTable9)
3.2.4.2 TurbulenceIndicator
Aturbulenceindicatorshouldbeaddedtothemeteorologicalobservationdata.Indicatorsthatshould
beusedare:
1. DerivedEquivalentVerticalGust(DEVG)and/or
2. EddyDissipationRate(EDR)
FordetailsonDEVGcalculationseeappendixC.1.1
FordetailsonEDRcalculationseeappendixC.1.2
3.2.4.3 WaterVapor/RelativeHumidity/DewPoint
WaterVapor/RelativehumidityorDewPointdatamaybeaddedtothemeteorologicalobservation
data.DetailsforthisparametercanbefoundinappendixC.2
Notethatthisparameterrequiresanappropriatesensortobeinstalledontheaircraft
3.2.4.4 RollAngleFlag
ARollAngleFlagshouldbeaddedtothemeteorologicalobservationdata.

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Theflagisusedinoneoftwomodes:
Mode1:eitherasaqualityindicatorforwindspeedanddirectionbasedontheaircraftrollangle(RA)
andpitchangle(PA)(Mode1),or,
Mode2:toprovideanindicationofwhichrangebintheaircraftrollanglevaluelieswithin.
InMode1,theRollAngleFlagwilltakethevalueB,G,H,WorU,withthecorrespondingmeaning
providedinthetablebelow.
InMode2,theRollAngleFlagwilltakeeitherthevalueH,WorUwiththesamemeaningforMode1,or
anintegervaluefrom0to9.
ThevaluesWandUareusedwithinanEnrouteWeathermessageonlytoindicatethattheWindSpeed
constitutesaMaximumWindReportasperthecriteriadefinedinParagraph3.4.1.1.
Table4:RollAngleFlagvalues

ROLLANGLEFLAGVALUE
B
G
H
W
U
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

MEANING
|RA|5OR(|RA|3AND|PA|3)
|RA|<5OR(|RA|<3AND|PA|<3)
ROLLANGLEUNAVAILABLEORUNDEFINED
MAXIMUMWINDEVENTANDRAANDPACORRESPONDTOVALUEG.
MAXIMUMWINDEVENTANDRAANDPACORRESPONDTOVALUEB.
0|RA|<1
1|RA|<2
2|RA|<3
3|RA|<4
4|RA|<5
5|RA|<7
7|RA|<10
10|RA|<14
14|RA|<20
20|RA|

MODE
1
1
1AND2
1AND2
1AND2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2

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3.2.4.5 AircraftConfigurationIndicator
Aderivedparameterrepresentingtheaircraftconfigurationstatusmaybeaddedtothemeteorological
observationdata.Whenused,theparametershallbeassignedavalueaccordingtotheconfiguration
statusoftheaircraftasinthefollowingtable:
Table5:AircraftConfigurationIndicatorValues

VALUE
0
1
2
3
4
5TO7
8
9
10
11
12TO14
15

3.3

MEANING
CONFIGURATIONUNDEFINED/NOTREPORTABLE
CLEANCONFIGURATION,GEARRETRACTED
FIRSTPOSITIONOFFLAPSEXTENSION,GEARRETRACTED
SECONDPOSITIONOFFLAPSEXTENSION,GEARRETRACTED
THIRDPOSITIONOFFLAPSEXTENSION,GEARRETRACTED

RESERVED
ONLYLANDINGGEARDOWNANDINPLACE
FIRSTPOSITIONOFFLAPSEXTENSION+LANDINGGEARDOWNANDINPLACE
SECONDPOSITIONOFFLAPSEXTENSION+LANDINGGEARDOWNANDINPLACE
THIRDPOSITIONOFFLAPSEXTENSION+LANDINGGEARDOWNANDINPLACE

RESERVED
WEIGHTONWHEELS=TRUE

AMDARObservations

AcrucialfunctionoftheAMDARsoftwareistotriggerandstoreobservations.Anobservationisasingle
setof(calculated)parametervaluesatapointinspaceandtime.
Observationsaremadeduringfollowingphasesofflightonly:
Ascent
Enroute(orCruise)
Descent

Observationsshallbemadeeither:
1) Whenapresetstaticpressurelevelisreached(Pressurebasedscheme,default)
2) Whenapresettimeperiodhaselapsed(TimeBasedscheme)

Thesoftwareshallbecapableofswitchingbetweeneitherschemebutonlyoneschemeshallbeactive
atanygiventime.
Observationsshallbestoredinadedicatedareaofmemoryuntilrequired.

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3.4

ObservationFrequency

Thefrequenciesatwhichmeteorologicalobservationsaremadedependonthephaseofflightthe
aircraftisin.Eachobservationhasthesameorderingofmeteorologicalinformationbutthetriggering
frequencycanvarywithphase.
ThefigurebelowillustrateshowAMDARshoulddifferentiatebetweenthevariousflightphases.
Ascent
Part 1

Ascent
Part 2

En-route

Descent
Part1

Top of Climb

Descent
Part 2

Top of Descent

100hPa

Figure4:AMDARflightphases

Thetablebelowdescribestheobservingfrequencyforthevariousflightphases.Paragraphsfollowing
providedetailedinformationontheobservingfrequency
Table6:AMDARobservingIntervalbyflightphase

ASCENTPART1
ASCENTPART2
ENROUTE:
DESCENTPART1
DESCENTPART2

PRESSUREBASEDSCHEME
5OR10HPAINTERVALSFORFIRST100HPA

TIMEBASEDSCHEME
3TO20SECSINTERVALS(DEFAULT6)FOR30TO200SECS
(DEFAULT90)
25OR50HPAINTERVALSABOVEFIRST100HPA 20TO60SECSINTERVALS(DEFAULT20)FOR490TO
1050SECS(DEFAULT510)
1TO60MINUTEINTERVALS(DEFAULT7)
25OR50HPAINTERVALSFROMTODTOLAST 20TO300SECSINTERVALS(DEFAULT40)FROMTOPOF
100HPA
DESCENTTOTOUCHDOWN.
5OR10HPAINTERVALSFORLAST100HPA

TheparagraphsbelowprovidedetailedinformationonthecontentofTable6.
3.4.1 EnrouteObservations
TheEnrouteobservationfrequencyisgenerictoboththepressureandtimebasedscheme.
Observationsshallbetriggeredatsettimeintervalsonly.Enroutedatameasurementsshouldbeginat
theconclusionofAscentandterminatewhenDescentobservationmeasurementsbegin.
FortimeintervalvaluesseeTable8.
3.4.1.1 MaximumWindObservation
Thisfacilityisrequiredtoaidinlocatingjetstreamcoresandisappliedinenrouteflightphaseonly.The
highestwindspeedmeasuredbetweenasequentialpairofroutineobservationsislabeledmaximum
wind.Maximumwindisderivedaccordingtothefollowingcriteria:
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1. Observationsofwindspeedmaximawillonlybereportedwhentheambientpressureislower
than600hPa,and
2. Theaircraftisinenroute,and
3. Thewindspeedexceeds60knotsabsolute,and
4. The wind speed exceeds by 10 knots or more the value observed at the previous routine
observation,and
5. The wind speed exceeds by 10 knots or more the value observed at the subsequent routine
observation.
TheMaximumWindoption,providesanadditionalobservationthatistakenatthetimeofoccurrence
ofthepeakwindmeasurement,usingthemaximumwindindicator(seeTable4)
3.4.2

PressureBasedScheme

3.4.2.1 RoutineObservations
Routineobservationwillensuredataisstillcollectedatregulartimeintervalsinthecasewherethe
aircraftlevelsoffduringascentand/ordescentandstaticpressuretriggeringcannotbeusedsincethe
staticpressuredoesnotchangeduringlevelflight.Itwillalsoensurethatobservationsaretakenifthe
aircraftdoesnotreachthesetaltitudefortopofclimb.
Routineobservationsshallbemadeatsettimeintervalsduringflightphaseascentanddescent.The
intervaltimerresetsandcommencesfollowingeachobservation.Ifnopressurelevelchangeis
encounteredduringthepresettimeinterval,anobservationistriggeredandthetimerisreset.Thetime
intervalisthesameastheenrouteobservationtimeinterval(seeparagraph3.4.1)
3.4.2.2 Ascent
DuringPhaseofFlightAscent,observationsshallbemadeatdefinedAmbientStaticPressurelevels
whichwillbeknownas"AscentTargetPressures".ThesewillbereferencedtotheAmbientPressureat
takeoff.
3.4.2.2.1
InitialObservation
MeteorologicaldatameasuredatthetimeoftheOFFevent(takeoff).
3.4.2.2.2
AmbientStaticPressureatTakeOff
Atthetimeoftakeoff,theAmbientStaticPressureshallbedeterminedbynotingtheaveragevalueofp
takenbetweenthesecondsuccessivemeasurementoftheComputedAirspeedthatexceeds60knots
andthesecondsuccessivemeasurementoftheComputedAirspeedthatexceeds90knots.TheAmbient
StaticPressureattakeoffwillbestored.
IftheComputedAirspeedfallsbackbelow60knotsbeforeAscentisentered,butafteranAmbientStatic
Pressureattakeoffvalueisstored,thenthevaluestoredshallbeoverwrittenwhentheComputed
Airspeednextincreasesfrom60through90knots.

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3.4.2.2.3
AscentPart1
ObservationsshallbemadewhentheAmbientStaticPressurefirstfallsbelowtheAscentTarget
Pressure.ThefirstAscentTargetPressureshallbethenearestmultipleof10hPa(modifiableto5hPa)
belowtheAmbientStaticPressureattakeoff.Thenextnine(modifiableto19if5hPaisused)Ascent
TargetPressuresshallfollowat10hPa(modifiableto5hPa)intervalsdecrementingfromthefirstAscent
TargetPressurelevel.
3.4.2.2.4
AscentPart2
TheeleventhAscentTargetPressureshallbethenearestmultipleof50hPa(modifiableto25hPa)below
thetenthAscentTargetPressure.ThetwelfthandsubsequentAscentTargetPressuresshallfollowat50
hPa(modifiableto25hPa)intervalsdecrementingfromtheeleventhAscentTargetPressure.
Observationswillcontinueat50hPa(modifiableto25hPa)intervalsthroughouttheremainderofthe
AscentPhase.
ThecompleteAscentdataprofilewillthusconsistoftenobservationsat10hPa(ortwentyat5hPa)
intervalsoverthefirst100hPa,andObservationsat50hPa(or25hPa)intervalsthereafteruntilthe
Ascentiscomplete.
3.4.2.3 Descent
DuringPhaseofFlightDescent,ObservationsshallbemadeatdefinedAmbientStaticPressurelevels,
whichwillbeknownas"DescentTargetPressures".
ThefirstDescentTargetPressureshallbethefirstmultipleof50hPa(modifiableto25hPa)abovethe
pressurerecordedwhentheDescentphasewasestablished.SubsequentDescentTargetPressuresshall
beat50hPa(modifiableto25hPa)intervals.ObservationsshallbemadewhentheAmbientStatic
PressurefirstrisesabovetheDescentTargetPressure.
Atandabove700hPathesoftwareshall,inadditiontothecontinuedformationofObservationsat50
hPaintervals,formObservationsat10hPaintervalsincrementingfrom700hPa.Onlythetenmost
recentObservationsat10hPaintervalsareretained.Thisadditionalsamplingshallcontinueuntilthe
Descentiscompleted.Intheeventoftheaircraftlandingbeforeacompletesetof50hPa(modifiableto
25hPa)observationshavebeenmadethemessagewillbepaddedoutwiththe/characterfollowedby
anewmessagewhichcontainsthetenObservationsmadebeforetouchdown.Thecompletesetof
DescentObservationsisthusaseriesofobservationsat50hPaintervals,augmentedbyadetailed
verticalsurveyofthelast100hPain10hPaincrements,whichshallnotincluderepeatsofobservations
at50hPaintervals.

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3.4.3

TimeBasedScheme

3.4.3.1 Ascent
3.4.3.1.1
InitialObservation
AninitialobservationistriggeredattheOFFevent.
3.4.3.1.2
Part1
FollowingtheInitialobservation,observationsareaccumulatedatsettimeintervalsuntilthepart#1
durationlimitisreached,countedfromtheOFFevent.ForintervalanddurationvaluesseeTable7
3.4.3.1.3
Part2
ObservationsareaccumulatedfromtheexpirationofthePart#1dataacquisitionperiod.Part#2data
observationsaretakenatsettimeintervalsuntiltheAscenttotaldurationlimitisreached,countedfrom
theOFFevent.ForintervalanddurationvaluesseeTable7
3.4.3.2 Descent
DescentdatameasurementsbeginatTopofDescentandareaccumulatedatasettimeinterval.Topof
Descentismodifiable.
ForTopofDescentandintervalvaluesseeTable9.

3.5

MessageCompilation

3.5.1 Content
Observationsarecollectedandstoredduringflight.Whenapresetnumberofobservationsarestored,
amessageshallbeformedcontainingtheseobservations.Afteramessageistransmitted,the
observationsshallbediscarded.Themessageshallhaveatleastthefollowinginformation:

IdentificationasAMDARdata

Softwareversionindicatori.e.whatspecificationitconformsto

Reportingscheme(timebasedorpressurebased)

Observationdata

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3.5.2 Format
Themessageformatdependsonthestandardadopted.ForAOSFRS(thisdocument)seeAppendixA.
3.5.3 Transmission
Regardlessoftheformat,messagesshallbesendtothegroundassoonastheyarecompleteviathe
bestmeanspossible.
Pendingmessagesshallbesendeventhoughthepresetnumberofobservationshasnotbeenreached
insituationsoutlinedbelow:
1. Flightphasetransitions
Forexample;theaircrafttransitionsfromflightphaseascenttoflightphaseenroute,thepre
setnumberofobservationsistenbutonlyfiveobservationsarestored.Inthiscase,amessage
shallbesendwithonlyfiveobservations.
2. Reportingturnedoffbysoftwarecontrol
Forexample;reportingduringdescentisturnedoninitially.Duringdescent,reportingis
switchedoffbyuplinkcommand.Atthattimeonlysevenobservationswerestored.Inthiscase,
amessageshallbesendwithonlysevenobservations.Moreinformationonsoftware
configurationcontrolcanbefoundinparagraph3.6.

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3.6

SoftwareConfigurationControl

Itshallbepossibletoconfigurethesoftwaretoallowreportingbehaviortobealtered.
Changesinconfigurationareestablishedbyanycombinationofthefollowingmethods(inorderof
preference):
1. ACARSuplinkcommands
2. Manualentrythroughflightdeckinterfacedisplays
3. Codechanges
Changestotheconfigurationbyoneofthemethodsdescribedaboveareconsideredpermanentuntil
changedagain.Ifforwhateverreasontheconfigurationsettingsarelost,thesettingsshallrevertto
default.
3.6.1 ObservationFrequencyControl
FollowingtablesdescribetherequiredobservationfrequencycontrolparametersforAscent,Enroute
andDescent.
Table7:Ascentobservationcontrolparameters

CHARACTERS
1

DATA
0OR1

SS

SSS

SS

SSS

NN

NN

NN

NNN

AOSFRSversion04

DESCRIPTION
REMARKS
PRESSUREBASEDSCHEME(0)ORTIMEBASEDSCHEME DEFAULT=0
(1)
ASCENTPART1TIMEINTERVAL(SECONDS)
TIMEBASEDSCHEME
DEFAULT=06
RANGE=0320
ASCENTPART1DURATION(SECONDS)
TIMEBASEDSCHEME
DEFAULT=090
RANGE=030200
ASCENTPART2TIMEINTERVAL(SECONDS)
TIMEBASEDSCHEME
DEFAULT=20
RANGE=2060
ASCENTTOTALDURATION(SECONDSX10)
TIMEBASEDSCHEME
DEFAULT=051
RANGE=051111
PART1PRESSUREINTERVAL(HPA)
PRESSUREBASEDSCHEME
VALUE=5OR10
DEFAULT=10
PRESSUREBASEDSCHEME
NUMBEROFOBSERVATIONSMADEDURINGASCENT
PART1.
VALUE=10OR20
DEFAULT=10
NOTE:PART1PRESSUREINTERVALXPART
1NUMBEROFOBSERVATIONSMUSTBE100
PART2PRESSUREINTERVAL(HPA)
PRESSUREBASEDSCHEME
VALUE=25OR50
DEFAULT=50
TOPOFCLIMB(X100FT)
DEFAULT=200

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0OR1

RANGE=1503501)
ROUTINEOBSERVATIONSENABLED(1)ORDISABLED(0) DEFAULT=1

Note1:DefaultsettingsfortheTopOfClimbmustbechosentomatchoperationalprofilesoftheaircrafttype,i.e.
theymustbesetlowerthanthecommoncruisealtitudefortheaircrafttypethesoftwarewillbeinstalledon.
Table8:Enrouteobservationcontrolparameters

CHARACTERS
2

MM

DATA

0OR1

DESCRIPTION
OBSERVATIONINTERVAL(MINUTES)
ENABLE(1)ORDISABLE(0)MAXIMUMWIND
REPORTING

REMARKS
DEFAULT=7
RANGE=160
DEFAULT=1

Table9:Descentobservationcontrolparameters

CHARACTERS
1

DATA
0OR1

SSS

NN

NNN

0OR1

3.6.2

DESCRIPTION
REMARKS
PRESSUREBASEDSCHEME(0)ORTIMEBASEDSCHEME 0=DEFAULT
(1)
DESCENTTIMEINTERVAL(SECONDS)
TIMEBASEDSCHEME
DEFAULT=040
RANGE=010300
DESCENTPRESSUREINTERVAL(HPA)
PRESSUREBASEDSCHEME
VALUE=25OR50
DEFAULT=50
TOPOFDESCENT(X100FT)
DEFAULT=200
RANGE=150350
ROUTINEOBSERVATIONSENABLED(1)ORDISABLED(0) DEFAULT=1

ReportingControl

3.6.2.1 Reportingon/off
Itshallbepossibletoturnreportingonoroffcompletelyorbyflightphase,inaccordancewiththetable
below:
Table10:AMDARswitch

CHARACTERS
1

DATA
N

DESCRIPTION
REPORTACTIVATIONFLAG

REMARKS
0=REPORTINGOFF(DEFAULT)
1=DESCENTPHASEONLYACTIVE
2=ENROUTEPHASEONLYACTIVE
3=ENROUTE&DESCENTPHASESACTIVE
4=ASCENTPHASEONLYACTIVE
5=ASCENT&DESCENTPHASESACTIVE
6=ASCENT&ENROUTEPHASESACTIVE
7=ALLFLIGHTPHASESON

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3.6.2.2 GeographicalControlboxes
Itshallbepossibletoconfigureaminimumof10geographicalboxesinwhichreportingisenabledor
disabled.Outsidetheseboxesreportingisdisableddependingontheairportlimitation(see
paragraph0).
Aboxisdefinedbysettingtwolateralandtwolongitudinalboundariesindegrees.Whendefiningthe
boundaries,SOUTHandWESTarenegativei.e.20Sis20and40Wis040
TheareawillalwaysbedefinedasthatbetweenLAT1toLAT2inasoutherlydirection,andLON1to
LON2inaneasterlydirection(20N80S,120W50Eforexample).
Figure5:GEOboxdescription

Theorderofpriorityfortheseboxesshouldbefrom10(ormoreifimplemented)to1,thusallowinga
largeareatobeenabledforreportingusingbox1andasmallerregiontobedisabledwithinthisbox,
usingbox2forexample.Defaultsettingsareasfollows:
Table11:Geographicalcontrolboxdefaultsettings

BOX
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

LAT1
90
90
90
90
90
90
90
90
90
90

LAT2
90
90
90
90
90
90
90
90
90
90

LON1
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180

LON2
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180
180

STATUS
DISABLEREPORTING
DISABLEREPORTING
DISABLEREPORTING
DISABLEREPORTING
DISABLEREPORTING
DISABLEREPORTING
DISABLEREPORTING
DISABLEREPORTING
DISABLEREPORTING
ENABLEREPORTING

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3.6.2.3 Airportspecificreporting
Itshallbepossibletoconfigureaminimumof20airportsaroundwhichreportingforascent,descentor
both,canbeenabledordisabled.Thesettingsappliedtothesespecificlocationsshalltakepriorityover
thegeographicallimitingfunction.
EachairportshallbedescribedbyitsfourletterICAOairportdesignator.Aflagisusedtocontrol
whetherobservingduringascent,descentorbothisactivatedordeactivatedforthislocation.Following
tableshowstheparameterconfigurationforthefirstairport.Thisistoberepeated19times.
Table12:Airportcontrolparameters

CHARACTERS
4
1

DATA
IAIAIAIA
FA

DESCRIPTION
ICAOAIRPORTDESIGNATOR
AIRPORTACTIVATIONFLAG

REMARKS
0000=DEFAULT
0=ASCENTON/DESCENTON(DEFAULT)
1=ASCENTON/DESCENTOFF
2=ASCENTOFF/DESCENTON
3=ASCENTOFF/DESCENTOFF

3.6.2.4 TimeLimiting
Itshallbepossibletoconfigureasingletimewindowduringwhichreportingisinhibited.
Table13:Timelimitcontrolparameters

CHARACTERS
4

DATA
DESCRIPTION
H1H1H2H2 DISABLEOBSERVATIONSBETWEENSELECTED
HOURS(0023)UTC,EVERYDAY

REMARKS
H1H1=STARTOFINHIBITPERIOD
H2H2=ENDOFINHIBITPERIOD
DEFAULT=0000

Thedefaultvalueisinterpretedasnointervalselectedandreportthoughall24hourperiods.Theinhibit
periodstartsatthefirstdesignatedhourinthedayandendswhenthenextdesignatedhourisreached
thesameornextday.Thus2301meansinhibitbetween2300hoursand0100hoursthenextday,every
day.(twohoursspanningmidnightUTC).
3.6.3 ConfigurationMessage
Thesoftwareshallprovideforamessagethatliststhecurrentsettingsforallofthecontrolparameters
mentionedinpreviousparagraph.
Themessagecanberequestedviaeither(inorderofpreference)
1. Anuplinkcommand.
2. Manualrequestthroughflightdeckinterfacedisplays
ForcontentsandformatoftheconfigurationmessageseeAppendixB

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3.6.4 AMDAROptimizationMessage
AnAMDARoptimizationmessagemaybesenttotheNMSand/orairlinepriortodepartureofevery
flight.ThismessageallowstheNMSand/orairlinetoalterthesoftwareconfigurationpriortoflightand
therebymanagedatavolumesandeliminateredundantobservationsandmessages.
Forexample,anascentprofileisrequiredforanairportonlyonceperhour.Butifduringthathourmore
thenoneAMDARequippedaircrafttakesoff,thesystemisfilledwithdatathatisnotrequired.Inorder
topreventmultipleaircraftsendingAMDARmessages,agroundbasedsystemdetermineswhataircraft
toswitchoffbyusingtheinformationintheoptimizationmessage.
TheoptimizationmessagemaybeastandardOOOImessagebutshouldatleastcontain:
AircraftIndicator
TimeOut(leavinggateorparkingposition)
Departure/ArrivalStation

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AppendixA
A.1

AOSFRSmessageformatversion04

Introduction

ThisappendixspecifiestheAOSFRSmessageformat.TheAOSFRSmessageformatprovidesabasic
meteorologicalmessagewithonlytheminimumamountofinformationthatwillstillrenderamessage
usefulasameteorologicalmessage.Atthesametimeitallowsmaximumflexibilitytoaddinformation
thatenhancesthebasicreport,ifthisinformationisavailable.
Reasonforthisapproachistoallowtheformattobeusedonawidevarietyofaircraft/airlineswhere
somemayonlyhavethebasicinformationavailable,andothersmaybeabletoprovidealotmore
information.
Thedatathatissendtothegroundissetupintwosections,thefirstaheadersectionwithinformation
suchastheAOSFRSmessageversionandtheaircraftidentifier,thesecondpartconsistsof10
observationswiththerelevantparametervalues.Adetaileddescriptionisgivenbelow.

A.2

Header

Eachmessageshallhaveaheadercontainingtheinformationasdescribedinthetablebelow.
Table14:AOSFRSmessageheader

#OFCHAR

CONTENT

FORMAT

NOTES

1
2

CHARACTER
NUMBER
13
126

3
1TO26

AMDARMESSAGEVERSION
OPTIONALPARAMETERINDICATION

A04
#ORATHRUZ

3
3
3

17
8
9

8
1
1

AMDARAIRCRAFTIDENTIFIER

AAAAAAAA
NORC
0OR1

SEEOPTIONAL
PARAMETERS
1
2

10

PORB

3
3

1114
1518

4
4

AAAA
AAAA

4
4

LINE
NUMBER

NORMAL(N)ORCOMPRESSED(C)
TIMEBASED(0)ORPRESSUREBASEDSCHEME
(1)
ALTITUDEREFERENCE:PRESSUREALTITUDE
(P)ORBAROMETRICALTITUDE(B)
DEPARTUREAIRPORT
ARRIVALAIRPORT

Notes:
1.

TheAMDARidentifierisassignedbytherequestingmetoffice.

2.

Normal means the data is not compressed. Compressed means the data is encoded using the
compressionschemedescribedinAppendixD.

3.

PressureAltitudeinICAOStandardAtmosphere=PALT;
BarometricAltitudeinQNHadjustedatmosphere=BALT;
IfBALTisreported,conversiontothePressureAltitude(PALT)scalewillbenecessaryingroundprocessing
usingrunwayorareaQNHatthetimeoftheobservation.Thisisessentialbeforedatacanbeusedor
exchanged.IfbothPALTandBALTareavailable,PALTispreferred.


4.

A.3

DepartureandArrivalairportarerepresentedbytheirICAOcode.Reportingofthesefieldsisoptionalbut
ifavailable,stronglyrecommended.

Body

Theheadershallbefollowedby10meteorologicalobservations,eachobservationononeline.The
observationsshallcontaintheBasicObservationSequenceasdescribedinTable15.Allparametersshall
berightjustified.
A.3.1 BasicObservationsequence

Table15:AOSFRSBasicObservationSequenceformat

CHARACTER
NUMBER
1
26
712
1319
2023
2427
2830
3133

#OF

CONTENT

FORMAT

NOTES

PHASEOFFLIGHTINDICATOR
LATITUDEINMINUTES
LONGITUDEINMINUTES
DAY/TIME
ALTITUDEINTENSOFFEET
STATICAIRTEMPERATURETENTHSOFC
WINDDIRECTION
WINDSPEED

SNNNN

SOUTHISNEGATIVE

EXAMPLE

CHAR

1
5
6
7
4
4
3
3

SNNNNN

WESTISNEGATIVE

NNNNNNN

NNNN
SNNN
NNN
NNN

R
2976
6081
879661
3899
525
160
025

Notes:
1.

PhaseofFlightisindicatedasfollows:
Ascent
=A
Enroute=R
Descent=D

2.

Theday/timeispresentedassecondsintothemonth,andiscalculatedasfollows:
((DATEDD-1)*86400) + (GMTHH*3600) + (GMTMM*60) + GMTSS

Example1:
AnobservationismadeonJuly1stat20:53:22UTC,thecorrespondingday/timewillbe
((11)*86400)+(20*3600)+(53*60)+22=75202secondsintothemonth

Example2:
AnobservationismadeonNovember11that04:21:01UTC,thecorrespondingday/timewillbe((11
1)*86400)+(4*3600)+(21*60)+1=879661secondsintothemonth

A.3.2 OptionalParameters
TheBasicObservationSequencemaybeamendedwithoptionalparameters,iftheyareavailable.
OptionalparametersareassignedaHeaderIndicator(A,B,Cetc.)Thisletterisusedintheheaderto
indicatethatthebasicobservationsequenceisfollowedbyoneormoreoptionalparameter.Foreach
optionalparameterthatisaddedtothebasicobservationsequence,theHeaderIndicatorassociated
withtheoptionalparametershallbeaddedinline2intheheader.Thesequenceoftheletters
determinestheorderinwhichtheoptionalparametersareadded.A#inline2indicatesnoadditional
parametersfollowthebasicobservationsequence.
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OptionalparametersaredescribedinTable16below.Allparametersshallberightjustified.
Table16:AOSFRSOptionalParametersFormat

#OF
HEADER
INDICATOR CHAR
A
1
B
1OR9

CONTENT

FORMAT

NOTES

ROLLANGLEFLAG

SEEPARAGRAPH3.2.4.4

EDR

EXAMPLE
U
E12345678

ORCNNNNNNNN

C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K

3
3
3

1
2
6
6
1

DEVG

NNN

TRUEAIRSPEED

NNN

TRUEHEADING

NNN

GNSSALTITUDE

NNNN

ANTIICE(ENGINEORWINGORBOTH?)

A/CCONFIGURATIONINDICATOR

NN

SEEPARAGRAPH0

WATERVAPOR

NNNNNQ

SEEAPPENDIXC.2ORCIMO?

RELATIVEHUMIDITY

NNNNNQ

SEEAPPENDIXC.2ORCIMO?

ICING

7
854
145
3750
1
01
123450
05000U
1

Notes
1.Antiice
Antiiceshallbereportedusingthefollowinglogic:
1
=
Antiicenotactivated
2
=
Antiiceactive
/
=
Antiiceundeterminedorinvalid:
2.Icing
Icingwillbereportedasvalue1whentheaircrafticingsensorindicatesnoiceaccretion,asvalue2when
thesensorindicatesiceaccretionisoccurring,andasvalue0whenthestatusoficingisnotabletobe
determined(noterequiresseparatesysteminstalled,movenotetotable3inCH3)

Example1
Amessagewithonlythebasicobservationsequencewouldlookasfollows:
A4
#
AZ0001N1PEHAMKJFK
R-2976 6081 8796613899-525160
R-2976 6081 8796613899-525160
R-2976 6081 8796613899-525160
R-2976 6081 8796613899-525160
R-2976 6081 8796613899-525160
R-2976 6081 8796613899-525160
R-2976 6081 8796613899-525160
D-2976 6081 8796613899-525160
D-2976 6081 8796613899-525160
D-2976 6081 8796613899-525160

AOSFRSversion04

25
25
25
25
25
25
25
25
25
25

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Thisindicatesthattheobservationsinthemessagearebasicobservationsonly,aircraftAZ0001isflying
fromAmsterdamtoNewYork,thedataisnotcompressedandtheobservationsinascentanddescent
arebasedonthepressurescheme,usingBarometricaltitude.

AOSFRSversion04

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Example2:
GNSSandAntiiceareavailableandareaddedtothebasicobservationsequence.Amessagewould
thenlookasfollows
A04
FG
AZ0001N1BEHAMKJFK
A-2976 6081 8796613899-525160 25U38540
A-2976 6081 8796613899-525160 2538540
A-2976 6081 8796613899-525160 2538540
A-2976 6081 8796613899-525160 2538540
A-2976 6081 8796613899-525160 2538540
A-2976 6081 8796613899-525160 2538540
A-2976 6081 8796613899-525160 2538540
A-2976 6081 8796613899-525160 2538540
A-2976 6081 8796613899-525160 2538540
R-2976 6081 8796613899-525160 2538540
ThisindicatesthattheobservationsinthemessagearebasicobservationsamendedwithGNSSandAnti
iceinformation,aircraftAZ0001isflyingfromAmsterdamtoNewYork,thedataisnotcompressedand
theobservationsinascentanddescentarebasedonthepressurescheme,usingBarometricaltitude.
Example3:
WaterVapor,TrueAirspeed,Antiice,A/CconfigandEDRareavailableandaddedtothebasic
observationsequence,inthatorder.Themessagewouldlooklike:
A04
IDGHB
NL0032N0BWMKKYMML
A-2976 6081 8796613899-525160
A-2976 6081 8796613899-525160
R-2976 6081 8796613899-525160
R-2976 6081 8796613899-525160
R-2976 6081 8796613899-525160
R-2976 6081 8796613899-525160
R-2976 6081 8796613899-525160
R-2976 6081 8796613899-525160
D-2976 6081 8796613899-525160
D-2976 6081 8796613899-525160

25123450854101E12345678
25123450854101E12345678
25123450854101E12345678
25123450854101E12345678
25123450854101E12345678
25123450854101E12345678
25123450854101E12345678
25123450854101E12345678
25123450854101E12345678
25123450854101E12345678

ThisindicatesthattheobservationsinthemessagearebasicobservationsamendedwithWaterVapor,
TrueAirspeed,Antiice,A/CconfigurationandEDRinformation,aircraftNL0032isflyingfromKuala
LumpurtoMelbourne,thedataisnotcompressedandtheobservationsinascentanddescentare
basedonthetimebasedscheme,usingBarometricaltitude

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AppendixB

AOSFRSConfigurationMessage

Aconfigurationmessagecanberequestedtoallowausertocheckthecurrentstatusofthe
configurationparametersusedbytheAOS.Theconfigurationmessageisonlyrequiredwhenitcan
actuallyberetrievedfromtheaircraftsomehow.Adetaileddescriptionisgivenbelow.
SA4
IAIA DDDDAAAA Sp AsIphAaG:IsgA:IsaT:Ist
AInt /N/Int RInt DInt / Int
A1

TOCT

L1

A2

Y1

BB Lat /Lat
N

Y1

BB Lat /Lat
N

Y1

BB Lat /Lat
N

Y1

BB Lat /Lat
N

D1

D2

L2

BB Lat /Lat
N

TODT H1H2H3H4

Y1

Y2
Y2
Y2
Y2
Y2

Long /Long
X1

Long /Long
X1

Long /Long
X1

Long /Long
X1

Long /Long
X1

X2
X2
X2
X2
X2

S BB Lat /Lat
B

Y1

S BB Lat /Lat
B

Y1

S BB Lat /Lat
B

Y1

S BB Lat /Lat
B

Y1

S BB Lat /Lat
B

Y1

Y2
Y2
Y2
Y2
Y2

Long /Long
X1

Long /Long
X1

Long /Long
X1

Long /Long
X1

Long /Long
X1

A1ICAO /S A5ICAO /S A9ICAO /S A13ICAO /S A17ICAO /S

N

X2
X2
X2
X2

A4ICAO /S A8ICAO /S A12ICAO /S A16ICAO /S A20ICAO /S

N

S
S
S
S

B
B
B
B
B

A3ICAO /S A7ICAO /S A11ICAO /S A15ICAO /S A19ICAO /S

N

A2ICAO /S A6ICAO /S A10ICAO /S A14ICAO /S A18ICAO /S

N

X2

A
A

TheBoldand/charactersarefixedcharacters.

Table17:AOSFRSconfigurationmessagecontents

PARAMETER
SA04
IAIA
DDDD
AAAA
S P
AS
IPH
AA
ISG
ISA
IST
INTA1
N
INTA2
INTR
INTD1
INTD2
TL1

DESCRIPTION
STATUSFORAOSFRSMESSAGEVERSION
AMDARIDENTIFIER(MAX8CHARACTERS)
DEPARTUREAIRPORT
ARRIVALAIRPORT
PRESSUREBASED(P)ORTIMEBASED(T)SCHEME
AMDARSWITCHSETTING
FLIGHTPHASEATTIMEOFREQUEST
AMDARACTIVEATTIMEOFREQUEST(Y/N)
GEOGRAPHICALINRANGEATTIMEOFREQUESTY/N
AIRPORTACTIVEATTIMEOFREQUESTY/N
TIMEWINDOWACTIVEATTIMEOFREQUEST
OBSERVINGINTERVALDURINGASCENTPART1,INHPAORSECONDS
NUMBEROFOBSERVATIONSMADEDURINGASCENTPART1
OBSERVINGINTERVALDURINGASCENTPART2,INHPAORSECONDS
OBSERVINGINTERVALDURINGLEVELFLIGHTINSECONDS
OBSERVINGINTERVALDURINGDESCENTPART1,INHPAORSECONDS
OBSERVINGINTERVALDURINGDESCENTPART2,INHPA
TOPOFCLIMBSETTINGINTHOUSANDSOFFEET

AOSFRSversion04

FORMAT
AAAA
AAAAAAAA
AAAA
AAAA
A
N
A
A
A
A
A
NN
NN
NN
NNN
NN
NN
NNNN

NOTES

ICAOCODE
ICAOCODE

1
2

EXAMPLE
SA04
AU0013
EHAM
KJFK
P
7
A
Y
N
Y
Y
10
10
50
420
50
10
2000

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TL2
H1H2H3H4
BN
LATY1
LATY2
LONGX1
LONGX2
S B
ICAON
SA

TOPOFDESCENTSETTINGINTHOUSANDSOFFEET
TIMEWINDOWSETTING
GEOGRAPHICALBOXNUMBER(0TO9)
LATITUDEVALUEY1APPLIEDTOBOXBNINDEGREES
LATITUDEVALUEY2APPLIEDTOBOXBNINDEGREES
LONGITUDEVALUEX1APPLIEDTOBOXBNINDEGREES
LONGITUDEVALUEX2APPLIEDTOBOXBNINDEGREES
STATUSOFBOXBN(1=REPORTINGACTIVE,0=REPORTING
DISABLED)
ICAOCODEOFAIRPORTNUMBERAN
STATUSOFAIRPORT(1=REPORTINGACTIVE,0=REPORTING
DISABLED)

NNNN
NNNN
N
SNN
SNN
SNNN
SNNN
N

2000
0000
1
30
50
40
120
1

AAAA
N

EHAM
1

Notes:
1.

2.

Flightphasecharacters
G
=
Ground
A
=
Ascent
R
=
Enroute
D
=
Descent

AMDARactiveshowsifAMDARisreporting,asfollows
Y
=
AMDARisreporting
N
=
AMDARisinactive

MessageExample

SA04
AU0113 EHAMKJFK P 7 A Y G:0 A:1 T:1
A10/10/50R420 D50/10
TOC 20TOD20 0000
B060/ 20 -100/ 601 B5
0/
0
0/
0 0
B1
0/
0
0/
0 0B6
0/
0
0/
0 0
B2
0/
0
0/
0 0B7
0/
0
0/
0 0
B3
0/
0
0/
0 0B8
0/
0
0/
0 0
B4
0/
0
0/
0 0B9
0/
0
0/
0 0
A1 EHAM/1A5 0000/0 A9 0000/0 A130000/0A170000/0
A2KJFK/0 A6 0000/0 A100000/0 A140000/0A180000/0
A3 0000/0 A7 0000/0 A110000/0 A150000/0A190000/0
A4 0000/0 A8 0000/0 A120000/0 A160000/0A200000/0

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AppendixC

OptionalDerivedParameters

Thisappendixdescribesthederivationforparametersthatarenotpartofthebasicobservation
sequence.

C.1

Turbulence

C.1.1 DerivedEquivalentVerticalGust
TheDerivedEquivalentVerticalGustVelocity(DEVG)isaturbulenceindicatordefinedasthe
instantaneousverticalgustvelocitywhich,superimposedonasteadyhorizontalwind,wouldproduce
themeasuredaccelerationoftheaircraft.Theeffectofagustonanaircraftdependsonthemassand
othercharacteristics,butthesecanbetakenintoaccountsothatagustvelocitycanbecalculatedwhich
isindependentoftheaircraft.
TheinformationbelowisanextractfromtheAustralianDepartmentofDefence,StructuresReport418,
TheAustralianImplementationofAMDAR/ACARSandtheuseofDerivedEquivalentGustVelocityasa
TurbulenceIndicator,DouglasJ.Sherman,1985.
Thevelocityofthederivedequivalentverticalgust, U de ,(intenthsofmeterspersecond)maybe
calculatedbytheformula:

DEVG =

10 Am n
V

where n = peakmodulusvalueofdeviationofaircraftnormalaccelerationfrom1ginunitsofg.
m=

totalaircraftmassin(metric)tonnes

V=

calibratedairspeedatthetimeofoccurrenceoftheaccelerationpeak,inknots.

A=

Anaircraftspecificparameterwhichvarieswithflightconditions,andmaybeapproximatedbythe
followingformulae:

m
A = A + c 4 ( A c5 ) 1
m

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A = c1 +

c2

c3 + H ( kft )

=ValueofAwhenmassofaircraftequalsreferencemass
H=

altitudeinthousandsoffeet

m = Referencemassofaircraftin(metric)tonnes
Theparameters c1 , c 2 ,K , c5 dependontheaircraft'stypicalflightprofile.Forvariousaircraft,the
appropriateconstants,basedontheflightprofilesindicated,areshowninTable18.

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Table18:DEVGaircraftconstants
V1

Vc

Mc

h1

hc

knot

knot

Mach

ft

ft

Tonne

A300B4

130

300

0.78

5000

30000

120

0.971

2690

A310

130

300

0.78

5000

35000

120

19.6

574

A318

120

300

0.78

5000

35000

40

34.7

A319

120

300

0.78

5000

35000

50

33.9

A320-200

120

300

0.78

5000

35000

55

35.9

771

27

0.44

40.7

A321

120

300

0.78

5000

35000

60

34.8

716

28

0.41

39.3

Aircraft

c1

c2

c3

c4

c5

79

0.49

19.6

32

0.52

23.5

878

28

0.52

40.3

846

29

0.45

39.6

kft

A330-200

120

300

0.82

5000

35000

170

5.88

1010

55

0.44

13.7

A330-300

120

300

0.82

5000

35000

170

5.89

1010

54

0.44

13.6

A340-200

120

300

0.82

5000

35000

190

6.36

949

54

0.41

13.7

A340-300

120

300

0.82

5000

35000

190

6.34

948

54

0.41

13.6

B727

120

300

0.84

5000

30000

50

6.45

4580

83

0.54

37.3

B737-200

120

300

0.73

3000

35000

30

62.0

351

14

0.64

59.4
54.7

B737-300

120

300

0.73

3000

35000

40

56.4

328

15

0.56

B737-400

120

300

0.73

3000

35000

40

56.3

329

15

0.56

54.5

B737-500

120

300

0.75

3000

35000

40

56.4

303

14

0.57

54.3

B737-600

120

300

0.78

3000

35000

40

45.4

420

18

0.57

45.3

B737-700

120

300

0.78

3000

35000

50

42.4

374

19

0.54

42.4

B737-800

120

300

0.78

3000

35000

50

42.2

350

18

0.57

41.9

B747-200

140

300

0.85

5000

40000

250

-2.41

2230

97

0.65

11.5

B747-300

140

300

0.85

5000

40000

200

2.27

1630

81

0.69

13.3

B747-400

140

300

0.85

5000

40000

250

-7.78

3260

120

0.62

10.2

B747SP

140

300

0.85

5000

40000

250

7.44

644

48

0.74

12.4

B757-200

140

300

0.8

3000

40000

100

29.2

298

22

0.55

30

B757-300

140

300

0.8

3000

40000

100

28.9

292

21

0.55

29.7

B767-200

140

300

0.8

3000

40000

110

12.8

918

46

0.65

19.8

B767-300

140

300

0.8

3000

40000

100

13.1

821

42

0.69

19.4

B767-400

140

300

0.8

3000

40000

150

12.9

701

45

0.54

18.3

B777-200

140

300

0.82

3000

40000

170

12.6

198

21

0.72

13.0

B777-300

140

300

0.82

3000

40000

210

13.1

147

19

0.65

12.9

BAC111-200

120

280

0.7

3000

30000

30

55.8

924

27

0.54

60.1

BAC111-475

120

280

0.7

3000

30000

30

50.6

930

28

0.54

55.3

DC10-30

150

300

0.82

5000

30000

200

-6.45

4080

130

0.56

15.0

Electra

100

350

0.7

5000

30000

30

48.9

220

9.1

0.57

41.2

Fokker-100

130

280

0.7

3000

30000

35

52.9

917

27

0.52

57.2

KingAir 100

110

200

0.6

9000

25000

70.6

2280

89

0.74

223.

L1011-500

120

300

0.83

5000

35000

150

11.7

712

47

0.59

17.1

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C.1.2 EddyDissipationRate(EDR)
DetailsoftheEDRalgorithmandtheencodingprocesswillbeprovidedinafuturesupplementtothis
standard.

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C.2

AtmosphericWaterVaporContent

Dependingonthewatervaporsensorinstalled,thesoftwarewillbecapableofreportingatmospheric
watervaporcontentfordownlinkin3ways:
1. Mixingratio(r):definedtobetheratioofthemassofwatervaporcontenttothemassofdryair
ofanairsample.Theunitsofrareg/kg.
3

Resolution:1x10 g/kg.
Range:0to38g/kg.

2. Relativehumidity(RH):definedtobethedensityofwatervaporpresentintheatmosphere
expressedasapercentageofthedensityofwatervaporpresentwhentheairsampleis
saturated(airpressureandtemperatureheldconstant).Thatis:
RH=100x(densityofactualwatervapor/densityofsaturatedwatervapor)
Resolution:0.1%.
Range:0to100%

3. Dewpointtemperature(DPT):thetemperaturetowhichairmustbecooledinorderforitto
becomesaturated(airpressureheldconstant.TheunitsofDPTaredegreesCelsius(C).
Resolution:0.1C
Range:99to49C
Thesoftwarewillrequireaconfigurationparametertodeterminefromwhichsensorthewatervapor
contentshouldbeacquiredand,asaconsequence,howthewatervaporcontentshouldbeencoded.
WatervaporcontentwillbereportedinthedownlinkmessageasnnnnnQ.Wherennnnisthecoded
watervaporcontentandQisaqualitycontrolparameter.ThevalueofQwillbedependentonthetype
ofsensoremployedandtheunitsinwhichthewatervaporcontentisreported.
Table19:WaterVapourConfigurationCriteria

WATERVAPORSENSOR
NONE
WVSSII
?
?

CONFIGURATIONPARAMETER
0
1
2
3

DOWNLINKFORMAT(NNNNN)
/////
MIXINGRATIO
HUMIDITY
DEWPOINTTEMPERATURE

QCFORMAT(Q)
9
SEETABLE20
U
D

Inordertoobtainthehighestqualitywatervaporcontentdataontheground,itisalwayspreferableto
downlinkthewatervaporsensoroutputvariableasprovidedratherthanconvertingtooneofthetwo
alternativederivedvariables,e.g.ifthesensorprovidesmixingratio,thenthatiswhatshouldbe
reportedratherthanconvertingtorelativehumidityordewpointtemperatureforreporting.
AtthetimethisspecificationwaspreparedonlydetailsontheWVSSIIsensorwereknown.
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C.2.1

TheWVSSIISensor

C.2.1.1 Introduction
ThesecondgenerationWaterVaporSensingSystem(WVSSII)forcommercialaircraftusesadiodelaser
fortheaccuratemeasurementofwatervaporinformation.Thewatervaporinformationavailableisthe
massatmosphericwatervapormixingratioinkilogramsperkilogram(kg/kg).
TheWVSSIIhasaSystemsElectronicsBox(SEB)thatsendsthemixingratioinARINC429message(Octal
Label303)andbitsinOctalLabel270(relatedtoQvalues)totheavionicsbox(DFDAUorequivalent).
FirststepistocheckthestatusbitsinARINC429messageLabel270(seeSectionC.2.1.4below).If,asa
resultofthestatusbitchecks,theQvaluehasbeensetto2,3,4,or5,thennocalculationismadeand
thedatavaluesformixingratioaresetto(/////)asinSectionsC.2.1.3andC.2.1.4below.
Ontheotherhand,iftheQvaluehasnotbeensetbytheabovebitchecking,thentheQvalueissetto0
andcalculationsproceedasinSectionC.2.1.2below.Theencodingofthemixingratiovaluethen
proceedsasinSectionC.2.1.3below.
C.2.1.2 CurrentInputVariablesandCalculation
ThevariablesthatareinputtotheprocessingintheDFDAUareasfollows:
Ts:statictemperatureexpressedindegreesKelvin;i.e.,add273.15todegreescentigrade
Ps:staticpressureexpressedinPascals;i.e.,ifpressureinmillibarsorhPa,thenmultiplyby100
NotethatthismaybeobtainedasSTATICPRESSUREorcalculatedfromPRESSUREALTITUDE.
r:(mixingratioinkg/kg).ObtainedfromdiodelaseroftheWVSSIIissuppliedindigitalformtothe
DFDAUatarateofonceeverytwoseconds.
Themixingratioisusedintheobservationbuttherelativehumidity(RH)isusedasacontrolvariable.
Withtheaboveinputvariables,thecalculationofRHisperformedonceeverytwoseconds(usingthe
latestpressureandtemperature)asfollows:
Step1:Calculatewatervaporpressure(e)fromequation(1)
e = (Ps) ( r )/ (r + 0.62197)

(1)

Step2:Calculatesaturationvaporpressure(es)fromequation(2)
es = 10 ** [(10.286 Ts 2148.909) / (Ts 35.85)]

(2)

Step3:CalculateRHfromequation(3)

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RH = (e/es)(100)

(3)

Step4:RoundtheRHvaluetothenearestinteger
Add0.5tothefloatingpointRHvalue,andthentruncatethevaluetoaninteger.
Step5:IFRHlessthan101%,THEN
(i) Presentthemixingratiointhe5charactercode(NNNNN)accordingtoSectionC.2.1.3below.
(ii) Set the control character (Q) in the water vapor information field (NNNNNQ) to Q = 0 (see
SectionC.2.1.4below).
IFRHequaltoorgreaterthan101%,THEN
(i) Presentthemixingratiointhe5charactercode(SectionC.2.1.3below)
(ii) SetQ=1(SectionC.2.1.4below)
C.2.1.3 Presentingthe5characterMixingRatioField
ThemassmixingratioisbroadcastfromthespectraSensorsWVSSIIsensoronARINC429label303.For
detailedinformationseeSpectraSensorsDWGNo.0102100027,REV.C
ThemassmixingratioiscomputedwithintheWVSSIIsoftwareasafloatingpointnumberinkg/kg.In
ordertorepresentthisnumberasanintegervariableinthe32bitARINCword,thisnumberismultiplied
by220andsendtotheavionicsbox.Soinordertousethevalueneedstobedividedby220beforethe
datacanbeencoded.
Thewatervaporinformationispresentedasasixcharacterfield(NNNNNQ)wherethefirstfive
charactersareintegers(NNNNN)withthefollowingmeaning:
NNNNN = N1N2N3 N4N5= N1 N2 N3 N4 x 10(-3 N5)
Example:12345=1234x1035=1234x108kg/kg

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C.2.1.4 TheQualityControlCharacter(Q)
ThevalueQisaqualitycontrolcharacteranditsultimatenaturehasthemeaningdefinedintheTable
below.
Table20:WVSIIQualityControlParameter

SystemState

SoftwareLogic

DataOutput

Normaloperation

Air/Ground=Air

NNNNN0

RHgreaterthanorequalto101%

RH>thanor=to101%

NNNNN1

Inputlaserpowerlow

Laser<5%ofinitialpower

/////2

ProbeWVtemp.inputoutofrange

Proprietaryinformation

/////3

ProbeWVpressureinputoutofrange

Proprietaryinformation

/////4

Spectrallineoutofrange

Proprietaryinformation

/////5

Notdefined

/////6

Notdefined

/////7

Numericerror

e.g.,dividebyzero

/////8

NoWVSSinstalled

NoWVSSinstalled

/////9

TheQvaluesarebasedupontheinformationinvariousbitsintheOctallabel270(messagestatus)sent
bytheSEB.Thisisthefirstaction,tocheckthesebits!
IfBit13inlabel270is1thenlaserpowerislow.
SetQ=2,dataisnotcomputedandthe4charactercodeis/////2
IfBit14inlabel270is1thenthetemperaturesensorinthemeasurementcellisoutofrange.
SetQ=3,dataisnotcomputedandthe4charactercodeis/////3
IfBit15inlabel270is1thenthepressuresensorinthemeasurementcellIsoutofrange.
SetQ=4,dataisnotcomputedandthe4charactercodeis/////4
IfBit16inlabel270is1thenthespectrallineisoutofrange.
SetQ=5,dataisnotcomputedandthe4charactercodeis/////5
Whenallofthebits(#13through#16)arezerothatisnoproblemscalculationisperformedasin
SectionC.2.1.2andC.2.1.3.Ifthecalculationisperformedwithouterrorthedataisencodedasin
Section3andtheQissetto0(zero).IfRHisgreaterthan100%,thenthedataisencodedasinSection
C.2.1.3andtheQissetto1.Ifanumericalerroroccursinthecalculations,thedataissettosolidi
AOSFRSversion04

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(/////)andtheQissetto8sothe6charactercodeis/////8.

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AppendixD

DataCompression

Inordertominimizethenumberofcharacterinamessageandtherebytransmissioncost,twocoding
techniquesareappliedtothemessagecontents.Thefirsttechniquecodescodessomenumericvalues
intheremainingobservationsasdeltachangesfromtheirpreviousvaluesthisisasavingbecausemost
ofthequantitiesarephysicalvaluesthatvaryslowlywithtime.Thesecondtechniquecodesallinteger
numericvaluesinthemessageintothefullsetofavailableprintablecharacterse.g.arangeof19to
+20canbemappedonto40printablecharacters,thesocalledbase40compression.

D.1

Base40Compression

Abase40datacompressionschemecanbeappliedtotheintegervaluesinthemessage.Theinteger
valuesaremappedto40printablecharactersaccordingtoTable21.

Table21:Base40ConversionChart

0X
1X
2X
3X

0
0
A
K
U

1
1
B
L
V

2
2
C
M
W

3
3
D
N
X

4
4
E
O
Y

5
5
F
P
Z

6
6
G
Q
:

7
7
H
R
,

8
8
I
S

9
9
J
T
.

Findtherangethatthevaluetocompresswillfallinto.[0(40^y)/2,(40^y)/21]willbetheform
oftherange,whereyisthesmallestinteger=>1tomakethevaluetocompressfallintotherange
(seeTable22).
Addthebase40offsetprovidedinNotes:
1.

TheAMDARidentifierisassignedbytherequestingmetoffice.

2.

Normal means the data is not compressed. Compressed means the data is encoded using the
compressionschemedescribedinAppendixD.

3.

PressureAltitudeinICAOStandardAtmosphere=PALT;
BarometricAltitudeinQNHadjustedatmosphere=BALT;
IfBALTisreported,conversiontothePressureAltitude(PALT)scalewillbenecessaryingroundprocessing
usingrunwayorareaQNHatthetimeoftheobservation.Thisisessentialbeforedatacanbeusedor
exchanged.IfbothPALTandBALTareavailable,PALTispreferred.

4.

DepartureandArrivalairportarerepresentedbytheirICAOcode.Reportingofthesefieldsisoptionalbut
ifavailable,stronglyrecommended.

Table24and
Table25.Thebase40offsetisaddedtotheintegervaluetoensureonlypositiveintegers.
Takethenewvalueandconverttoabase40characterstring.

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Table22:DynamicRanges

CHARACTERSREQUIRED(YVALUE)
1
2
3
4
5
6

MINIMUMVALUE
20
800
32,000
1,280,000
51,200,000
2,048,000,000

MAXIMUMVALUE
19
799
31,999
1,279,999
51,199,999
2,047,999,999

Importantitemstonote
Valuesoutsideoftherange[2,048,000,000..2,047,999,999]cannotbeconvertedandshallreturn
/;
Decompressingastringcontainingnonvalidcharacterswillreturn2147483647;

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D.2

Messageformat,Compressed

WhenapplyingdeltaBase40theformatforthemessageformatchangesasfollows:
Table23:Header,compressed

#OFCHAR

CONTENT

FORMAT

NOTES

1
2

CHARACTER
NUMBER
13
126

3
1TO26

AMDARMESSAGEVERSION
OPTIONALPARAMETERINDICATION

A04
#ORATHRUZ

3
3
3

17
8
9

8
1
1

AMDARAIRCRAFTIDENTIFIER

AAAAAAAA
NORC
0OR1

SEEOPTIONAL
PARAMETERS
1
2

10

PORB

3
3

1114
1518

4
4

AAAA
AAAA

4
4

LINE
NUMBER

NORMAL(N)ORCOMPRESSED(C)
TIMEBASED(0)ORPRESSUREBASEDSCHEME
(1)
ALTITUDEREFERENCE:PRESSUREALTITUDE
(P)ORBAROMETRICALTITUDE(B)
DEPARTUREAIRPORT
ARRIVALAIRPORT

Notes:
5.

TheAMDARidentifierisassignedbytherequestingmetoffice.

6.

Normal means the data is not compressed. Compressed means the data is encoded using the
compressionschemedescribedinAppendixD.

7.

PressureAltitudeinICAOStandardAtmosphere=PALT;
BarometricAltitudeinQNHadjustedatmosphere=BALT;
IfBALTisreported,conversiontothePressureAltitude(PALT)scalewillbenecessaryingroundprocessing
usingrunwayorareaQNHatthetimeoftheobservation.Thisisessentialbeforedatacanbeusedor
exchanged.IfbothPALTandBALTareavailable,PALTispreferred.

8.

DepartureandArrivalairportarerepresentedbytheirICAOcode.Reportingofthesefieldsisoptionalbut
ifavailable,stronglyrecommended.

Table24:BasicObservationFormat,compressed

DESCRIPTION

TYPE

BASE40
OFFSET

ABSOLUTE

DELTA

RANGE

ALLOWED
RANGE

PHASEOFFLIGHTINDICATOR

LATITUDE(INSECONDS)

LONGITUDE(INSECONDS)

DAY/TIME(UTC)

AOSFRSversion04

10XABSOLUTE
1XABSOLUTE
9XDELTA

1XABSOLUTE
9XDELTA

1XABSOLUTE

N/A
1,280,000
32,000

1,280,000
32,000

N/A
324000TO
+324000
SECONDS

648000TO
+648000
SECONDS
0TO

N/A
32000

CHARACTERS

1
4

SUBSEQOB
S
1
3

FIRST
OBS

TO

+31999
SECONDS
32000
TO

+31999
SECONDS
0TO

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9XDELTA

2678399

32000

SECONDSINTO

SECONDS

THEMONTH

PRESSUREALTITUDEINTENSOFFEET
(REFERENCESAGAINSTSTANDARD
ICAOATMOSPHERE)
TEMPERATURE

10XABSOLUTE

32,000

10XABSOLUTE

800

WINDDIRECTION

10XABSOLUTE

WINDSPEED

10XABSOLUTE

TOTALS

100TO
+5,000TENS
OFFEET
800TO+799
TENTHSOFC
0TO360
DEGREES
0TO+800
KNOTS

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

23

19

Table25:Optionalparameters,compressed

DESCRIPTION

TYPE

BASE40
OFFSET

ABSOLUTE

DELTA

RANGE

ALLOWED

N/A

1
1+8*
2*

SUBSEQOB
S
1
1+8*
2*

RANGE

ROLLANGLEFLAG
EDR
DEVG

10XCHARACTER
10XCHARACTER
10XABSOLUTE

0
N/A
0

CHARACTERS

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

0TO800

FIRST
OBS

TENTHSM/SEC
TRUEAIRSPEED

10XABSOLUTE

0TO999

N/A

TRUEHEADING(TENTHOFDEGREES)

10XABSOLUTE

10XABSOLUTE

0TO3590

N/A

GNSSALTITUDE

100TO
N/A
3
3
+5,000TENS
OFFEET
ANTIICE
10XABSOLUTE
0
0TO2
N/A
1
1
A/CCONFIGURATIONINDICATOR
10XABSOLUTE
0
OTO15
N/A
1
1
WATERVAPOR
10XABSOLUTE
0
0TO99999
N/A
4
4
WATERVAPORQUALITY
10XCHARACTER N/A
N/A
N/A
1
1
ICING
10XABSOLUTE
0
0TO2
N/A
1
1
*
TOTALS

21+7
21+7*
*ThenumberofcharactersdependsonwhetherEDRorDEVGischosenastheturbulenceindicator.IfEDRis
chosen,italsodependsthevalueforEDR.Inthesetotals,DEVGisassumed(2characters),ifEDRischosen,the
totalnumberwouldbe21+7=28

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