MET – Meteorology

General
CHECK TROPOPAUSE HEIGHT IN ALL QUESTIONS. TRICKY!!
 ISA is 2° / 1000 ft / 11 km / 36.090 ft / -56,5 °C
 0 – 5% of air of lower troposphere consist of water vapor (per definition)
 Spread / Ceiling  400 ft / 1°C
 QNH is QFE reduced to MSL using the values of the standard atmosphere
 QNH can be equal to QFE
 QFE from QNH --> only elevation of airfield is required
 An aircraft is flying over the alps on a warm summer day --> lower indication
 Above Sea level
 Temp warmer than ISA  QFF < QNH
 Temp colder than ISA  QFF > QNH (cold air pressure will fall more rapidly)
 Below Sea level
 Temp warmer than ISA  QFF > QNH
 Temp colder than ISA  QFF < QNH (cold air pressure will fall more rapidly)
 Airport located as MSL
 QNH and QFE are derived from QFE by reducing the values starting from
elevation of the airport. As we are at MSL already, nothing to reduce here. The
values are the same, regardless of ISA conditions or not.
 Air temperature higher than ISA  altimeter will indicate a lower altitude than really flown
(the pressure levels are far away)
 Temp corrections are always related to the air column above surface
 QNH setting at airfield  show elevation
 QNH setting at sea level (not in ISA conditions) shows NOT zero (less than zero if
colder than ISA)
 The dry-bulb temperature is the
temperature of air measured by a
thermometer freely exposed to the air but
shielded from radiation and moisture. Dry
bulb temperature is the temperature that is
usually thought of as air temperature, and it
is the true thermodynamic temperature

 Wet bulb temperature: tells roughly how

moist the air is and lies between DEW Point
and OAT; falls with 1.8 °C / 1000 ft

 Subsidence is the descending air movement in a high pressure area

 May form an inversion (with haze and mist) due to the colder air at the surface
 Usually a stable layer
 Climb through subsidence inversion  improvement of visibility and decrease
performance above the inversion
 Inversions are sometimes called turbulence layer or turbulence inversion
 As a result of smooth air overlying a turbulent layer in the lower level (surface
friction level)
 Result is a vertical mixing and Stratus formation
 Lapse Rate is DALR even if mixing occurs by turbulence in lower levels. If the level is
unsaturated the lapse rate is DALR!!!
 Visibility reduced in Haze (HZ) due to dust particles below an inversion
 Advection is horizontal movement of air
 Moist air is less dense then dry air
 Surface inversion – air close to surface is cooled at night and the air above remains warm
 Isobars – lines of equal pressure QFF
 Isohypse – lines of equal height above MSL (usually in decameter on upper level charts)
 Isotherms – lines of equal temperature
 Isotachs - lines joining equal wind speeds
 Diurnal variation of temperature
 Major part of moist is in the lower part of the atmosphere
 Insolation is warming from the surface up to the top and disperses Stratus layers
 Visibility in tropical downpour can be down to tens of meters
 Pressure half’s at 18.000 ft (appr. 500 hPa) and again at 36.000 ft
850 – 5.000 ft 1 hPa per 27 ft at MSL
700 – 10.000 ft 1 hPa per 36 ft at 10.000 ft
500 – 18.000 ft 1 hPa per 50 ft at 18.000 ft
400 – 24.000 ft 1 hPa per 73 ft at 30.000 ft
300 – 30.000 ft
250 – 34.000 ft  Decrease in pressure is larger in the lower
200 – 39.000 ft parts than in the upper parts
 Minimum usable FL >= MSA  higher  Calculate min usable FL  take into
temp then ISA and QNH > 1013.25 hPa account lowest QNH and highest negative
temp diff from ISA

 Tropopause
 Equator: 50. – 60.000 ft / -60°C to -80°C
 Mid latitude: 35. – 40.000 ft / -55°C
 Pole: 25. – 30.000 ft / -50°C
Height +10/-10
Temp +5/-5
Examples of general Tropopause heights at some latitudes:
- 50°N  35.000 ft but down to 28.000 ft during
winter
- 60°N  30.000 ft but down to 25.000 ft during
winter
- 30°N  38.000 ft but up to 50.000 ft during
summer

Generally 8.000 ft – 12.000 ft variation

between summer and winter possible

 The layer just above the tropopause is

absolutely stable!

 Mean height tropical 0° isotherm is

16.000 ft

 latent heat is released during cooling

(keep in mind the back of your refrigerator)

 Saturated air mass descends down

slope  temp increase lower than dry air
as evaporation absorbs heat (evaporation
and absorbs must match)

 Sublimation is direct change from solid

to vapor
 Relative Humidity
 Actual/Required for saturation
 Increases with decreasing temperature and vice versa (actual remains constant
but required for saturation changes with changing temperature)
 In a rising (unsaturated) air parcel the actual mixing ratio is constant
 Mixing ratio is the number of gram of water vapor per kilogram of dry air
 Dewpoint is constant with changing pressure or temperature.
 Can only be equal or lower than the temp of an air parcel
 Can never be higher!!!
 Moderate turbulence is changes in altitude or attitude but aircraft remains in positive
control all the times (NOT rhythmic bumpiness  )
 Moderate to severe CAT  small scale and can cause damage. Manaouvering
complicated or even impossible. Pax feels unpleasant
 Flight with headwind toward high ground is likely to be more hazardous than flight with
tailwind toward high ground (in regard to mountain waves) as we will encounter down
draughts
 Coalescence
 2 or more droplets merge during contact to form a single droplet
 Essential to form rain
 In mid latitudes this process produces only drizzle and very light rain
 Bergeron-Findeisen process
 Describes development of large droplets in clouds
 It only takes place in clouds with super cooled water droplets and ice crystals
 Based on the difference of maximum vapor pressure over water and over ice of the
same temperature

 Use VIS and IR satellite (polar orbiting) to observe fog

 Use IR satellite (polar orbiting) to observe frontal movements
 Satellite observations are to locate fronts in areas with few observation stations
 Meteorological radars produce echoes for precipitation such as hail (NOT any cloud type)
 Visibility in rain is better than in drizzle
 To avoid CAT effects change flight level
 In summer with calm wind and sky clear, the lowest temp is half an hour after sunrise
 Valley inversion  often a
result of radiation cooling in
combination with gravity, both
affecting the air at the surface
of a mountain slope
 In mountain valleys on a
clear night radiation cooling
on the valley sides produces
cold air that slides down into
the valley bottom. This is the
katabatic effect, covered in
the low level winds section.
The cold air pooling in the
valley bottom generates a
temperature inversion – the
temperature rises as you
climb out of the valley.

Stability
 Air parcel rises as long as it is warmer than the surrounding air
 ELR is the laps rate of the current surrounding air of the environment
 DALR is 3° / 1000 ft
 SALR is 1.8° / 1000 ft or lower (0.6 °C / 100 m)

 Conditionally unstable
 ELR is between DALR and SALR
 Stable if rising air is dry
 Unstable if rising air is saturated
 Neutral stability if air has the same temp as the dry or saturated air
 Cold air advection in lower level of a certain layer increases the stability of this layer
 The air above is warmer
 Warm air advection in upper level has stabilizing effect for this layer
 The air below is colder
 An unsaturated parcel of air rises with DALR even in an isothermal layer
 2 – fog
 3 – low stratus clouds as dew point and
temp are converging

Wind
 Surface wind measured by anemometer
(in 10 m height)
 Cup-Type and Pressure tube most
common
 Measured wind is recorded in an
anemograph

 Sea breeze due to slack (gering) pressure

gradient and clear sky, relatively high land
temperatures

 Geostrophic wind
 Parallel to isobars (at higher levels),
straight lines and no surface friction involved
 Pressure Gradient Force and Coriolis
force are involved
 PGF = P / (rho x D)
 Geostrophic wind depends therefore on
density, earth rotation and geo latitude
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 Directly proportional to PGF

 Inversely proportional to Coriolis Force
( higher CF  slower wind speed)
 Inversely proportional to latitude (higher
latitude  higher CF  lower wind speed)
 Inversely proportional to density (lower
density = higher PGF = higher wind speed)
 Gradient wind
 Curved isobars
 Centrifugal force involved
 Low around a low (compared to geos.)
Centrifugal force opposes the PGF
 High around a high (compared to geos.)
Centrifugal force acts in the same direction
as PGF

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 Surface winds usually across the isobars  Veers  right

 Vertical extend of friction layer usually
depends on stability, wind speed and
roughness of the surface (app. 2.000 ft)
 Converging air (in a low) on the surface is
caused by friction
 SE to W is veering as the wind turns
clockwise
 Warm air advection wind is veering. A
veering wind turns clockwise with height.
Since warmer air is in the southern latitudes,
a south wind will promote the bringing of
warmer air into the forecast region.
 Backs  left
 Cold air advection wind is backing

 NH wind veers with

increasing height from
surface / friction layer
 NH wind back with
decreasing height to
surface / friction layer
 SH wind backs with
increasing height from
surface / friction layer
 SH wind veers with
decreasing height to
surface / friction layer

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 High  wind above

boundary layer parallel to
isobars. In boundary layer
at an angle out of the
centre
 Low  wind above
boundary layer parallel to
isobars. In boundary layer Courtesy of Aviationexam.com

at an angle towards the

centre
 Wind from the right on a
westerly track (wind from
the north) above boundary
layer in NH  fly from L to
H Courtesy of Aviationexam.com
  SH – low is in front if
wind blows from the right
and slightly from the tail at
2.000 ft or below (friction
layer)

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 Surface wind 30° back and 50% wind decrease

 See wind 10° back and 70% wind decrease

Air masses
 TC in summer from S Russia,
middle east and N Africa
 TM W Europe and sometimes
Scandinavia (source Azores)
 Extremely low temp is continental
polar

 Mid Summer North Atlantic 

Azores high and weak low over NE
Canada
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Clouds
 Clouds, fog or dew form always as a result of condensation (evaporation and following
condensation)
 Steady precipitation  NS and AS
(high layer clouds can accumulate more
water droplets)
 Steady but light precipitation / drizzle 
ST / SC (low layer clouds can not
accumulate so much water droplets)
 Steady is usually Stratus
 Showers  CU / CB / TCU
 Falling streaks (virga)  AC / AS  virga / falling streaks
 Mid latitudes (not layer) clouds only Water or ice pallets falling out of the cloud
containing water  drizzle and evaporate before reaching ground
AC NS
 Mid Layer 6.500 – 23.000 ft  Snow, ice pallets, rain, freezing rain, light
 Light to moderate icing and turb to severe icing, turbulence rarely more than
moderate
Widespread NS / AS maybe formed due to CI – average visibility > 1000 m and no icing
lifting
SC CU
 ground levels up to 6500 ft Indication for up and down draughts
 light to mod turb and light to mod ice CU humilis  fair weather cumulus
 In patches, sheets or grey or whitish CU congestus  great vertical extend
layers made up of elements resembling In mid-latitudes usually limited by
large pebbles or rollers, together or not, and temperature inversion
always clear of ground
Stratified clouds are a characteristic for a CS  Halo, main components are ice
stable atmosphere (not only no precipitation) crystals
AS  Main components are ice crystals and
water droplets
 If clouds extends only in one layer icing and turb is usually light to moderate. If they extend
in more than one layer it may severe as well.
 CB Capillatus  CB as we know with anvil at the top
 (In) CB usually no freezing rain
 Snow grains falls from ST and supercooled fog (very small (< 1 mm), never as showers)
 Turbulence Clouds  Stratus formed in winter as warm moist air moves over cold
land
 Stratus formed by turbulence will occur when in the friction layer mixing occurs by
turbulence and the condensation level is situated below the top of the turbulent layer
 AC castellanus  castle like and tower like  mid atmosphere instability and high mid-
altitude lapse rate  mod turb and potential icing  avoid  usually followed by CB /
thunderstorms
 AC lenticularis most stable compared to CB, AC castellanus and TCU
 Mountain waves are most likely to occur with stable air at mountain top and a wind for at
least 20 kt blowing across the mountain ridge
 Mountain waves are accompanied by rotor clouds only if sufficient moisture is present
 Moist stable layer of air is forced to rise against a mountain range  ST and not TS and
SH!!

Pressure systems / Climate

 Savannah  significant yearly variations  Polar climate mean temp of all month
in rainfall with wet and dry period below 10°C
 Snow / Tundra climate  high pressure in  Mediterranean climate – Anticyclonic and
winter with sub soil (Untergrund) being hot in summer and frontal depressions in
frozen winter. Annual rainfall < 700mm
 Tropical rain climate between 10°N and
10°S
 Isobaric surface bulge upwards  High pressure system
 Isobaric surface bulge downwards  Low pressure system
 ITCZ summer (July) over Africa 15°N to 20°N and in winter at equator
  Significant impact on Western Africa (10°N and 20°N) and northern coast of
Arabian sea in July
 Between 0°N – 7°N in January between Dakar and Rio de Janeiro
 Different wind directions on both sides
 Not ALWAYS CBs with high tops but frequent and widespread thunderstorms
 Rain showers, hail showers and thunderstorms occur the whole year but the
frequency is highest during two periods: April-May and October-November
 More variation over continents than over the oceans
 Africa
 Rainy season in equatorial Africa from March to May and October to November
(due to travel of ITCZ two times a year north and south)
 India
 Monsoons from SW during summer (starts in June)
 Monsoons from NE (dry and hazy air) during winter

Transition from SW to NE monsoon in India occurs in

September, October and November (image the Maldives)

 Australia
 SE trade winds except in summer when summer monsoon exists with winds from
the sea as NW monsoon (summer is during our winter) – influenced by ITCZ
movement
(During Australia's Winter months, The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) moves
northward, to about 10-15 degrees north of the equator (in the continental regions).
The ITCZ is where NE and SE trade winds converge, and thus the SE trade winds
must cross the equator, and thus enter the Northern Hemisphere.

Subsequently, due Coriolis force in the Northern Hemisphere, the SE trade winds are
deflected to the right to become SW trade winds.

NOTE: the opposite happens in Australia's Summer months with the NE wind
regimes, which are deflected to the left to become the NW Monsoon. )

 Melbourne in July --> subtropical high pressure with occasional passage of fronts
 July dry season with mainly SE winds
 Subtropical high pressure belt between 20° and 40° lat with westerly waves
 Westerly waves
 Frontal systems along polar front from west to east (look like waves)
 In winter most southerly position
 40° N – 70° N
 Mean time between polar frontal waves in Western Europe is 1 to 2 days
 Polar front in winter extends from Florida to SW England, in summer from
Newfoundland to N Scotland
 Easterly waves (in trade wind belt)
 5° - 20° lat disturbance
 Very unstable clouds, heavy precipitation for days
 Identify as weak through on surface charts
 Severe convective activity in rear of its trough (easterly side of the wave)
 Frontal depressions (depression = low pressure system)
 Anticyclonic  high pressure system (clockwise rotation)
 Subtropical highs (WARM HIGH – warm air – e.g. from equatorial regions forming a HIGH)
 Caused by air from equatorial (northwards) and descending at the subtropical high
pressure belt
 30N (in winter little south)
 Winter: Azores, S Europe, N Africa,
 Summer: Azores, SE USA, SW Europe
 Maritime tropical air
 Isobaric surface bulge upwards (bulge downwards indicates low pressure)
 Increases in intensity with altitude
 Fine weather in summer
 Continental highs (COLD HIGH- cold air – e.g. from polar regions – forming a HIGH)
 Caused by high density and low temperatures
 Form over cold continents in winter
 Siberian and Canadian highs
 Does not reach very high altitudes. Layers above usually low pressure
 Isobaric surface at lower altitudes bulge upwards and higher altitudes bulge
downwards
 Decreases in intensity with altitude
 Blocking High (Blocking Anticyclone)
 Quasi stationary warm anticyclone
 Extension of high pressure area in subtropical regions
 May divert or hold up the typical east <-> west passage of the polar front lows
 Typically in the North Atlantic regions (30N - 65N) around 10W – 20W
 May persist for several days
 Subsiding air; extensive layer of Stratus with very little vertical extend
 Centre of non-occluded depression moves into the direction of the warm sector isobars
 A tendency for fog and low ST during winter in a stationary high (during summer calm
winds and haze)
 Air mass in warm sector usually from a warm and moist place. The front forms between
the warm and cold boundary at the polar front. The cold air is in the cold sector, the warm
one in the warm sector.
 Flight towards cold front in warm sector below jet stream  severe turb  Descent and
not climb for the quickest way to get out of the turb
 Lowest cloud type is Stratus fractus and mod cont. rain  main body of warm or cold front
 Stationary front has surface wind direction parallel to the front
 Warm front  red / cold front  blue / occlusion  violet / stationary front  blue and red
depending on the side

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 The jet of the cold front blows SW

 The jet of the warm front blows NW

 50 – 200 NM behind the cold front

 300 – 450 NM ahead of the warm front

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Warm front phenoma develop slowly and gradually whereas cold front phenoena develops
sharply…

During the approach of an active cold front the pressure drops!!

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 Ahead of warm front as seen from surface to higher tropopause the wind veers in the
friction layer and veers above the friction layer
 Warm sector in winter drizzle, ST / SC / low cloud, mist, drizzle, poor visibility; in summer
fair weather and CU. Sometimes TS are possible over continental areas during summer
 Warm sector surface visibility during summer afternoon usually around 5 km
 Significant weather of warm front is mostly before the front passes
 PASSAGE WARM FRONT EUROPE: RISE IN TEMP, RISE IN DEW POINT TEMP, WIND
VEERS AND DECREASES
 Passage of a frontal wave  continuous rain or snow during several hours until the warm
front arrives. The precipitation stops or becomes intermittent light within the warm sector. On
the arrival of the cold front, showers will occur.
 Warm occlusion
 Warm air behind cold(er) air
 Warm air is lifted
 The cold front becomes a front aloft

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 Cold occlusion
 Cold(er) air behind warm(er) air
 Usually in Summer in Europe
 The warm front becomes a front aloft

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 Cold occlusion
 NS 3B
 CB 3B 2B 1B
 AS 2C
 CS 1D 1E
 AC 2A 1A
 B during next hour constant temp and
pressure (front moves appr. 20 – 40 kt per
hour)
 F during next hour drop in pressure as the
front moves along the warm sector isobars
and therefore the isobars approaching from
west to F…

 Trough
 Low pressure at high altitude
 V shape – isobars extending outward
from an area of low pressure so that the
pressure is lower in the trough than outside
 Like a pressure valley
 Air at rear can not rise as fast as the air at
the front side descends
 Primarily ascending (lifting) air and a
convergence
 Moderate and gusty wind
 Good visibility except in showers
 SH, TS, Hail, DZ, -RA, CU, CB
 Cold air pool  Subsidence inversion
 Low pressure area aloft (500 hPa chart)  descending air warms up and forms an
 Air aloft colder than surrounding  inversion
unstable  Warm air rises from surface and  stable layer in lower troposphere of an old
form unstable situation (air parcel rises as high pressure area in mid latitudes
long as it is warmer…)
 SH / TS
 greatest activity in the afternoon
 Mainly precipitation even in Summer
 Usually no indications on surface charts
 Col between 2 highs and 2 lows
 Point “B” is a col as well
 C is a ridge of high pressure (usually the
border of a col)

 Ridge of high pressure is indicated by

isobars extending outwards from an
anticyclone and always rounded (NEVER V
shaped like a trough) Sometimes called
wedges

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 Both pressure systems are lows as the
wind speed has the same direction. But A
has a higher pressure as the isobars at B
are closer together (faster pressure drop)

 P is influenced from a high pressure

area. In high pressure areas (on northern
hemisphere) the wind blows clockwise.
Therefore overhead P is an mainly
easterly flow

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 Cold air moves south behind the cold

front. As cold air moves over water it
accumulates moist and is at the same
time heated up as water is usually
warmer.  Destabilizes
 Lots of convective cloud are to be
expected at S

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 2D below AS layer smooth air and light
precipitation
 flying from 3D to 3C clear ice are to be
expected

Jet streams
 Located at the tropopause where intensified temperature gradients are located
 The core level is found in that height where the temp of the diff air masses are the same
 Highest wind speed on the warm side
just at/above the height of the cold
tropopause (see image)
 Speed increases with increasing temp
difference (during northern or southern
winter)

 Looked downstream (back to the

jetstream)
 cold air is on the left (NH) with most
severe turbulence
 cold air is usually below the core / warm
tropopause

 Most severe turb

 Below the core
 Usually in the cold part (e.g. in the polar
part of the polar jet stream)
 Looked downstream on the left side (on
the NH)
 Flights above jet stream are assumed to
be above the tropopause. Therefore flight
from North to South on NH or south to
north on SH encounter a decreasing
temperature!!!
 Wind speed usually strongest between a
trough and a ridge as they are associates with
different air masses; warm and cold
 Just below the tropopause  therefore the
height is usually near the tropopause
 Flying below core from south to north 
temp decreases as passing the boundary
between warm and cold air

 Equatorial jetstream in summer (June to August) from easterly direction near FL 500 in
area from Malaysia to Africa
 Therefore we can expect headwinds on a route Mumbai - Bangkok 
 Sometimes called Tropical Jetstream or Easterly Jetstream
 Subtropical Jetstream FL 400
 In Summer (NH) highest wind speeds below tropopause in 200 hPa (appr.) as it
moves up (in terms of latitude) slightly (with ITCZ) and therefore the temp diff is
greatest
 Polarfront Jetstream FL 300
 Core of polar jet stream is found in the warm tropical air mass
 In Southern hemisphere more stable. Highest speeds in southern winter (July)
 During summer with lowest speed
 During winter with highest speed
 During crossing the core no significant temp changes are to be expected
 Approximate ratio height / width is 1/100 (length avg. 1500 NM, width avg. 200 NM, height
avg. 5.000 – 20.000 ft)
 Moderate to Severe CAT NOT in the core of a jet stream
 Instead in an area with strongly curved, closely packed isohypses

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Wind systems
 Anabatic  upslope / ascending
 Katabatic  downslope / descending and usually cold
 Foehn like winds: US and Canada (Rocky Mountains) Chinook
 Monsoons are seawinds (e.g. Bombay (India in general) from SW during summer)
 Tradewind
 Blow up to max 30.000 ft
 SE tradewinds in the southern hemisphere and NE tradewinds of northern
hemisphere meet in the ITCZ
 More pronounced over the oceans.
 Lower part relatively moist; upper part relatively dry
 Between horse latitudes (the same as subtropical high pressure belt) and doldrums
 Easterly waves most likely in the tradewind zone
 Easterly upper winds are apparent in July at 20 N over Asia and Northern Africa due to
equatorial Jetstream
 From June to October cyclones occur at the east coast of India
 From December to April cyclones occur at the coast of Mauritius
 Tropical revolving storm NW coast (Darwin) of Australia  December to April (called
cyclones)
 Tropical revolving storms do not occur in the Southern Pacific mainly because of the low
water temperature
 Typhoons over Japan from July to November
 Most tropical storms are in the North-West Pacific, affecting Japan, Taiwan, Korea and the
Chinese coastline
 Cyclones occasionally observed (in average 12 per year) over the Indian Ocean
 Prevailing surface wind west cost Africa north of the equator
 SW monsoon in summer (imagine the hot surface and to cold water) / NE
tradewind winter
 BUT prevailing surface winds over the Atlantic Ocean (10 N to 20 N) are NE trade winds!
See the image a few pages above regarding the movement of the ITCZ which has no
influence on the Atlantic Ocean in this area

 Most shown tropical revolving storm

develops with the movement of the ITCZ.
(Schieben diese quasi hin- und her)
With knowledge of the ITCZ one can say
when its season for the storms

 Most wind phenomena subject for the exam occur during winter 
 Bora
 Strong, cold, katabatic, from highlands of Balkan down to Adriatic coast
 Mainly during winter with strong violent gusts
 Similar phenomena in Greenland and Norway
 Mistral
 Northerly, strong, cold katabatic blowing through Rhone-Valley in France towards
Mediterranean Sea
 Very gusty and strong
 During winter and early spring
 Scirocco
 S / SW strong wind with dust and sand blowing over Mediterranean and Africa.
 During winter when deep low pressure area in western Mediterranean
 Pamperos
  Southerly cold strong wind from Antarctica blows over Southern America
(Argentina / Uruguay)
 Mainly during winter
 Harmattan
 NE wind formed over Sahara desert, affecting Western / North Western regions of
Africa. It occurs typically in the winter, between November and April. It creates dust
storms with very poor visibility up to 15.000 ft
 Dangers are dust and poor visibility and NOT sand up to FL 150
 Hurricane (wind speeds above 64 kt)
 Middle of the eye descending (no clouds)
air and wind speed is lower than 63 kt
 From the earth surface up to the
tropopause the core is warmer than its
surrounding
 Form usually 8° - 15° N/S of equator with
prevailing easterly flow (coming from the
east)

 Tornado
 Diameter 100 to 150 meters
 Spring and summer
 Lasts a few minutes up to 30 minutes
 Moves 20-40 kt
 Surface wind over Sea is 140

Icing
 Clear Ice (Glaze) most severe
 Large droplets from freezing rain
 Large supercooled droplets just below the freezing point
 Heavy and rapid buildup over large areas
 Heavy and difficult to remove
 Only parts of the supercooled droplets form ice during contact. Parts flow back with
the airstream and become icy during the flow.
 FZRA+
 CU and CB; from 0°C to -20°C
 NS 0 to -10 (orogr. formed up to -20)
 Mostly in dense clouds
 Hoar frost (Raureif) – forms usually only in clear air
 Water vapor directly turning into ice crystals on the ac surface
 Long descent in cold air into humid air mass
 Significant ground inversions are an indication
 Clouds pushed up against mountains (NS)  mixed icing to expect
 Supercooled droplets liquid with temp well below 0° (up to -30°) (small and large possible)
 Moderate icing  conditions in which change of heading / altitude are considered
desirable (wünschenwert) by ICAO
 Severe icing  Conditions in which change of heading / altitude are considered essential
by ICAO
 Severe icing to be expected in NS (and not upper level or the anvil (Amboss) of a CB)
 Moderate to severe icing is unlikely to occur in clear-sky conditions
 Between 0°C and -15°C greatest risk for icing in clouds (even in CBs)
 Supercooled water droplets – 0°C to - 15°C
 Supercooled water droplets and ice particles – 15°C to - 25°C
 Ice crystals and very few supercooled water droplets – 25°C to - 40°C
 If ice pellets are observed it means that at some altitude above, these ice pellets were not
solid and existed in form of super cooled water droplets.
 Ice pellets  Solid precipitation which is transparent or translucent and has a diameter of
5mm or less formed by the freezing of raindrops or refreezing of melted snow, and usually
bounces off hard surfaces
 Small super cooled droplets usually form rime ice
 Thinner wing profiles and faster flying aircrafts tend to accrete more ice than thick profiles
or slow aircrafts

Thunderstorms
 Initial Stage (15-20 min, only up draughts), Mature Stage (20-30 min, up and down
draughts, rotors) and Dissipating Stage (only down draughts)
 Air mass TS
 Frontal (most during winter at any time / day and night)
 Cold front TS
 E.g. cold front approaching a mountain in the evening
 Warm front TS
 Squall line TS
 Microburst area about 4 km and last 1 – 5 minutes (and not always associated with
thunderstorms)
 At temperature latitudes hail may be expected from ground to FL 450
 In well developed CBs hail is to be expected at any altitude
 Downburst  downdraft with high speed and colder than surrounding air
 Gust front is formed by the cold air outflow from a thunderstorm
 Conditions to be met for TS development
 Unstable or conditionally unstable air
 Humidity
 Lifting action
 NOT pressure (low or high)
 ISOL TS of local nature --> usually thermal triggering and NOT frontal movements or
occlusions
 Lightning strikes
 Can occur inside and outside of a thunderstorm
 Greatest possibility between -10 °C and +10 °C / 5.000 ft above/below freezing
level
 If ac sustains a strike it becomes part of the lightning trajectory
 Nose and wingtip most affected
 Electronic and magnetic equipment may be affected
 Aircraft made by composites may get severe damage, the crew may be blinded
and temporarily lose the hearing
 Crew might have temporarily difficulty in determining the attitude of the flight

Fog
 Visibility below 1 km
 Frontal fog is formed due to evaporation and following condensation of warm falling
precipitation down in a cold moist layer ahead of a warm front (warm air meeting the cold air)
 Will dissipate with the passage of the warm front (and not the decreasing intensity
of the rain) (The main criteria are the warm / cold temp diff and not the rain)
 Hill fog  humid stable air mass, wind blowing towards the hills
 Orographic fog may be formed at day and night
 Radiation fog
 Appears suddenly by day or by night
 Average vertical extend is 500 ft
 Most likely to occur shortly after sunrise
 Lifted and forms a cloud cover of low Stratus caused by an increasing wind speed
(NOT Geostrophic wind)
 Wind speeds up to 13 kt do not cause an immediate dissipating of the fog. Instead
low Stratus may form
 A radiation inversion is formed near the ground. Effect is greatest in the early
morning.  Strong and sudden wind increase (up to 40 kt) and veering is to be
expected
 Can not be formed over water
 Steam fog / arctic smoke  cold air moving over warm water (occurs in air with cold mass
properties)
 Advection fog Warm air moves over cold air..
 Freezing fog exists if droplets are supercooled
 The droplets are not frozen and still fluid
 Fog consisting of ice crystals starts at very low temps (around -30°C to -40°C)
 Coastal region of Newfoundland in spring  advection fog

WX Radar
 In the vicinity of thunderstorms the attenuation of heavy rain might hamper the accurate
assessment.

MET Reports
 RVR reported in METAR only (NOT in TAF)
 RVR usually when met visibility below 1.500m
 Measured with Transmissiometer or forward-scatter meters
 Usually better than met visibility (due to the method of measurement)
 RVR trends
 Prefix P (plus)  value greater than measurable
 Prefix M (minus)  value lower than measurable
 Suffix D (down)  decreasing tendency
 Suffix U (up)  increasing tendency
 Suffix N (no)  no change
 RVR is the length of the runway which a pilot in an aircraft on the ground would see, on
the threshold
 BR  brime is the same as mist
 Ceiling is the height above ground or water of the lowest layer of cloud below 20.000 ft
covering more than half of the sky (at least 5 oktas)
 TX18/15Z at the end of METAR / TAF  highest temp at 15Z time (18°C)
 TN14/21Z at the end of METAR / TAF  lowest temp at 21Z time (14°C)
 CNL  Cancelation (CNL WS WRNG  cancellation of windshear warning)
 CAVOK
 No clouds below 5.000 ft or below MSA whichever is greater
 No CBs
 No significant weather in the vicinity
 Visibility 10 km or more
  E.g. no low drifting snow is present
 CAT and Jetstreams are reported in SWC
 TEMPO CB is one hour
 TEMPO in a TAF " describe phenomena that can occur at any time in the given "from - to"
time period and include weather phenomena that last maximum of 1 hour and, in the
aggregate, cover less than one-half of the forecast period (in this case the time period is 4
hrs). So, theoretically, the visibility drop could occur at 18:00 UTC and last for let's say only
30 minutes => then at 18:30 the visibility would improve again back to the original "9999"
value = 10 km or more and remain this way => therefore, THEORETICALLY, at the time of
our arrival we could have a visibility of 10 km or more even if this TAF turns out to be 100%
correct.
 METAR
 Valid for the time of observation (NOT for one hour or so)
 Wind is based on the average wind of the previous 10 minutes
 Wind is based on TRUE NORTH
 GR  hail and is most likely for thunderstorms and CBs
 SQ  Sudden increase in wind speed for at least one minute
 BR  Mist
 MIFG  Shallow fog – a layer of 5 feet deep
 SG  Snowgrains
 Pressure is QNH and rounded to the nearest lowest whole hPa
 Cloud base is reported as above airfield level
 VCBLDU  blowing dust in the vicinity
 VC  vicinity
 23010MPS  230 true 10 meters per second
 RERA – there has been moderate or heavy rain since the last issue of METAR
 TREND is 2 hours (landing forecast added to the actual weather report)
 OCNL CB is well separated CB clouds
 Multiply short interval CAT reports from pilots  SIGMET
 Vertical wind shear reported in kt/100 ft
 Vertical wind shear is a change of horizontal wind direction/speed with height
 NOSIG does not include RVR trends
 Significant weather chart is a forecast for the time given on the chart
 SPECI – Aviation special weather report (NO forecast)
 ATIS – MET REPORT and SPECIAL and not METAR and SPECI
 Contains always operational AND met information (and not if necessary met info)
 VOLMET is provisions of current METAR, SPECI, TAF and SIGMET by means of
continuous and repetitive voice broadcast
 Aerodrome warning message gives e.g. TS, SN including the expected or observed
coverage and hoar frost (for aicrafts parked on the ground, and the movement area - NOT in
flight)
 Official met sources are ATIS, VOLMET and all ATS units
 Vertical visibility (VV) is reported whenever the sky is obscured by fog or heavy
precipitation and the height of the cloud base can not be measured
 Upper wind and temp charts – constant pressure (NOT height) all over the chart
 Special air reports:
Severe icing or turbulence is encountered, or
Moderate turbulence, hail or cumulonimbus clouds are encountered in transonic or
supersonic flight, or
Other met conditions are encountered that might affect the safety or seriously affect the
efficiency of aircraft operations, as for example in the list of SIGMET phenomena. Reports
are required of volcanic ash, seen or encountered, and any pre-eruption activity or eruption
of volcanoes
 Radiosonde can direct measure pressure, temperature and humidity but NOT wind
It is an instrument intended to be carried with a balloon up through the troposphere equipped
with devices to measure met variables and sending this information to the observation station

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