FINAL REPORT ON THE PILOT PROJECT ON SIGMET COORDINATION IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

Transcription

1 FINAL REPORT ON THE PILOT PROJECT ON SIGMET COORDINATION IN SOUTHEAST ASIA 4 OCTOBER MARCH 2017 Prepared by Pilot Project Coordinator, Meteorological Service Singapore With inputs from BMKG and MetMalaysia

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 2. OBJECTIVES AND GUIDING PRINCIPLES 3. MONTHLY PROJECT MEETING 4. IMPROVEMENT TO THE COORDINATION PROCEDURE 5. ASSESSMENT OF OUTCOME AND ACHIEVEMENT 6. ISSUES ENCOUNTERED AND CASE STUDIES CONDUCTED 7. PILOT PROJECT RECOMMENDATIONS 8. CONCLUSION 9. APPENDIX GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF COOPERATION AND SIGMET COORDINATION PROCEDURES

3 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 SIGMET is an aeronautical meteorological information concerning the occurrence or expected occurrence of specified en-route hazardous weather phenomena 1 which may affect safety of aircraft operations. SIGMET serves to provide the aviation community with timely information concerning the location, extent, intensity and expected evolution of the specified significant weather phenomena. 1.2 SIGMETs are issued by the meteorological watch office (MWO) responsible for maintaining a close watch for the specified hazardous weather phenomena within its area of responsibility or flight information region (FIR). For hazardous weather phenomena that straddle across FIRs of neighbouring MWOs, these SIGMETs usually lack cross-border coordination, are not aligned or harmonised. This thus results in inconsistencies in SIGMET between the neighbouring FIRs, and is a safety concern to international air navigation. 1.3 At the Regional Forum on Meteorological Services for Aviation Safety in Southeast Asia held in Jakarta, Indonesia in April 2015, the meeting adopted the recommendation to establish a mechanism for improving SIGMET service provision through enhancing seamlessness in SIGMET information across the borders of FIRs within Southeast Asia. This entails putting in place operational cross-border coordination through a system of SIGMET focal points and procedures for MET information exchange and sharing of national practices amongst MWOs. The Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysical Agency of Indonesia (BMKG), Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) and Meteorological Service Singapore (MSS) took the first step to operationalise SIGMET coordination amongst the five neighbouring MWOs, namely Jakarta MWO, Ujung Pandang MWO, Kuala Lumpur MWO, Kota Kinabalu MWO and Singapore MWO, in a Pilot Project under the auspices of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) At the kick-off project meeting held in Singapore in May 2016, the WMO, participating MWOs and resource agencies (Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) and the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA)) planned and set objectives for the pilot project. With WMO s assistance, the MWOs concerned subsequently developed and adopted a set of guiding principles 3 and coordination procedures, which formed the foundation for SIGMET coordination amongst the MWOs. The operational phase of the Pilot Project which was led by Singapore as the designated overall Pilot Project coordinator, was conducted between 4 October 2016 and 3 March 2017from Monday to Friday between 0000 UTC and 1200 UTC. 1.5 The SIGMET coordination was conducted in a real-time operational environment with live issuance of SIGMETs. The MWOs consulted each other on hazardous weather, in particular presence of cumulonimbus clouds (CB) or thunderstorms 4, straddling two or more of the five FIRs under their respective watch to come to a consensus on the parameters of the phenomenon. These parameters included geographical area of the phenomena, vertical extent, severity, timing and movements. Consultation amongst the MWOs was facilitated by two web-based software applications developed by HKO and by JMA. All cases of SIGMET consultation and issues encountered during coordination were logged by each participating MWO for documentation and analysis purposes. Monthly meetings were conducted to review the project, analyse case-studies and discuss the issues encountered. 1 The hazardous weather phenomena include thunderstorm, turbulence, icing, mountain wave, duststorm, sandstorm, tropical cyclone, volcanic ash and radioactive cloud. 2 Similar initiative for SIGMET coordination was started in 2009 in Europe and became operational since Other initiative includes demonstrations of collaborative SIGMET issuance led by JMA for northern ASEAN countries in The participating MWOs considered the need for establishing a formal bilateral agreement or MOU to affirm commitment to the project but noted that the complexity involved and agreed that a less formal agreement in the form of guiding principles would suffice. 4 Cumulonimbus clouds and thunderstorms are very common weather phenomena in tropical Southeast Asia region.

4 1.6 This report provides a review and analysis of the project outcome, the experience gained as well as the challenges encountered during the coordination process. The recommendations of the Pilot Project will serve as inputs for future improvement in the full operational phase of the SIGMET coordination effort. 2. OBJECTIVES AND GUIDING PRINCIPLES 2.1 The objective of the Pilot Project was to establish and test operational procedures between the MWOs concerned with a view to improving the quality of SIGMET information over a large portion of the Southeast Asia airspace through coordinated meteorological watch and harmonized issuance of SIGMET between the MWOs serving the FIRs of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. 2.2 It was agreed among the Pilot Project participants that as a guiding principle, each MWO was ultimately responsible for the SIGMETs issued for its FIR and each MWO s own national operational needs takes priority over the coordination. For the coordination to be efficient and timely, initiation could be by any of the five MWOs and conducted efficiently and expeditiously so as to avoid delays in the issuance of SIGMET. The coordination was conducted in accordance with the SIGMET guidance provided in the ICAO Asia/Pacific Regional SIGMET Guide and in compliance with the relevant ICAO SARPs in Annex MONTHLY PROJECT MEETING 3.1 Integral to the Pilot Project was the monthly review meetings organized and facilitated by the Project Coordinator via video-conferencing to discuss coordination activities in the past month based on record logs and MWO highlighted cases. The focus of such discussions were on issues encountered during coordination including improvements to procedures to maximise consensus amongst MWOs involved. These monthly meetings were a regular forum through which participants proactively shared knowledge, experiences and best practices, and worked toward enhancing SIGMET quality collectively as a region. 3.2 The two resource agencies, JMA and HKO, participated in the monthly review meetings with the MWOs, to update and solicit feedback on their respective web-based applications. One of the highlights of the project was the mutually beneficial cooperation amongst the MWOs through the provision of concrete and useful feedback based on actual experiences and improvements/enhancement of both the JMA and HKO web-based applications. 4. IMPROVEMENT TO THE COORDINATION PROCEDURE 4.1 Improving operational coordination to enhance SIGMET consistency and quality is a continuous process. Throughout the Pilot Project, coordination procedures were reviewed and several improvements were made. These included holding pre-tactical discussions on an ad-hoc basis in advance of large scale weather phenomena such as monsoon surges forecast to affect multiple FIRs. Such discussions helped to address complexities arising from multilateral coordination necessitated by the widespread effects of such weather phenomena, and shorten tactical coordination by building common situational awareness amongst the MWOs. 4.2 The MWOs were encouraged to engage in discussion on how to better ensure consensus especially for parameters such as cloud top height and direction of movement, as they were not always harmonized due to differences in assessment methodologies, data interpretation and practices in SIGMET issuance. Guidelines on what constituted coordination with consensus or non-consensus were developed for the purpose of logging and collation of statistics. Other improvements included the adoption of a WhatsApp chat group as a form of backup to the web tools and the use native language for consultation through telephone.

5 5. ASSESSMENT OF OUTCOME AND ACHIEVEMENT 5.1 For the purpose of assessment of the outcome of the project, the respective MWO s logbooks were reviewed and analysed to obtain insights on the coordination conducted. One broad measure on the level of coordination achieved during the Pilot Project were the number of coordinations with and without consensus as shown in the following table. The figures showed that the MWOs were able to reach a broad level of consensus during coordination, particularly on the key consideration such as the geographical extend of the CB phenomena across the affected FIRs. Local MWO Number of Coordination with Neighbouring MWOs Total With Consensus Without Consensus Jakarta Ujung Pandang Kuala Lumpur Kota Kinabalu Singapore Total Note: The primary consideration on what constitutes coordination with or without consensus is the alignment of the geographical area of the phenomena across the affected FIR boundaries. The relevant guidelines are described in Appendix In addition, as part of the project outcome, the quality of the coordinated SIGMET issued during the Pilot Project was evaluated collectively. A preliminary objective verification methodology was developed to obtain the probability of detection, miss and false alarm rate for the coordinated SIGMET issued for the occurrence of CB phenomena. The approach adopted was warning-oriented, namely only issuance was verified while non-issuance was not. CB products derived from Himawari-8 satellite imagery were use as the truth data. Preliminary verification results showed that the probability of detection was above 80% while the false alarm ratio was below 50%, which translate into a critical success index of above 40%. These results showed that the coordinated SIGMETs issued by the MWOs have good quality, that is the SIGMETs captured large majority of the CB areas. 6. ISSUES ENCOUNTERD AND CASE STUDIES CONDUCTED 6.1 Despite the broad agreement/consensus during the coordination, differences exist in MWOs assessment of CB clouds movement, severity or intensity, cloud top height and timing. A notable factor that contributed to the differences was the varying national practices in the assessment methodology or tools utilised. Differences were also observed in the HKO s and JMA s web tools in the estimation of CB parameters, for example in cloud top height. Other contributing factors were physical in nature, due to the different physical characteristics across the different FIR regions (maritime versus continental) or related to the varying meteorological conditions (converging flow versus uniform flow). Another challenge encountered was the time required for effective coordination especially for larger scale convective weather systems where more than two MWOs were involved. One solution was the pre-tactical discussion described earlier. The process of initiating such discussions and sharing of information for joint assessment could however be further improved. As the coordination was not conducted on a 24x7 basis, the SIGMETs issue by the MWOs may not be synchronized or have different validity periods, thus further contributing to the complexities in coordination. Further details on the specific issues encountered and lessons learnt are described in the case studies conducted by the MWOs. 6.2 BMKG Case Studies. A. Jakarta MWO

6 Jakarta MWO studied the case of SIGMET coordination during the northeast monsoon period on January 23, It can be identified based on the results of surface synoptic map analysis at 0000 UTC that there was a high-value closed isobar contour reaching 1046 HPa in the northern hemisphere precisely in the plain area High Siberian so as to result in mass air flow from the area moving toward the equator with the general wind direction of the northeast at an altitude of 3000 feet with the nature of carrying a lot of water vapor content which has the potential to cause the growth of convective clouds and CB over the boundaries of the FIR of Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia in the region around the equator. This was reinforced by the high value of sea surface temperature of above 28 Celsius which can potentially cause the occurrence of CB cloud with a wide enough volume and the top of CB cloud reaches feet. The first thing to do in the coordination is the consultation on the CB area within the FIR boundary area using the SIGMET tool by HKO and JMA. After reaching an agreement on the CB area, Jakarta MWO, Singapore MWO and Kuala Lumpur MWO then proceeded with the CB top height consultation. As HKO SIGMET tool showed a lower CB top height compared to SIGMET tool by JMA and the height values from WAFC SIGWX NWP model forecast from WAFC London and WAFC Washington, CB top height was based on the JMA tool in the SIGMET issued by Jakarta MWO. Furthermore, the CB cloud cell movement was obtained using satellite image animation method on HKO tool with time series from the most recent 2-3 hours. In this case study the condition of CB cloud movement occurring in the three FIR regions actually differed. This is because of the complexity of growth of CB cell clouds in the spatial and temporal scale can lead to changes in intensity and followed by changes in movement. As an example, while Jakarta MWO and Singapore MWO agreed the movement to be westward, Kuala Lumpur MWO assessed the CB cell to be stationary. Such issues will certainly recur in the next coordination SIGMET at the 24/7 fully coordination phase and this becomes especially important for every MWO s forecaster, especially Jakarta MWO in using appropriate analytical methods to create a SIGMET information. B. Ujung Pandang MWO Ujung Pandang MWO examined a case of coordination without-consensus on January 24th, Through coordination between Jakarta MWO and Ujung Pandang MWO, it was agreed to issue SIGMET for embedded thunderstorms (EMBD TS) at the FIR boundary located in Java sea. Both MWOs agreed on the height of the peak thunderstorm cells at 48,000 feet. The MWOs, however, did not agree on the result of assessment for the movement and development of thunderstorm cells. Ujung Pandang MWO performed the assessment using satellite data from 0300 UTC till 0330 UTC. At 0300 UTC the TS cell height showed 50,000 feet and by 0330 UTC the height was gradually reduced to 48,000 feet under stationary conditions (STNR). With reduced TS cell height, supported by TS cell area that was also smaller, Ujung Pandang MWO considered the TS cell to be weakening (WKN). Jakarta MWO s assessment was that the TS cell moved to the west (MOV W) and no change in intensity (NC). The verification results showed that after 2 hours (satellite images at 0550 UTC), the TS cell had weakened to insignificant and still within the polygon outline of the SIGMET area. After 4 hours (satellite image at 0750 UTC), the TS cell had completely dissipated. So in this case, it can be seen that each MWOs used different techniques and criteria for SIGMET issuance, especially for thunderstorm phenomenon. 6.3 MetMalaysia Case Study. The case study selected on 19th January 2017 involves two FIRs; Kuala Lumpur (WMKK) and Jakarta (WIII). The case took place during the 4th cold surge event according to the North East Monsoon Index (NEMI) established by Met Malaysia. Non-consensus on determining the CB top height and its

7 intensity were encountered between WMKK and WIII FIR SIGMET. Synoptic analyses were carried out to further understand the case. According to the satellite and radar animation, the intensity of the embedded CB was observed throughout the SIGMET validity for this case study. Comparison of its values within the SIGMET area and validity were discussed whereby WIII estimated higher CB top value when compared to the JMA CB top information. Moreover, the intensity of embedded CB was observed to intensify and sustain within the WMKK FIR, while it weakens within the WIII FIR. Therefore, suggestions were deliberated to designate appropriate intensity for each SIGMET. As CB top height were among the elements to vary among the FIRs; recommendations were proposed to use the tephigram analyses and comparison between NWP output (WAFC, JMA SATAID or HKO web tool). Comparison of upper air streamline analysis and ECMWF wind analysis indicated presence of an active near-equatorial trough; west of Sumatra, enhanced by the cold surge blowing from Siberia. This strongly indicates that the system may sustain for an extended period of time. Difficulties in determining the movement and speed of an embedded CB were among the coordination issues highlighted. Furthermore, movement of an embedded CB are often complex to determine while the speed calculated using the JMA s SATAID exhibited an overestimated value. Consequent to the SIGMET coordination, standard guideline is vital to help forecasters reach consensus and a common ground in determining SIGMET content i.e. CB top height, movement, speed and intensity of an embedded CB. This is to ensure seamless depiction of SIGMETs are issued within each FIR boundary. Finally, SIGMET coordination for Tropical Cyclone and Volcanic Ash within South East Asia region were recommended as well. 6.4 Meteorological Service Singapore Case Study. MSS case study was about a northeast monsoon surge event on 24 January 2017 with SIGMET coordination between four MWOs: Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu and Singapore. The coordination involved a pre-tactical consultation on the morning of 23 January between Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta MWOs using chatroom and WhatsApp to assess the general synoptic situation. During the episode of the SIGMET coordination, the overall coordination amongst the MWOs was smooth and prompt with all SIGMETs across FIR boundaries harmonized spatially. However, there were few occasions where the SIGMET validity time differed due to the times out of the coordination window. Several recommendations arose from the case study, including: the need for a common platform for coordination, timely response and full 24/7 coordination. 7. PILOT PROJECT RECOMMENDATIONS 7.1 The project spanned over a period of 5 months and covered 2 major monsoon seasons, namely Inter- Monsoon period and Northeast Monsoon season. As a result of the frequent convective weather related to the active monsoons, a total of 401 coordinated SIGMETs were issued over 109 days of operational coordination. The coordination procedures have been adequately tested and become matured and the operational personnel have gained valuable experience. Similarly, the supporting web tools have also stabilised and the server performance improved. The project has shown that real-time cooperation for coordinated SIGMET issuance is operationally feasible in practice and contributes to en-route aviation safety and efficiency. 7.2 While there were still challenges and issues to be resolved, the participating MWOs and supporting resource agencies namely HKO and JMA agreed with the continuation of current project beyond 3 rd March 2017 in a semi-operational phase, and recommended that the project transition to full 24x7 operational phase in the near future. The MWOs and resource agencies had also agreed that technical issues relating to each MWO s and/or resource agency s assessments of the extent of the significant CB areas, cloud top height and movement could be further addressed by the wider research community.

8 8. CONCLUSION Weather hazards are not confined by FIR boundaries, and a regional coordinated approach is important in ensuring seamlessness in SIGMET information provided to the aviation community. The Pilot Project demonstrated that operational coordination was feasible among MWOs. This cross-border collaborative effort to improve the provision of SIGMET information is a positive and significant development in support of safe and efficient air navigation in the Southeast Asia region.

9 9 APPENDIX GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF COOPERATION AND SIGMET COORDINATION PROCEDURES

10 Pilot Project on SIGMET Coordination Guiding Principles of Cooperation and SIGMET Coordination Procedures Version February 2017 INDONESIA with the assistance of

11 Document History Version Date Reason August 2016 Release of first version to support operational phase November 2016 Updates to paragraphs 2.3, 2.4 and 2.5 based on experiences gained during first month of operational phase (October 2016). Consequential re-ordering of Appendices C, D and E December 2016 Editorial renumbering of the figure in Appendix C. Update to Appendix D concerning HKO web application functionality. Other minor editorials January 2017 Update to paragraphs 2.2 and 2.3 concerning language usage and daily pre-tactical discussions during northeast monsoon season. Update to paragraph 2.4 concerning consultation procedures. New paragraph 2.6 (and consequential update to paragraph 2.7) concerning consensus indicators during SIGMET coordination February 2017 Update to and to signify the extension of the Pilot Project on SIG-Coord beyond 3 March 2017 in a transition to full (24/7) operations phase. Associated editorial updates to 1.1.1, 1.4.1, 1.5.1, 2.1.1, 2.2.6, and footnote to Appendix E. Update to to include proposed agenda item topics for the daily pre-tactical discussions during the northeast monsoon season.

12 Pilot Project on SIGMET Coordination (SIG-Coord) P A R T I : G u i d i n g P r i n c i p l e s o f C o o p e r a t i o n between BMKG (Jakarta MWO, Ujung Pandang MWO), MetMalaysia (Kuala Lumpur MWO, Kota Kinabalu MWO) and MSS (Singapore MWO) 1.1 Scope These Guiding Principles of Cooperation set forth the understanding between the Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysical Agency of Indonesia (BMKG), Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) and Meteorological Services Singapore (MSS), hereafter referred to as the three Parties, to cooperate in the conducting of the operational phase (and the subsequent transition to full operations phase) of a Pilot Project on SIGMET Coordination (SIG-Coord). 1.2 Background A Regional Forum on Meteorological Services for Aviation Safety in Southeast Asia (29 to 30 April 2015) adopted Jakarta Recommendations Regional Cooperation for Enhancing Meteorological Services for International Air Navigation by the WMO Member States in Southeast Asia. These recommendations outlined a regional roadmap towards improved provision of meteorological information to aviation users aimed at enhancing the safety and efficiency of the aviation in the region Among the recommendations, a proposal was agreed on establishing a mechanism for improving the SIGMET service provision in a seamless manner across the borders of the flight information regions (FIR). This mechanism involves operational cross-border SIGMET coordination through establishing a system of SIGMET focal points and procedures for information exchange and sharing of national practices. It was agreed that the action would start on a sub-regional scale between several neighbouring countries covering large portion of airspace in SE Asia. 1.3 Objective The objective of the Pilot Project on SIG-Coord is to establish and test operational procedures between the three Parties with a view to improving the quality of SIGMET information over a large portion of the SE Asia airspace through coordinated meteorological watch and harmonized issuance of SIGMET between the Meteorological Watch Offices (MWO) serving the Flight Information Regions (FIR) of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore This objective will be achieved by undertaking the following activities: a) Establishment of procedures for coordination of SIGMET between the MWOs in operational

13 1.4 Reporting environment; b) Conducting consultation between the operational staff concerning the issuance of SIGMET for meteorological phenomena affecting more than one FIR; c) Use of web-based platforms for SIGMET coordination; d) Harmonizing national methodologies and practices for meteorological watch and issuance of SIGMET information; e) Reporting and analyzing of case-studies; and f) Review and Evaluation Meeting The participating MWOs will keep track and record the occasions of SIGMET consultation and coordination during the operational phase (and the subsequent transition to full operations phase) of the Pilot Project on SIG-Coord. A monthly summary will be prepared and discussed via teleconference organized by the Coordinator (see 1.7 below) A pilot project final report will be prepared with the assistance of WMO A Review and Evaluation Meeting will be conducted, preferably within one month of the ending of the operational phase of the Pilot Project on SIG-Coord, to review results and plan next steps. 1.5 Funding No special funding for the three Parties will be required for conducting the operational phase (and any subsequent transition to full operations phases) of the Pilot Project on SIG-Coord WMO will provide support for the organizing of a Review and Evaluation Meeting discussed above. 1.6 Duration The duration of operational phase of the Pilot Project on SIG-Coord will be five (5) months, starting on Tuesday 4 October 2016 and ending on Friday 3 March 2017 (see Note). Note. On 8 February 2017 during the fourth monthly teleconference convened by the Pilot Project Coordinator, the three Parties indicated at agreed to extend the Pilot Project on SIG-Coord beyond 3 March 2017 in a transition to full (24/7) operations phase. Once the transition to full (24/7) operations has been achieved, the Pilot Project on SIG-Coord in itself will have ended By mutual consent, any of the three Parties may withdraw from the Pilot Project on SIG-Coord and may propose modification to these Guiding Principles of Cooperation (Part I) and the SIGMET Coordination Procedures (Part II). 1.7 Coordinator The Meteorological Service of Singapore is designated as the overall coordinator of the Pilot Project for SIG-Coord.

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15 P A R T I I : S I G M E T C o o r d i n a t i o n P r o c e d u r e s between BMKG (Jakarta MWO, Ujung Pandang MWO), MetMalaysia (Kuala Lumpur MWO, Kota Kinabalu MWO) and MSS (Singapore MWO) 2.1 Purpose The purpose of these SIGMET Coordination Procedures is to ensure effective coordination of the issuance of SIGMET by the Meteorological Watch Offices (MWOs) participating in the operational phase (and the subsequent transition to full operations phase) of the Pilot Project on SIG-Coord. See Appendix A for the list of participating MWOs By applying these coordination procedures, MWO meteorologists will be able to conduct consultations on SIGMET in real-time operational environment to allow for consistency of SIGMETs issued by the participating MWOs across the flight information region (FIR) boundaries. This is in terms of the content, positions, vertical extent, severity, timing and movements of SIGMET phenomena between the FIR regions with mutual boundaries. See Appendix B for the FIR regions. 2.2 General The SIGMET coordination activities envisaged in the Pilot Project on SIG-Coord should be conducted in the English language. In instances where the mother tongue of two or more coordinating parties (i.e. two or more MWOs) is in a language other than English, the parties concerned may mutually agree to use the non-english language to conduct their consultations. The use of the non-english language however should be limited to telephone consultations only with consultations conducted using the HKO and JMA web applications, and mobile applications (2.4.2 and below refer) remaining in the English language Due to the usually very rapid development of the phenomena requiring the issuance of SIGMET, the coordination procedures should be conducted in the most efficient manner possible in order to avoid any delays in the preparation and dissemination of SIGMET information The coordination procedures should be conducted in line with the SIGMET guidance provided in the ICAO Asia/Pacific Regional SIGMET Guide. No deviations from this guidance and relevant SIGMET provisions in ICAO Annex 3 Meteorological Service for International Air Navigation should result from the coordination procedures. All SIGMET issued by the MWO must comply with relevant ICAO Annex 3 provisions for SIGMET, including for content and timeliness of issuance In case of SIGMET for volcanic ash or tropical cyclone, the advisories received from the responsible Volcanic Ash Advisory Centres (VAACs) and Tropical Cyclone Advisory Centres (TCACs) should be used by the MWOs and the consultation should be limited to ensuring seamless depiction of the respective phenomena across the FIR boundaries During the operational phase of the Pilot Project on SIG-Coord, namely Tuesday 4 October 2016 to Friday 3 March 2017 (see Note), the coordination between the MWOs concerned will take place only Mondays to Fridays between the hours of 0000 UTC to 1200 UTC. Coordination will not take place on

16 Saturdays and Sundays. Note. On 8 February 2017 during the fourth monthly teleconference convened by the Pilot Project Coordinator, the three Parties indicated at Part I, agreed to extend the Pilot Project on SIG- Coord beyond 3 March 2017 in a transition to full (24/7) operations phase. Once the transition to full (24/7) operations has been achieved, the Pilot Project on SIG-Coord in itself will have ended In addition to the foregoing, during the northeast monsoon season in southeast Asia where largescale persistent convective events can occur (as monsoon surges), the MWOs concerned may initiate, on a needs-basis, a daily pre-tactical discussion whenever and wherever monsoon surges are occurring or are expected to occur. Such discussions will promote situational awareness and facilitate tactical coordination of the issuance of SIGMET amongst the MWOs concerned during the operational phase (and the subsequent transition to full operations phase) of the Pilot Project on SIG-Coord. The necessity, timing, methodology and agenda of these daily pre-tactical discussions will be determined by the Pilot Project Coordinator (PPC, see 2.3 below) in consultation with the MWOs concerned. Any of the MWOs however may initiate a request for a daily pre-tactical discussion. The agenda for these discussions may include: A review of the synoptic situation, including the recent and latest observed regional weather conditions; An assessment of model guidance/indicators for the development of a significant surge over the region; and A consensus outlook for the following few days. 2.3 Pilot Project Coordinator As agreed at the SIG-Coord Kick-off Meeting (MSS, Singapore, May 2016), the Meteorological Service of Singapore (Singapore MWO) will undertake the overall coordination functions during the operational phase (and the subsequent transition to full operations phase) of the Pilot Project for SIG-Coord, where Mr. Kwok Wah CHOW will serve as Pilot Project Coordinator (PPC). Mr. Chow s contact details (during normal working hours) are as follows: Telephone: CHOW_Kwok_Wah@nea.gov.sg The PPC will organize a tele-/video-conference on a monthly basis with participating MWOs to discuss the progress of the project and address any issues identified. Tele-/Video-conferences may be arranged at other times by mutual consent between the PPC and the MWOs concerned, such as for those that relate to the northeast monsoon season (see above) In addition, the PPC is responsible for collating SIGMET Coordination Logbooks from the participating MWOs (see 2.5 below) and for making these collectively available in advance of each monthly teleconference, preferably on a shared drive (such as Google Drive) accessible only to the SIG-Coord participants. 2.4 Methodology Use of web applications for SIGMET preparation and coordination During the Pilot Project on SIG-Coord, MWO meteorologists should use web applications for SIGMET preparation and coordination provided by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) and Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) as a collaborative platform for SIGMET coordination A brief description of the JMA and HKO web applications is provided in Appendix C and Appendix D respectively.

17 MWO meteorologists may use the chatroom option of the JMA and HKO web applications to conduct consultation (see below) Primary means of consultation between the MWO meteorologists on duty at MWOs Consultation will be used between the MWOs to agree on proposed content, vertical extent, boundaries, direction and speed of movement of SIGMET phenomena affecting, or expected to affect, neighbouring FIR regions of responsibility Between 15 and 30 minutes prior to the issuance of SIGMET for the FIR of responsibility, the MWO meteorologist is to consider if the phenomena may also affect one or more of the neighbouring FIRs. If so, the MWO meteorologist of the originating centre is to immediately initiate contact with the MWO meteorologist(s) of the affected FIR(s) using, as a primary means, the JMA and HKO web applications (see above) and/or the telephone number(s) provided in Appendix E. The MWO meteorologists will briefly discuss the content of the SIGMET and the geographical area of the phenomena for which the SIGMET is to be issued with the purpose to align this area across the FIR boundaries. To the extent practicable, the consultations between the MWOs should not last more than 15 minutes; however, in those instances, say, where extensive coordination may be required or where communication problems may be encountered, the MWO meteorologists are to adjust the timing of their consultations accordingly but not to the detriment of the timely issuance of SIGMET, which ultimately takes priority Following the consultation, the MWO meteorologists may adjust the SIGMET for the FIR under their responsibility in line with the agreed parameters and issue SIGMET accordingly MWO meteorologists should check the SIGMET issued for the neighbouring FIR(s) and, in the case of observed inconsistencies across the FIR boundary, should arrange further consultation in order to achieve greater consistency Consultation may also be used whenever a phenomenon for which SIGMET(s) has been issued is dissipating or is no longer expected, thereby warranting the cancellation of SIGMET Backup means of consultation between the MWO meteorologists on duty at MWOs) In the event of the non-availability of the primary means of consultation (see above), MWO meteorologists may use, as a backup means, exchange and/or mobile applications (such as WhatsApp) to conduct consultations Note, exchange may be preferred when addressing the issuance of SIGMET for longerliving/prolonged phenomena or for any other issues related to SIGMET coordination. (See Appendix E for contact addresses.) communication may also be used for post-event analysis and experience, as necessary. 2.5 SIGMET coordination documentation Each participating MWO should maintain a SIGMET Coordination Logbook to record all cases of consultation with neighbouring FIRs For each case, the date, time and duration of the consultation should be recorded together with a very brief description of the discussion It is recommended to mark particularly difficult cases encountered that may need further analysis and case studies.

18 2.5.4 MWO meteorologists are also encouraged to record in the Logbook any proposals for further improvement of procedures or technical means and facilities MWOs are to forward a copy of the Logbook to the PPC at the beginning of each month for collation of monthly summaries (see 2.3 above). 2.6 Consensus indicators during SIGMET coordination The following indicators are to be used to guide the MWOs in their determination of whether consensus was reached during consultations with neighbouring MWOs: Did the MWOs reach agreement on whether a situation warrants the issuance of a SIGMET or not Yes/No; For a situation that does warrant issuance of a SIGMET, did the MWOs reach general/broad agreement on the content of the SIGMET message, the key consideration being the geographical extent across the affected FIRs and vertical extent, and secondarily the severity, timing and movement of the phenomenon Yes/No; For a situation that does not warrant issuance of a SIGMET, did the MWOs reach agreement on the justification for the non-issuance (e.g. phenomenon not expected to cross an FIR boundary, phenomenon expected to dissipate in-situ, etc.) Yes/No. If the answer to one or more of the questions above was No, the MWOs may conclude that consensus was not reached during consultations with neighbouring MWOs In the event of lack of consensus, each MWO will retain the right to the final details contained in the SIGMET relating to the phenomenon over their own FIR area(s) of responsibility To facilitate understanding of reasons for differences, and to permit further coordination, under circumstances of differences of opinion, a brief summary should be provided to the respective MWO managers and to the PPC

19 Appendix A MWOs participating in the Pilot Project on SIG-Coord WMO Member National Meteorological Service Meteorological Watch Offices (MWO) Indonesia Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysical Agency of Indonesia (BMKG) 1. Jakarta 2. Ujung Pandang Malaysia Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) 1. Kuala Lumpur 2. Kota Kinabalu Singapore Meteorological Services Singapore (MSS) 1. Singapore

20 Appendix B Flight Information Region (FIR) map

21

22 Appendix C JMA web application for SIGMET preparation and coordination 1. Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has developed products and web-based tools useful for interactive and collaborative SIGMET preparation and coordination on a regional level. Also, JMA provides SATAID software for satellite imagery analysis. In addition to SATAID, the web-based tools can be used more effectively in combination with SATAID. An example is shown in Figure C-1 below. 2. SATAID software has a function to display a variety of satellite imagery observed by a next generation imagery sensor "AHI (Advanced Himawari Imager)" of Himawari-8. Also, SATAID can overlay NWP data and other observational data, such as SYNOP, SHIP and METAR, on satellite imagery. These functions enable MWOs to analyze and forecast developing convective clouds in more detail. 3. The products and web-based tools for SIGMET coordination are provided via the dedicated website. User ID and password (supplied by JMA) are required to access the website. URL of the website is: 4. The products and web-based tools for SIGMET coordination are as follows: a) Probable CB areas surrounded by polygons and cloud top heights derived from infrared satellite imagery observed by Himawari-8 - SATAID format CB area information can also be downloaded from the website. - Even if SATAID software is not available, MWOs can monitor and analyze convective clouds based on these products derived from Himawari-8 imagery. The information is updated every 10 minutes. b) SIGMET making support tool - MWOs can easily compile ICAO-compliant SIGMET text messages by using this tool in combination with SATAID. After detailed satellite imagery analysis and enclosing CB areas in polygons with SATAID, MWOs can reflect the results of their analysis into SIGMET messages with this web-based tool. c) Valid SIGMET chart - For SIGMET coordination, participating MWOs are expected to check SIGMETs issued for adjacent FIRs. The website shows valid SIGMETs issued by participating MWOs. Also, MWOs can easily compare the areas of valid SIGMETs and actual situations by referring to probable CB areas described in (1). d) Bulletin board - For quick SIGMET issuance and coordination, a bulletin board is available as an alternative communication means to supplement telephone consultation. e) Links - Useful links for SIGMET issuance are available at the website. It includes the link to JMA s Meteorological Satellite Center (MSC) website. There are various kinds of Himawari-8 products available on the MSC website:

23 5. The links to the manuals for SATAID, products and web-based tools are available at the following website: 6. JMA will periodically update the web application and improve its function to meet requests from participating MWOs in order to support their SIGMET coordination, which would lead to the improvement of SIGMET information quality in South East Asia. Requests or questions can be sent via the bulletin board or via to: Figure C-1. An example of utilizing the products, web-based tools and SATAID

24 Appendix D HKO web application for SIGMET preparation and coordination 1. To facilitate regional SIGMET coordination, the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) has developed a webbased application for participating MWOs to prepare and coordinate SIGMET interactively and collaboratively, on a regional level (see Figure D-1 below). It is internet-based and adaptable to different network performance. The site s URL is: 2. The tool is provided freely to all participating MWOs. Username and password (supplied by HKO) are required to access the platform. 3. The tool comes with the capability to generate FIR-based SIGMET messages based on user input. It is provided on an as is and as available basis without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied. The HKO will however try its best to provide updates so that the application would continue to comply with ICAO Annex 3 Meteorological Service for International Air Navigation and to respond to user feedback. The latest version of the web tool is in compliance with Amendment 77 to ICAO Annex 3 (applicable since 10 November 2016) where, in particular, it supports the generation of forecast position at the end of the SIGMET validity period 4. Currently the application only supports the preparation and coordination of significant convective activities that warrant the issuance of SIGMET. To this aim, real time products based on Himawari- 8 are provided to support participating MWOs to monitor and analyze the development of convective activities. The latest valid SIGMETs are also available to improve common situation awareness and for easy identification of non-harmonized SIGMETs (see Figure D-2 below). 5. Apart from showing various meteorological observations, the platform also contains convenient tools for drawing SIGMET areas, type of convection, its movement or forecast positions (see Figure D-3 below). A handy chatroom (see right-hand side of Figure D-1 below) is available to support coordination among multi-parties as mentioned in Feedback and enquiries concerning the HKO web application for SIGMET preparation and coordination can be sent to the attention of: pcheung@hko.gov.hk

25 Figure D-1. An example of utilizing the HKO web-based tool. The blue polygon marks the coordinated SIGMET warning area, where as the orange polygons shows the latest thunderstorm SIGMET in force. The chatroom facility is shown on the right-hand side of the display.

26 Figure D-2. The separate monitoring page displays SIGMETs (TS, TURB, ICING, TC, etc.) for improved common situation awareness. Information overlay Manipulation of SIGMET areas Input of SIGMET contents Figure D-3. Various tools for weather monitoring, coordination and SIGMET generation available for SIGMET preparation

27 Appendix E MWO operational contact information MWO Contact telephone number(s)* Contact address(es)* Primary Backup (if available) Primary Backup (if available) Jakarta +62 (21) (21) forecastersoetta@yahoo.co.id stamet.cengkareng@bmkg.go.id Ujung +62 (411) (411) hndforecaster@yahoo.co.id stamet.hasanuddin@bmkg.go.id Pandang Ext Kuala klia@met.gov.my pmpnabt@gmail.com Lumpur Kota rfokkinabalu@met.gov.my pmkk2013@gmail.com Kinabalu Singapore MSS_CFO_Fcsters@nea.gov.sg * The operational contact telephone numbers and addresses listed above must be manned during the days and hours of the operational phase (and the subsequent transition to full operations phase) of the Pilot Project on SIG-Coord (as specified in 2.2.5). - END -