UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI COLLEGE OF BIOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES School of Physical Sciences Post Graduate Diploma in Aviation Meteorology Aviation Weather (SMR 525) Practical Manual for Academic Year 2015/16 (SECOND SEMESTER) January-April 2016 Written By: Prof. Ininda J. M Department of Meteorology University of Nairobi
INTRODUCTION TO PRACTICALS IN AVIATION WEATHER The series of practical in AVIATION WEATHER are aimed at equipping the students with practical skills in current practices of weather analysis and computational skills. PRACTICAL TIME TABLE (SMR 204 2014/15) SERIAL NO. DESCRIPTION DATE DUE FOR HANDING IN Practical - 01 Practical - 02 Decoding the weather message Plotting SYNOP report on the weather Chart 23 rd February, 2016 10 1 st March, 2016 10 Practical - 03 Coding upper air data 8 th March 2016 10 Allocation of percentage Marks Practical - 04 Practical - 05 Practical - 06 Plotting the sounding on a T Writing and interpretation of METAR Writing and interpretation of SIGMET 15 th March 2016 15 22 nd March 2016 15 29 th March 2016 15 CAT 15 th March 2016 25 TOTAL MARKS 100 Useful websites http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/www/wmocodes/manual/volume-i-selection/sel2.pdf http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/media/pdf/e/a/no._13_-_upper_air_measurements.pdf http://www.ofcm.gov/fmh3/pdf/13-app-e.pdf (For upper air wind and Temperature coding) PRACTICAL 1: DECODING THE WEATHER MESSAGE Objective: The practical is aimed at enabling the student decode the weather messages
a) A table of coded weather messages b) The lecture notes Procedure: Decode the weather message for the assigned data TABLE 1 The data assigned to each student. S/N STUDENT REG NO. DATA I50/78854/2015 AAXX 15004 96091 11457 70000 10246 20243 30073 40097 1 51012 60024 71622 84878 333 20245 50380 55014 56000 57802 59006 82613 83817 86280= AAXX 15124 96109 01456 70000 10256 20229 30033 40070 52016 69941 71396 84931 333 10334 56000 57901 58000 81915 83617 85360 80960= AAXX 07064 63717 11980 32301 10162 20141 48558 60014 70244 83050 333 20120 59004 83358= AAXX 07064 63793 12580 61610 10247 20213 40158 69904 8653/ 333 20210 58001 86620= 2 I50/81309/2015 AAXX 14064 96009 01440 80102 10256 20244 30060 40095 58006 60091 79596 8692/ 333 56009 57901 60097 82914 84615 85460 80965= AAXX 15004 96015 01450 80704 10234 20231 30096 40101 52011 60514 72196 8552/ 333 20230 50970 55056 56009 58010 60017 85612 85457= AAXX 02064 03008 11482 60210 10044 21030 40164 60002 71511 868// 333 20017 31101 79999 81818 85645= AAXX 02184 03068 12782 51214 10073 21040 30108 40117 56014 60002 85500 333 10095 85650= PRACTICAL 2: PLOTTING THE WEATHER INFORMATION ON A CHART Objective: The practical is aimed at enabling the student plot on a weather chart. Tools
a) A table of coded weather messages b) Lecture Notes c) A chart (map) with station indicated on it Procedure: Plot the weather messages for the stations over Kenya at 15GMT on figure 1. For the dates assigned (N B. You will need to print out the figure1) 1. Code the data assigned to you. S/N STUDENT REG NO. DATE 1 I50/78854/2015 15 TH NOVEMBER 2015 2 I50/81309/2015 10 TH JANUARY, 2016
Figure 1: The Synoptic stations over Kenya
PRACTICAL 3: CODING THE UPPER AIR OBSERVED WEATHER Objective: The practical is aimed at enabling the student code the observed weather a) A table of observed weather b) The lecture notes Procedure: Code the weather message give in table 2 and 3 Tools a) WMO MANNUAL ON CODING b) Upper air DATA Instructions 2. Code the data assigned to you. S/N STUDENT REG NO. DATA 1 I50/78854/2015 Table 2A and Table 3B 2 I50/81309/2015 Table 2b and Table 3A
TABLE 2A: STATION 63612 DATE 14-02-2016 TIME 09 GMT LEVEL (mb) HEIGHT (m) SPEED (kts) DIR (Surface) 955 515 3 18 925 635 6 12 850 1320 10 27 800 2050 12 42 750 2560 19 38 700 3201 23 32 650 3835 25 25 600 4468 15 23 550 5197 12 63 500 5926 18 136 450 6790 28 153 400 7654 22 192 350 8420 20 211 300 11023 17 198 250 12500 24 164 200 14311 26 93 170 14570 25 81 150 15199 21 39 120 16984 23 60 100 18443 25 20 90 19288 24 0 80 20232 23 350 70 21296 26 342 60 22526 23 330 50 23991 20 340 40 25774 21 320 30 28076 28 344 20 31317 26 325 10 36865 20 352
TABLE 2B: STATION 63820 DATE 22-01-2016 TIME 18 GMT LEVEL (mb) HEIGHT (m) SPEED (kts) DIR (Surface) 932 515 5 192 925 635 7 174 850 1320 7 156 800 2050 12 142 750 2560 16 146 700 3201 18 151 650 3835 21 187 600 4468 15 207 550 5197 11 241 500 5926 18 313 450 6790 22 330 400 7654 22 352 350 8420 20 338 300 11023 17 351 250 12500 26 344 200 14311 25 272 170 14570 27 263 150 15199 22 212 120 16984 24 241 100 18443 27 212 90 19288 27 180 80 20232 23 177 70 21296 25 144 60 22526 24 150 50 23991 20 146 40 25774 22 322 30 28076 22 301 20 31317 25 316 10 36865 20 298
TABLE 3A Sounding for station 67982 0n 24-04-2012 at 15hr local time and the station is located at 60 O E. The radio sonde launched at 14hr 30min local time. Pressure level(mb) Geopotential Height (m) Temperature o C Dew point Temp o C Wind speed Kt 1012 45 23.2 18.6 4 108 1000 112 24.5 20.4 6 163 940 495 25.3 17.5 8 180 925 615 23.8 14.3 12 144 850 1520 22.6 12.4 34 122 800 2030 20.1 15.8 40 100 750 2640 16.0 11.9 60 84 700 3186 10.3 10.7 50 48 650 3819 6.3 5.6 76 53 600 4458 2.4-2.2 84 70 500 5904 0.5-8.2 90 95 400 7634-3.2-15.4 100 122 300 9743-8.4 112 150 250 11002-15.7 120 140 200 12480-25.8 125 203 170 14290-32.3 130 140 150 14550-51.4 120 206 120 15600-51.1 110 295 100 16680-62.6 90 300 90 17280-71.2 95 326 70 18703-82.0 80 310 50 20722-75.1 82 313 30 23400-72.4 60 292 20 25800-66.5 50 330 10 29710-62.8 45 310 Direction
TABLE 3B Sounding for station 63980 0n 15-10-2015 at 14hr local time and the station is located at 75 O E. The radio sonde launched at 14hr 15min local time. Pressure level(mb) Geopotential Height (m) Temperature o C Dew point Temp o C Wind speed 1 ms 1016 40 24.2 18.6 3 112 1000 112 25.5 19.4 5 160 940 495 24.3 17.5 8 180 925 615 23.8 14.3 12 144 850 1520 22.6 12.4 17 120 800 2030 18.1 15.8 20 103 750 2640 14.3 11.9 30 87 700 3186 10.3 10.7 25 51 650 3819 6.3 5.6 37 54 600 4458 2.4-2.2 42 70 500 5904 0.5-8.2 45 93 400 7634-3.2-15.4 50 120 300 9743-8.4-14.1 56 150 250 11002-13.7 60 140 200 12480-22.8 62 200 170 14290-31.3 66 140 150 14550-48.4 61 212 120 15600-51.1 55 295 100 16680-62.6 45 302 90 17280-71.2 44 325 70 18703-82.0 40 310 50 20722-75.2 42 306 30 23400-72.4 30 290 20 25800-66.5 25 307 10 29710-62.8 22 310 Direction PRACTICAL NO. 4: PLOTTING THE SOUNDING ON A T Objective: The practical is aimed at enabling the student to plot the sounding on T And compute the convective parameters. Tools a) Extract the TEMP data for the station and date allocated to you at 00 GMT. For example to obtain data for 00GMT for 25 th Sep 2014 enter the information as shown. COUNTRY OR TERRITORY (*) TYPE SORT ORDER NIL REPORTS FORMAT Indonesia ALL, (TEMP and PILOT) Oldest the first NIL reports included TXT TIME INTERVAL Year Month Day Hour BEGIN: 2014 September 24 23 END: 2014 September 25 00
send Clean b) Using a T (i) Plot the given temperature and dew point temperature a T gram and Indicate the layers that experienced warming/ cooling and moistening / drying. (ii) Determine the LCL, equivalent potential temperature, lifted Index, K-Index (iii) Find the mixing ratio, specific humidity,,relative humidity and vapour pressure at surface, 800mb, and 700mb STUDENT Station and Date REG NO. I50/78854/2015 Darwin-Australia (21 st and 22 nd Sep, 2015) I50/81309/2015 Jarkata-Indonesia(1 st and 2 nd Jan, 2016)
PRACTICAL 5: PREPARING (CODING) AND INTERPRETATING (DECODING) A METAR Objective: The practical is aimed at enabling the student to be able to prepare (code) and interpreate (decode) a METAR Tools a) A table of weather messages b) The ICAO guide for writing METAR TABLE FOR PRACTICAL 5 The data assigned to each student. S/N STUDENT REG NO. DATA 1 I50/78854/2015 Complete Landing Forecast or Aviation routine weather report with trend forecast for Entebbe Int. airport The time of origin (issuing) at 1200Z on the 12 th February, 2016 Observed weather Wind direction is 90 degrees, Wind speed 06 knots Visibility 7500 meters Cloud layer 1 amount 3-4 oktas (or 3/8-4/8) at base 1500 ft Cloud layer 2 amount 3-4 oktas of Cumulonimbus (or 3/8-4/8) at base 1700 ft Temperature 26ºC, Dew point temperature 24ºC QNH 865 hpa (mb) Forecast weatherchange Time from 1220Z on 20th until 1250Z on 12 th February, 2016 Horizontal Visibility is 3000m Weather phenomena is moderate thunderstorm with rain The end signal of the message 2 I50/81309/2015 Complete Landing Forecast/ Aviation routine weather report with trend forecast Jomo Kenyatta Int. airport The time of origin (issuing) at 1200Z on the 15 th January 2016 Observed weather Wind direction is 70 degrees, Wind speed 08 knots Visibility 8000 meters Cloud layer 1 amount 5-6 oktas (or 5/8-6/8) at base 1400 ft Cloud layer 2 amount 3-4 oktas of Cumulonimbus (or 3/8-4/8) at base 1600 ft Temperature 22ºC, Dew point temperature 19ºC QNH 823hPa (mb) Forecast Change in weather
Time from 1200Z on 20th until 1220Z on 20th Horizontal Visibility is 4000m Weather phenomena is moderate thunderstorm with rain The end signal of the message S/N STUDENT DATA REG NO. I50/78854/2015 METAR HTMT 160400Z 27005KT 9999 FEW021 FEW022CB BKN080 1 26/25 Q1014= METAR HTDA 160400Z 31004KT 9999 BKN020 26/24 Q1014 NOSIG= METAR HKJK 160400Z 08005KT 050V110 9999 FEW018 15/12 Q1024= METAR HKML 160400Z 00000KT 9999 FEW019 25/23 Q1014= 2 I50/81309/2015 METAR HKEL 160400Z 07003KT CAVOK 11/09 Q1026= METAR HKKI 160400Z 07005KT CAVOK 17/13 Q1018= METAR HTSO 160400Z 00000KT 9999 SCT018 FEW020CB BKN070 20/20 Q1019= METAR HTTB 160400Z 00000KT 9999 FEW017 19/18 Q1020= PRACTICAL 6: PREPARING A SIGMET Objective: The practical is aimed at enabling the student to be able to write and interpreate a SIGMET Tools a) A table of weather messages b) The ICAO guide for writing SIGMET TABLE FOR PRACTICAL 6 The data assigned to each student. S/N STUDENT REG NO. DATA 1 I50/78854/2015 WSSG31 GOOY 312005 GOOO SIGMET C4 VALID 312005/312400 GOOY- GOOO DAKAR OCEANIC FIR/UIR ISOL EMBD TS OBS AT 1955Z WI N0536 W02745 - N0707 W02448 - N0743 W02140 - N0502 W02045 - N0352 W02514 TOP FL450 MOV W 05KT NC=
WSMA31 FIMP 010830 FIMM SIGMET 03 VALID 010830/011230 FIMP- FIMM MAURITIUS FIR EMBD TS OBS AT 0800Z WI S1000 E06000 - S1000 E06600 - S1300 E06700 - S1700 E05800 - S1300 E05500 - S1000 E06000 TOP ABV FL410 STNR NC= 2 I50/81309/2015 WSCG31 FCBB 011005 FCCC SIGMET A2 VALID 011005/011405 FCBB- FCCC BRAZZAVILLE FIR/UIR EMBD TS OBS AT 0930Z W OF LINE N0315 E00933 - S0149 E00919 S OF LINE S0325 E01006 - S0320 E00639 TOP FL430 MOV W 10KT NC= WSZA31 FAOR 010600 FAOR SIGMET B01 VALID 010600/011000 FAOR- FAJO JOHANNESBURG OCEANIC FIR EMBD TS FCST WI S2730 E01424 - S2730 E01500 - S2854 E01500 TOP FL350= TABLE 1 The data assigned to each student for preparing SIGMET S/N STUDENT REG NO. DATA I50/78854/2015 The SIGMET for forecasted embedded thunderstorm 1 extending above 3,5000ft was issued by Johannesburg on
1 st of January 2016 at 06.55z which was expected to be used between 6.00z to 11.00z. The thunder cell was expected within the oceanic area. o o o o o o ( 27 30 S,14 24 E), ( 27 30 S,15 00 E), ( 28 54 S,15 00 E), This was the first SIGMET of the day. 2 I50/81309/2015 The SIGMET for observed embedded thunderstorm extending above 4,5000ft was issued by Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo on 1 st of January 2016 at 05.30Z which was expected to be used between 6.05z to 10.05z. The thunder cell was observed west of the line from ( 2 o 20 N,9 o 41 E) to ( 4 o 05 N,11 o 12 E) The thunder cell was moving west with a speed of 10knots and the intensity was not changing. This was the first SEGMET of the day.
http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/cgi-bin/data/timeseries/timeseries.pl
Synop of a landstation The basic form of the SYNOP bulletin for a landstation is: AAXX YYGGiw IIiii irixhvv Nddff 1snTTT 2snTdTdTd 4PPPP 5appp 6RRRtR 7wwW1W2 8NhCLCMCH The rain group (6RRRtR) is not plotted. All other groups will be plotted using the plot model in