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Japan Meteorological Agency | ||||||||
Aviation Weather Services
To secure the safety, regularity as well as efficiency of the domestic and international aviation operations in Japan, JMA provides aviation weather services for airlines and the Civil Aviation Bureau.
Aviation weather offices observe meteorological elements critical for aviation such as runway visual range and cloud ceiling height in addition to the basic meteorological elements observed by other weather stations. Particular attention is paid to severe weather conditions that seriously affect aviation operations. Lightning, for example, is continuously monitored by the Lightning Detection Network composed of lightning detectors installed at 29 points across the country. Rainfall is monitored by conventional radars at 3 airports and Doppler radars at 6 airports. The Doppler radars also have the capabilities of observing three-dimentional wind distibution to detect low-level wind shears which are a serious threat to aircraft during takeoff and landing. Information on the wind shear is passed onto pilots through the air traffic control authority in real time so that they can evade the dangerous conditions immediately. |
 Doppler Radar for Airport Weather |
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Aviation Weather Forecasts and Warnings |
JMA provides forecasts, warnings and bulletins about the weather conditions of airports as well as information on en-route weather coditions for cruising aircraft.
At 27 major airports, aerodrome forecasts up to 9 to 27 hours are issued for long-range flights every 6 hours. In case severe weather is expected, aerodrome weather bulletins and/or warnings are also issued.
SIGMET information is issued to give advice on weather phenomena hazardous to aircraft in flight such as turbulence and thunderstorms by the Narita Aviation Weather Service Center (AWSC) for the Tokyo Flight Information Region (FIR) and the Naha FIR for international flight. For domestic flights, information on such enroute phenomena is given with ARMAD information. ARMAD is issued by New Chitose AWS, Tokyo AWSC, Fukuoka AWS and Naha AWS for their respective responsible regions which cover the Japan area in total.
Volcanic ash is one of the serious threats to cruising aircraft because it could damage engines of the aircraft. As one of the Volcanic ash Advisory Center (VAACs) designated by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in cooperation with WMO, the Tokyo AWSC (Tokyo VAAC) provides reports and forecasts of movement of volcanic ash plumes for the western North Pacific areas. |
 Volcanic Ash Advisory |
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Tokyo VOLMET broadcast |
For the aircraft in flight in the Pacific region, JMA disseminates weather reports from six major international airports in Japan and Incheon International Airport (Republic of Korea) via the Tokyo VOLMET, a short-wave radio broadcasting services.
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Tokyo OPMET Data Bank |
The Tokyo Operational Meteorological (OPMET) Data Bank collects and archives aviation weather reports in the Asia-Pacific region. The Tokyo OPMET allows aeronautical users to access the reports through the Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunications Network (AFTN), a dedicated aeronautical communication network which connects national aviation bureaus and meteorological services.
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Communication of Aviation Meteorological Information |
Observational meteorological reports and aerodrome forecasts issued by AWSs and various aeronautical weather charts produced by JMA Headquarters are distributed to airport traffic control units of the Civil Aviation Bureau (CAB) and airlines through L-ADESSs and the aerodrome meteorological information network. Observational reports and aerodrome forecasts are also provided to aircraft in flight through the Tokyo VOLMET broadcasting and air-ground communications of CAB. Meanwhile, information on significant weather conditions which pilots encounter during flight, in particular turbulence, is transmitted to JMA through the air traffic controller and relayed to airlines. Aeronautical meteorological bulletins are also exchanged internationally through AFTN.