VOLMET (French origin ''vol'' (flight) and ''météo'' (weather report)), or meteorological information for aircraft in flight, is a worldwide network of radio stations that broadcast TAF, SIGMET and

METAR METAR is a format for reporting weather information. A METAR weather report is predominantly used by aircraft pilots, and by meteorologists, who use aggregated METAR information to assist in weather forecasting. Raw METAR is highly standardize ...

reports on

shortwave Shortwave radio is radio transmission using radio frequencies in the shortwave bands (SW). There is no official definition of the band range, but it always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (app ...

frequencies, and in some countries on VHF too. Reports are sent in upper sideband mode, using automated voice transmissions. Pilots on international routes, such as

North Atlantic Tracks The North Atlantic Tracks, officially titled the North Atlantic Organised Track System (NAT-OTS), are a structured set of transatlantic flight routes that stretch from eastern North America to western Europe across the Atlantic Ocean, within th ...

, use these transmissions to avoid storms and turbulence, and to determine which procedures to use for descent, approach, and landing. The VOLMET network divides the world into specific regions, and individual VOLMET stations in each region broadcast weather reports for specific groups of air terminals in their region at specific times, coordinating their transmission schedules so as not to interfere with one another. Schedules are determined in intervals of five minutes, with one VOLMET station in each region broadcasting reports for a fixed list of cities in each interval. These schedules repeat every hour. An aircraft in flight can obtain by VOLMET the Aviation routine weather reports (METAR) of specific airports.

References

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External links

VOLMET station frequencies
Aviation meteorology

See also

References

External links