Well, that worked a treat, did it not?
QUOTE:
Assessing meteorological observation
requirements for a new airport
Case study:
St Helena Airport
Met Office
FitzRoy Road, Exeter
Devon, EX1 3PB
United Kingdom
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From outside the UK tel: +44 1392 885680
Fax: +44 1392 885681
[email protected]
Aviation services - Met Office
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Challenge
St Helena is a unique and beautiful small volcanic island located in the South
Atlantic Ocean, where trade winds are prevalent for most of the year making
the weather changeable on a daily basis. It is one of the most remote locations
in the world. In 2011, the St Helena Government contracted for the design,
construction and operation of an airport to provide air access to St Helena for the
first time from 2016.
The Met Office was asked by the Department for International Development
(DFID) to provide a report for the St Helena Government on the meteorological
requirements for the future airport. They wanted a detailed assessment of the
existing weather observing equipment, followed by guidance and advice on the
additional sensors and instrumentation required to provide aeronautical reports
in compliance with International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards and
recommended practices defined by the ICAO.
Solution
We worked closely with the St Helena Government to produce a detailed analysis
of the weather observing equipment in place, focussing on the requirement of
developing the capability of the Airport to deliver accurate operational weather
observations for aviation in the future. Accurate observations are also very important
to ensure accurate forecasting for the airlines using the airport.
Based on our analysis, we gave advice on the best locations for siting meteorological
instrumentation that measures wind conditions, visibility, cloud, temperature,
humidity and air pressure, including the data they should supply in order to
generate the aviation observations.
Benefits
We were able to provide a detailed report as a result of this assessment for the
St Helena Government. This included recommendations for best practices to deliver
safe, compliant and accurate weather observations for a new airport based at a
remote location.
We were able to incorporate other findings arising from our analysis to highlight
other risks that were not previously anticipated.
We identified that the approach to
St Helena was likely to lead to aircraft encountering significant crosswinds and low
level turbulence on occasions, and advised that a mechanism for relaying accurate
crosswind and tailwind information was required, for both pilots and air traffic
control units.
Good quality weather observations will provide confidence to airlines in terms of the
data provided and improve the efficiency at the airport.