Changes Included in Amendment 78 to Annex 3: "Meteorological Service for International Air Navigation"

In 2014, the Air Navigation Bureau (ANB) of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) completed a major internal reorganization.  Included in this reorganization was the disbanding of the Meteorological Section within the ANB and the establishment of the Meteorology (MET) Panel under the ICAO Air Navigation Commission (ANC).

In 2015, ICAO instituted a 2-year amendment cycle for ICAO Annex 3 - Meteorological Service for International Air Navigationbeginning with Amendment 78. Through the Job Cards assigned by the ANC, the MET Panel is responsible for a significant amount of input to the initial draft of Amendment 78 that will be available in early 2017. The U.S member to the ICAO MET Panel is leading several activities in collaboration with other experts from around the world that will lead to changes in the provision of meteorological services in support of international air navigation. The U.S. is a principal provider of information for the World Area Forecast System, the International Airway Volcano Watch, and the soon to be designated space weather information providers.

Anticipated changes to Annex 3 in Amendment 78 include: Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) for space weather information; SARPs to allow implementation of near-term arrangements to address deficiencies in the provision of regional hazardous weather information; and SARPs necessary to improve the provision of information about the release of radioactive material into the atmosphere.