Current work of the Aviation Applications Research Group at The UK Met Office

This paper will give a brief overview of the current work of the group, in particular covering progress since the eighth conference on Aviation, Range, and Aerospace Meteorology in 1999.

The topics covered will include: 1. Monitoring of forecasts of upper air wind and clear air turbulence. 2. Development of techniques for identifying volcanic ash at aircraft cruising levels using satellite imagery. 3. Wake vortex studies. 4. Activities to facilitate the safe introduction of reduced aircraft vertical separation minima in Europe in 2002. 5. Facilities for providing climatological data to airlines for flight planning. 6. Developments in the prediction of lightning strikes to helicopters. 7. Provision of meteorological information to support the design of geostationary stratospheric airships. 8. Developments in the prediction of optimum routes for aircraft.