The World Area Forecast System: A Personal and Historic Prospective

The author, as one of the "founding fathers" of the World Area Forecast System(WAFS) will present a definitive record of the development and implementation of the WAFS. The System has been referred to by Prof. G.O.P. Obasi, the Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), (Geneva, Switzerland) as "a watershed in service to the international aviational community."

The WAFS is a system for the worldwide broadcast of aviation-related weather information via satellite. It is a joint effort of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the United States Depoartment of Transportation's Federal Aviation Administration, and the Department of Commerce's NOAA/National Weather Service with additional contributions and cooperation from WMO along with the United Kingdom, Finland and France. There are currently 165 WAFS satellite broadcast reception systems in 120 countries with additional installations planned. The WAFS is an excellent example of international cooperation resulting in improved safety and economics in internatioonal air transportation.

The WAFS provides standardized, high-quality global upper wind and temperature and significant weather forecasts to countires via satellite. The data provided is for use as flight documentation and as input to air traffice management and to the aviation industry's flight planning computers. The United States provides one of the two WAFS World Area Forecast Centers and two of the three global satellite broadcasts which are through commercial satellites.

Along with the historical doocumentation of the development and implementation of the system, training for the use by National Meteorological Services and Civil Aviation Authorities for applications to aeronautical meteorological forecasts will be explored. The "final phase" of the WAFS and opportunities for local authorities will be discussed.