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The standards for meteorological planning of air navigation are laid down in ICAO Annex 3 and observed by civil aviation authorities around the globe. But beyond national borders, just two bodies provide en-route weather flight planning data: Britain’s Met Office, and America’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
While it is easy to get lost in the acronyms and technical detail of weather science, the remit of these two entities is relatively straightforward. Both function as World Area Forecast (WAF) centers that broadcast the raw data and charts used by flight briefing companies for route optimization, and by airports for weather-related contingency planning...
