scope:

The first edition of the Manual of Aeronautical Meteorological Practice, published in response to recommendations made by the Meteorology and Operations Divisional Meeting¹ (Paris, 1964), vi/as intended as a guide for use by pilots and other aeronautical personnel on meteorological procedures, codes, symbols and abbreviations It also contained a multilingual list of terms and phrases commonly used in meteorological bnefings

A second edition was prepared in 1977 to reflect, in particular, the many changes in procedures and terminology recommended by the Eighth Air Navigation Conference and the Meteorology Divisional Meeting² (1974)

As demand for the manual continued to grow and because further important changes to meteorological procedures had taken place, particularly in connection with the recommendations for the establishment of a world area forecast system (WAFS) made by the Communications/Meteorology Divisional Meeting³ (Montreal, 1982), a third edition was prepared That edition was rewntten aiming to meet the needs of operational aeronautical meteorologists, particularly those at the working level, as welt as the needs of pilots and other aeronautical personnel

As a consequence of an extensive amendment proposal to Annex 3 - Meteorological Sen/ice for International Air Navigation developed by the Communications/Meteorology/Operations (COM/MET/OPS) Divisional Meeting⁴ (1990) including, in particular, provisions regarding the transition to the final phase of the WAFS, aerodrome observations, reports and forecasts, SIGMET information, etc, a fourth edition of the manual was published In order to continue to meet users' requirements, however, the structure of the manual was not changed

The fifth edition was the direct result of Amendment 70 to Annex 3, applicable from 1 January 1996, which constituted a comprehensive update of the provisions, in particular, those related to air-reporting and the observation and reporting of wind shear In addition, new provisions concerning information on weather phenomena hazardous to tow-level flights (AIRMET and GAMET messages) were introduced However, the basic structure of the manual was maintained

The sixth edition reflected the substantial changes made to Annex 3 m Amendments 71 and 72

The seventh edition takes account of the substantial changes which were introduced in Annex 3 through Amendment 73, which was developed by the Meteorological Divisional Meeting (2002)⁵ and became applicable in November 2004 In view of the fact that all of the technical specifications and templates have now been regrouped in Part II of Annex 3 by subject matter, it is no longer considered to be necessary to reproduce these templates in this manual Furthermore, matenal related to coordination between aeronautical meteorological services and ATS, SAR and AIS units has been eliminated since these issues are extensively covered in the Manual on Coordination between Air Traffic Services, Aeronautical Information Services and Aeronautical Meteorological Services (Doc 9377). For the efficient use of the seventh edition of this manual, it is therefore important to have easy access to both Annex 3 and Doc 9377.

The eighth edition incorporates all the changes included in Amendment 74 to Annex 3. Furthermore, the explanation of the terms "MET authority", "MET inspectorate", "MET regulator" and "MET service provider" has been introduced; guidance related to issuance of SIGMET has been expanded; and the chapter related to meteorological service for operators and flight crew members has been reorganized and clarified.

The body of the manual is still based primarily on Annex 3, summarized and enlarged upon, where necessary. The appendices provide information on other subjects such as location of instruments at aerodromes and use of meteorological Information by flight operations officers.

Annex 3 is a constantly evolving document, as are all ICAO Annexes. Some procedures described in this manual are cun-ently under review by the Air Navigation Commission and may have changed by the time it is printed and issued. However, the usual amendment service for ICAO documents will keep users of this manual up to date, on a timely basis, on changes of this kind.

In conclusion, it should be stressed that the material in this manual is intended for guidance only. It is not intended to replace relevant national Instnjctions, or explanatory material, such as the explanations of codes and symbols, normally shown in flight documentation, nor Is it intended to cover the many non-aeronautical uses of meteorological infomiation. Nothing in this manual should be taken as contradicting or conflicting with Annex 3 provisions or any other Standards, Recommended Practices, procedures or guidance material published by ICAO or WMO. It should also be noted that in this manual the words "shall" or "should" are not used In a regulatory sense as in ICAO or WMO regulatory documents.

1 Held conjointiy with the Third Session of the Commission for Aeronautical Meteorology (CAeM) of the WMO

2 Held, in part, conjointly with the Extraordinary Session (1974) of the body mentioned in Note 1

3 Held conjointly with the Seventh Session of the body mentioned in Note 1

4 Held conjointly with the Ninth Session of the body mentioned in Note 1

5 Held conjointly with the Twelfth Session of the body mentioned in Note 1