Pilot and other Aircraft Reports

  1. Aircraft Reports
  2. PIREP report
    1. PIREP-ID element
    2. TURB element
    3. ICING element
  3. AIREP report
    1. AIREP-ID element
  4. AMDAR report
    1. AMDAR-ID element
    2. NAVIGATION-SYSTEM element
    3. ACARS-SECTION element
  5. SYG element
  6. REMARKS Element
  7. Examples
  8. References

  

Aircraft Reports

The present document defines OMF XML markup for a set of observation reports from aircrafts: AFMAN 15-124 PIREP, AFMAN 15-124 AIREP, FM 42-IX AMDAR, and FM 42-IX Section 3 ACARS. These reports describe weather conditions in the upper layers of the atmosphere. Unlike Rawinsonde observations, aircraft reports state weather conditions typically at one particular location in the atmosphere or occasionally at a small number of locations irregularly spaced in 3D. Elevation is almost always reported as flight level, in feet.

Raw aircraft reports are unsuitable for any further processing or human analysis. The information is also encoded. The OMF markup aims to aid processing and understanding of a report by annotating the raw data with decoded quantities (temperature, wind speed) in conventional and self-evident units. Airport references are converted into points on the globe. Time stamps are always presented in absolute units: EPOCH seconds.

AMDAR and its subsection ACARS are WMO standards, designed for transmission of data from an automatic equipment on board an aircraft. PIREPs and AIREPs are U.S. data formats for pilot observations.

The OMF markup described in this document only annotates the raw text of aircraft reports, without altering it. Thus it is always possible to reconstruct the original reports. In the case of a coding or a transmission error, the corresponding data are marked with a specific tag. It is up to an application then to try to correct the error and salvage whatever data possible.


  

PIREP report

An element PIREP describes one pilot report encoded according to the AFMAN manual 15-124 (30 October 2001) pages 21 through 31.

The original message can be reconstructed, up to a reordering of the original /xx segments, by concatenating the elements; do not put spaces between them. The segments are reordered per the AFMAN standard.

The main PIREP report element

 
  XML DTD
 
<!ELEMENT PIREP (PIREP-ID, SYG?, TURB*, ICING*, REMARKS?)>

Attributes

TStamp
  Time Stamp of the observation  
 
LatLons
  Coordinates of a point or a line of the observation  
 
The content of this attribute is always a list of four numbers, that is, two latitude-longitude pairs. This attribute therefore specifies a line. The line can actually be a single point as the second pair may be equal to the first one.
 
FL
  The flight level or levels of the observation. "from, to" or omitted
CDATA
 
The value of this attribute is a character string "from, to" where from and to are two integer numbers: the flight levels in feet. The number to may be omitted.
 
type
  The type of the report enum
(ROUTINE | URGENT)
 
transUnit
  The identification of a transmission unit. token or omitted
NMTOKEN
 
It is often a three-letter airport identifier (a VOR identifier).
 
aircraft-type
  The type of the reporting aircraft. token or omitted
NMTOKEN
 
This is an alphanumeric token that describes the type of the aircraft.
Example: DH8, MO20, BE36
 

 
<!ATTLIST PIREP
	%TStamp;
	%LatLons;
	FL CDATA #IMPLIED
	type (ROUTINE | URGENT) 'ROUTINE'
	transUnit NMTOKEN #IMPLIED
	aircraft-type NMTOKEN #IMPLIED
>

  

PIREP-ID element

The content of this element is an excerpt (up to and including the /TP segment) from the original report that corresponds to location and identification annotations in the PIREP element. This excerpt contains segments /OV, /TM, /TP, /FL and the raw data before the /OV segment.

 
  XML DTD
 
<!ELEMENT PIREP-ID (#PCDATA)>

  

TURB element

This element describes a turbulence observation. The content of this element consists of the corresponding segments of the report. The attributes annotate the segments with the decoded information.

 
  XML DTD
 
<!ELEMENT TURB (#PCDATA)>

Attributes

type
  The type of turbulence. enum or omitted
(SMOOTH | CAT | CHOP)
 
intensity
  The intensity of turbulence. list of LIGHT, MODERATE, UNSPECIFIED or omitted
NMTOKENS
 
The value of this attribute is an intensity token or a list of two such tokens. Two tokens specify the range of the intensities. The value UNSPECIFIED means that the pilot report specifically states turbulence as unspecified.
 
FL
  The flight level or levels of the turbulence observation. "from, to" or omitted
CDATA
 
See the attribute FL of the parent PIREP element.
 

 
<!ATTLIST TURB
	type (SMOOTH | CAT | CHOP) #IMPLIED
	intensity NMTOKENS #IMPLIED
	FL CDATA #IMPLIED
>

  

ICING element

This element describes an icing observation. The content of this element consists of the corresponding segments of the report. The attributes annotate the segments with the decoded information.

 
  XML DTD
 
<!ELEMENT ICING (#PCDATA)>

Attributes

type
  The type of icing. enum or omitted
(RIME | CLR | MXD)
 
intensity
  The intensity of icing. list of LIGHT, MODERATE, UNSPECIFIED or omitted
NMTOKENS
 
The value of this attribute is an intensity token or a list of two such tokens. Two tokens specify the range of the intensities. The value UNSPECIFIED means that the pilot report specifically states icing as unspecified.
 
FL
  The flight level or levels of the icing observation. "from, to" or omitted
CDATA
 
See the attribute FL of the parent PIREP element.
 

 
<!ATTLIST ICING
	type (RIME | CLR | MXD) #IMPLIED
	intensity NMTOKENS #IMPLIED
	FL CDATA #IMPLIED
>

  

AIREP report

An element AIREP describes one aircraft report encoded according to the AFMAN manual 15-124 pages 32 through 35.

The original report can be reconstructed by space-concatenating the elements (with no space in front of the content of the REMARKS element).

The main AIREP report element

 
  XML DTD
 
<!ELEMENT AIREP (AIREP-ID, SYG?, REMARKS?)>

Attributes

TStamp
  Time Stamp of the observation  
 
LatLon
  Location of the observation  
 
FL
  The flight level of the observation. integer or omitted
NMTOKEN
 
The flight level is given in feet.
 
type
  The type of the report enum
(ROUTINE | SPECIAL)
 
aircraft-id
  The identifier of the reporting aircraft token or omitted
NMTOKEN
 
This is an alphanumeric id of the reporting aircraft.
Example: EU3358
 

 
<!ATTLIST AIREP
	%TStamp;
	%LatLon;
	FL NMTOKEN #IMPLIED
	type (ROUTINE | SPECIAL) 'ROUTINE'
	aircraft-id NMTOKEN #IMPLIED
>

  

AIREP-ID element

The content of this element is an excerpt from the original report that corresponds to the location and identification annotations in the AIREP element.

 
  XML DTD
 
<!ELEMENT AIREP-ID (#PCDATA)>

  

AMDAR report

AMDAR -- aircraft meteorological data relay -- is a WMO FM-42 code for an automatic meteorological report from an aircraft. A Section 3 of the report, if present, is called an ACARS report. An AMDAR report is a quasi-AIREP report. However, because AMDAR is an automatic report, it has no remarks section.

The original message can be reconstructed by space-concatenating the contents of all elements.

The main AMDAR report element

 
  XML DTD
 
<!ELEMENT AMDAR (AMDAR-ID, SYG?, TURB?, NAVIGATION-SYSTEM?, ACARS-SECTION?)>

Attributes

TStamp
  Time Stamp of the observation  
 
LatLon
  Location of the observation  
 
FL
  The flight level of the observation. integer or omitted
NMTOKEN
 
The flight level is given in feet.
 
phase
  The phase of the flight enum or omitted
(DES|LVR|ASC|LVW|UNS)
 
The phase of the flight: descent, routine in-level flight, ascent, highest wind in-level flight, unsteady.
 
aircraft-id
  The identifier of the reporting aircraft token or omitted
NMTOKEN
 
This is an alphanumeric id of the reporting aircraft.
Example: EU3358
 

 
<!ATTLIST AMDAR
	%TStamp;
	%LatLon;
	FL NMTOKEN #IMPLIED
	phase (DES|LVR|ASC|LVW|UNS) #IMPLIED
	aircraft-id NMTOKEN #IMPLIED
>

  

AMDAR-ID element

The content of this element is an excerpt from the original report from which the values of the attributes of the AMDAR element are derived.

 
  XML DTD
 
<!ELEMENT AMDAR-ID (#PCDATA)>

  

NAVIGATION-SYSTEM element

This element is present only in an ACARS report (Section 3 of AMDAR). This element describes the instruments that were used to record the observations described by an element ACARS-SECTION.

 
  XML DTD
 
<!ELEMENT NAVIGATION-SYSTEM (#PCDATA)>

Attributes

navigation-type
  Type of the navigation equipment. digit
NMTOKEN
 
Table 3866 of the WMO Manual 306
 
system-type
  The system type. digit
NMTOKEN
 
Table 3867 of the WMO Manual 306
 
temp-precision
  The precision of temperature measurements. digit
NMTOKEN
 
Digit 0 means low precision (near 2.0C), digit 1 stands for high precision, accurate to one degree C. See Table 3868 of the WMO Manual 306.
 

 
<!ATTLIST NAVIGATION-SYSTEM
	navigation-type NMTOKEN #REQUIRED
	system-type NMTOKEN #REQUIRED
	temp-precision NMTOKEN #REQUIRED
>

  

ACARS-SECTION element

This element is present only in an ACARS report (AMDAR with Section 3)

 
  XML DTD
 
<!ELEMENT ACARS-SECTION (#PCDATA)>

Attributes

FL-pressure
  Flight level pressure, in feet. See the WMO FM 42 Acars section. integer or omitted
NMTOKEN
 
vert-gust
  Vertical gusts, in (integral and fractional) meters per second. decimal or omitted
NMTOKEN
 
See the WMO FM 42 Acars section.
 

 
<!ATTLIST ACARS-SECTION
	FL-pressure NMTOKEN #IMPLIED
	vert-gust NMTOKEN #IMPLIED
>

  

SYG element

The element SYG describes the basic set of meteorological conditions. The body of the element is a segment of the original PIREP/AIREP/AMDAR report. Element's attributes spell out most of this information in plain text.

The SYG element of the PIREP report includes the fields /SK, /WX, /TA, and /WV (in that order) of the original report. The SYG element will only include the temperature T and the Wind attributes.

The SYG element of an AIREP report will only include the temperature T and the Wind attributes.

The SYG element of an AMDAR report may include the air temperature T, the dew-point temperature TD, the relative humidity RH, and the Wind attributes.


  

REMARKS Element

The REMARKS element contains all of the /RM section of a message, in plain text. This element may also contain parts of the report that cannot be parsed due to a coding or a transmission error.


  

Examples

Original PIREP bulletins:

     UAUS21 KAWN 201535 RTD02
     ITH UA /OV ITH090010/TM 1520/FL140/TP BE36/SK
         OVC-TOP110-120/SCT140=
     TPH UA /OV FMN-OAL090087/TM 0019/FL310/TP C550/TA M42/WV
      275052/TB SMTH=
     HRO UA /OV HRO150025/TM 0112/FL090
       /TP AC50/SK IMC/TB LGT/IC LGT
     RIME/RM 145NW MEM OTP AT FL090=

Original AIREP bulletins:

     UAFJ01 ABCD 200105
     AIREP
     ANZ66 3009S 17507E 0932 F340 MS45 295/117=
     
     UAFJ01 NFFN 200105
     AIREP
     ACA859 5900N 04000W 0035 F340 M50 211/42 MID MS48 191/24=

Original AMDAR/ACARS bulletins:

     YRXX84 KAWN 200105 RRQ
     EU1532 4323N 00737E 1459 F219 M16 033/007 TB0 S031 333
     F219 VG000=
     
     YREU02 EGRR 200105
     AMDAR 3011
     DES EU4002   6017N 01203E 200119 F113 MS089 288/038 TB/ S031=
     DES EU3358 4054N 02804E 202159 F116 MS117 /// 119/010 TB0 S031
        333 F116 VG002=  

The corresponding OMF document is as follows:

     <!DOCTYPE Reports SYSTEM "OMF.dtd">
     <Reports TStamp="1048124486">
     
     <PIREP TStamp='1027178400' LatLons='42.5 -76.2339401 42.5 -76.2339401' transUnit='ITH' FL='14000,' aircraft-type='BE36'>
     <PIREP-ID>ITH UA /OV ITH090010/TM 1520/TP BE36/FL140</PIREP-ID>
     <SYG>/SK    OVC-TOP110-120/SCT140</SYG>
     </PIREP>
     
     <PIREP TStamp='1027124340' LatLons='36.75 -108.099998 38.0 -115.929924' transUnit='TPH' FL='31000,' aircraft-type='C550'>
     <PIREP-ID>TPH UA /OV FMN-OAL090087/TM 0019/TP C550/FL310</PIREP-ID>
     <SYG T='-41.1' Wind='275, 27'>/TA M42/WV 275052</SYG>
     <TURB type='SMOOTH'>/TB SMTH</TURB>
     </PIREP>
     
     <PIREP TStamp='1027127520' LatLons='35.959156 -92.9514313 35.959156 -92.9514313' transUnit='HRO' FL='9000,' aircraft-type='AC50'>
     <PIREP-ID>HRO UA /OV HRO150025/TM 0112/TP AC50/FL090</PIREP-ID>
     <TURB intensity='LIGHT'>/TB LGT</TURB>
     <ICING intensity='LIGHT' type='RIME'>/IC LGTRIME</ICING>
     <REMARKS>/RM 145NW MEM OTP AT FL090</REMARKS>
     </PIREP>
     
     <AIREP TStamp='1027071120' LatLon='-30.0900002 175.070007' aircraft-id='ANZ66' FL='34000'>
     <AIREP-ID>ANZ66 3009S 17507E 0932 F340</AIREP-ID>
     <SYG T='-42.8' Wind='295, 60'>MS45 295/117</SYG>
     </AIREP>
     
     <AIREP TStamp='1027125300' LatLon='59.0 -40.0' aircraft-id='ACA859' FL='34000'>
     <AIREP-ID>ACA859 5900N 04000W 0035 F340</AIREP-ID>
     <SYG T='-45.6' Wind='211, 22'>M50 211/42</SYG>
     <REMARKS> MID MS48 191/24</REMARKS>
     </AIREP>
     
     <AMDAR TStamp='1027090740' LatLon='43.2299995 7.36999989' aircraft-id='EU1532' FL='21900'>
     <AMDAR-ID>EU1532 4323N 00737E 1459 F219</AMDAR-ID>
     <SYG T='-1.6' Wind='033, 4'> M16 033/007</SYG>
     <NAVIGATION-SYSTEM navigation-type='0' system-type='3' temp-precision='1'>S031</NAVIGATION-SYSTEM>
     <ACARS-SECTION FL-pressure='21900' vert-gust='0.'>333 F219 VG000</ACARS-SECTION>
     </AMDAR>
     
     <AMDAR TStamp='1027127940' LatLon='60.1699982 12.0299997' phase='DES' aircraft-id='EU4002' FL='11300'>
     <AMDAR-ID>DES EU4002   6017N 01203E 200119 F113</AMDAR-ID>
     <SYG T='-8.9' Wind='288, 20'> MS089 288/038</SYG>
     <TURB intensity='UNSPECIFIED'>TB/</TURB>
     <NAVIGATION-SYSTEM navigation-type='0' system-type='3' temp-precision='1'>S031</NAVIGATION-SYSTEM>
     </AMDAR>
     
     <AMDAR TStamp='1027115940' LatLon='40.5400009 28.0400009' phase='DES' aircraft-id='EU3358' FL='11600'>
     <AMDAR-ID>DES EU3358 4054N 02804E 202159 F116</AMDAR-ID>
     <SYG T='-11.7' Wind='119, 5'> MS117 /// 119/010</SYG>
     <NAVIGATION-SYSTEM navigation-type='0' system-type='3' temp-precision='1'>S031</NAVIGATION-SYSTEM>
     <ACARS-SECTION FL-pressure='11600' vert-gust='.2'>333 F116 VG002</ACARS-SECTION>
     </AMDAR>
     </Reports>

  

References

[OMF-DTD] The OMF Data Definition Document in XML format
< http://www.metnet.navy.mil/Metcast/XML/OMF.dtd>

[OMF-ACR-SAMPLE] Sample OMF Aircraft report document
< http://www.metnet.navy.mil/Metcast/XML/OMF-aircraft.xml>

[Metcast-ac-reports] Current upper air and aircraft reports from the Metcast database, in the OMF format described in this document
< http://www.metnet.navy.mil/cgi-bin/oleg/get-uar>



Last updated April 19, 2003

Converted from SXML by SXML->HTML

$Id: OMF-PIREP.scm,v 1.3 2003/06/04 20:14:56 oleg Exp oleg $