East Asia viewed from space with connections representing main air traffic routes. Elements of this image furnished by NASA
Denmark’s Naviair by the end of this year will be able to support the full digital exchange of aeronautical weather information through a new Frequentis upgrade of its smartWeather system using the IWXXM model, the communications and information systems provider said.
Frequentis said implementation of the latest smartWeather release, which is matched to the IWXXM (or ICAO Meteorological Information Exchange Model), would enable the Danish air navigation service provider to fully comply with Amendment 78 of the International Civil Aviation Org.’s Annex 3. That amendment mandates the exchange of weather products in digital form over the Air Traffic Services Message Handling System (AMHS).
“Naviair has put its trust in Frequentis’ smartWeather since 1990 and the system has been upgraded over the years to meet Naviair’s new functional requirements and operating environments,” said Naviair’s head of data communication, Michael Rauff. He added that Frequentis delivered the release on time, clearing the way for it to be put into operation before the end of 2017.
The smartWeather system is designed to support the acquisition and processing of all types of weather information, Frequentis said, in formats such as textual, binary, graphics and XML that are acquired from multiple sources (including Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunication Network, AMHS, System-Wide Information Management, World Meteorological Org. and the internet). The company also said smartWeather makes that weather available to users through various interfaces, including graphical user interfaces and web services.
With the latest release, smartWeather also supports the conversion between Textual and IWXXM and the aggregation and redistribution of IWXXM reports. Based exclusively on open source software, Frequentis said, smartWeather offer a system with low lifecycle costs.