WMO regulations pertaining to aviation are provided in the Technical Regulations (WMO-No.49) Volume II, Meteorological Service to International Air Navigation. This publication is almost identical with the ICAO Annex 3 and is subject to the same amendment cycle. In addition to the Technical Regulations, WMO develops and publishes guidance material aimed at facilitating the implementation of the standard and recommended practices by the Members. The development of the guidance material is normally done by different subsidiary bodies of the Commission for Aeronautical Meteorology.
The Technical Regulations comprise standard practices and procedures and recommended practices and procedures. The definitions of these two types of Regulations are as follows:
The standard practices and procedures:
- Shall be the practices and procedures which it is necessary that Members follow or implement; and therefore
- Shall have the status of requirements in a technical resolution in respect of which Article 9 (b) of the Convention is applicable; and
- Shall invariably be distinguished by the use of the term shall in the English text, and by suitable equivalent terms in the Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish texts.
The recommended practices and procedures:
- Shall be the practices and procedures which it is desirable that Members follow or implement; and therefore
- Shall have the status of recommendations to Members, to which Article 9 (b) of the Convention shall not be applied;
- Shall be distinguished by the use of the term should in the English text (except where otherwise provided by decision of Congress) and by suitable equivalent terms in the Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish texts.
The regulatory material promulgated by the WMO is contained strictly in the WMO Technical Regulations (WMO-No.49) and its Annexes (Manuals). (More information and links to the regulatory documents). Additional non-regulatory material is published as guides, technical notes or other supplementary documents aimed at facilitating the implementation of the WMO regulations by the Members.
The following are the current regulatory and guidance documents published by the WMO relevant to the Aeronautical Meteorology Programme:
