Meteorology
Meteorological products and services for civil aviation in New Zealand can only be provided by organisations certificated to do so by the CAA. Under Civil Aviation Rule Part 174 - Meteorological Service Organisations, the Meteorological Service of New Zealand (MetService) and the Airways Corporation of New Zealand (Airways) are certificated to supply various categories of services. The majority of such services are currently provided by MetService.
There is no formal requirement from government for MetService to provide meteorological services to domestic civil aviation.
The CAA is the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Meteorological Authority in New Zealand, and, as such, gives exclusive license to MetService to carry out the operational requirements prescribed in ICAO Annex 3, Meteorological Service for International Air Navigation. This includes the provision of OPMET (TAFs, METARs and SPECIs for Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch aerodromes, and SIGMETs for the New Zealand and Auckland Oceanic FIRs).
This area of the CAA’s web site is intended to provide an up to date overview on access to, use of, and interpretation of aviation meteorological information by all sectors of the New Zealand aviation community.
Weather Flight Planning
- Weather Information for Your Flight
- How to Access Aviation Weather Information
- How to Interpret Aviation Weather Information
Weather Information
- List of Aviation Weather Products
- Products and Availability
- Automatic Weather Stations (METAR AUTO)
- Examples of Aviation Weather Products
- Frequency of Issue
- Rules of Thumb - Excerpt from an article in Vector magazine, May/June 2009
- Aircraft Icing Handbook (New helicopter section added) (108 pages, $25)
- Volcanic Ash Advisory System
- Volcanic Alert Level System, Hazard Zones and Aviation Colour Code
- Form CA010 Volcanic Activity Report
- Volcanic Eruption - Recommended Actions for Airports - poster (965 KB)
- ICAO International Airways Volcano Watch Operations Group (IAVWOPSG)
- IFALPA video: Volcanic Ash, an Aviation Hazard of Explosive Proportions
- Fourth International Workshop on Volcanic Ash (VAWS/4 - 2007)
- Fifth International Workshop on Volcanic Ash (VAWS/5 - 2010)
- Sixth International Workshop on Volcanic Ash (VAWS/6 - 2013) (1.3 MB)
ICAO Manual on Volcanic Ash, Radioactive Material and Toxic Chemical Clouds (Doc 9691)
This document can be downloaded for free from the ICAO web site - www.icao.int
Space Weather
Useful Links
- MetFlight GA - How to Log On
- MetFlight GA Web Site
- Internet Flight Information Service (IFIS)
- AIP New Zealand - web site
- AIP New Zealand - how to order printed copies
Free Weather-related Products
| To order, email info@caa.govt.nz, including your postal address. | |
 |
VFR MET Minima A5 laminated card, hole-punched to fit in your Vol 4. Published Feb 2009 |
 |
VFR Met (3 MB) This A5 booklet, in our Good Aviation Practice (GAP) series, covers why you should get Met, where you can get it, what you should get, and how to interpret it. It encourages you to use a set of tables to help you compare and contrast the weather for your flight, as a means of improving your weather-related decision making. Published Feb 2009 |
 |
Weather
Card A5 laminated card, hole-punched to fit in your Vol 4. Revised May 2010 |
 |
Met
Info A handy A2 poster to put up near your flight planning desk, with the ARFOR areas and abbreviations right where you need them. Published Feb 2009 |
 |
New Zealand Cloud Types (1.2 MB) A1 poster Revised 2006 |