IWXXM implementation in EUR/NAT

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Amendment 77 to Annex 3, applicable on 10 November 2016, recommended the exchange of METAR and SPECI, TAF, SIGMET, AIRMET, Volcanic Ash Advisory (VAA) and Tropical Cyclone Advisory (TCA) using extensible markup language (XML)/geography markup language (GML). This is achieved by using the ICAO Meteorological Information Exchange Model (IWXXM).

This will become a requirement in Amendment 78 to Annex 3 (November 2018) noting the applicability of implementation is expected to be November 2020.

To assist States in implementation, the ICAO Meteorological Information Exchange Model (IWXXM) Workshop will be held at the EUR/NAT Office in Paris from 17 to 18 May 2017. The objectives of the workshop are to:

Inform States of available information to assist in implementation (e.g. ICAO Doc 033 – Guidelines for the implementation of OPMET Data Exchange using IWXXM in the EUR Region, IWXXM 2.0 Release Candidate 1, as well as high level information on XML, GML);

  • Provide suggested steps on IWXXM implementation;
  • Provide experience and planning on bilateral testing;
  • Share and discuss implementation experience and their associated solutions; and
  • Develop regional implementation plan based on current status of implementation provided by the Regional OPMET Centres (ROC), Regional OPMET Data Banks (RODB), and National OPMET Centres (NOC).

The IWXXM implementation plan for the EUR/NAT Regions will be presented to the Inter-regional APAC/EUR/ MID Seminar on service improvement through integration of AIM, MET and ATM information that will be held the week of 2 October 2017 at EUROCONTROL.


This article was originally written for the ICAO EUR/NAT Office’s Newsletter (Issue 1) on May 2017. A full list of their newsletters can be found here