METARS that are uploaded to PilotAware users when in range of 1 or more of the 200+ ATOM GRID ground stations in Europe. This is a complimentary service from PilotAware.
METARS are broadcast from all the ATOM GRID ground stations. Current METAR's from each individual European METAR location are uplinked every 15 seconds. A full set of available METARS will be available after approximately 5 minutes of being in range of at least 1 ATOM Station.
METARS are provided from all METAR sites within 150kms of the ATOM grid station to which you are connected. These are tabulated in distance order with the status as shown in the table below. The ICAO codes are translated into easily understood locations.
The status of each METAR location is colour coded for easy analysis.
The status of each METAR location is colour coded for easy analysis.
As well as appearing on the METAR Page, METAR's are also shown on the PilotAware RADAR Screen to help you understand if you are flying into Marginal VMC or worse, conditions and take appropriate action as you see fit.
To see all METAR stations and wind feathers within 150Km, the PilotAware RADAR screen will have to be "zoomed out" horizontally. As PilotAware shows more traffic types than any other EC device, the traffic screen will be very busy if all traffic filters are set wide open. It is therefore recommended that the vertical scale is set to no more than 2000 ft to filter out the high-flying airliners being detected using ADSB and Mode-S/3D the locations of which are unnecessary.
For normal use, the PilotAware RADAR Screen should be set to a few KMs to act as an effective Situational Awareness Screen.
A PilotAware RADAR Screen zoomed out to 60Km radius, shows METARS and wind feathers like this. In this screenshot, the aircraft has been removed for clarity.
The yellow banner in the top right corner of the PilotAware RADAR Screen steps through the following information.
The number of ATOM stations currently being detected.
The Nearest Reporting METAR Station and its distance away.
The QNH at the most local METAR station.
Here you can see that the nearest METAR reporting station is Birmingham Airport, EGBB 27Kms away. The METARS above clearly show that the conditions to the East and North East are Marginal VFR with an increasing wind speed.
The PilotAware ATOM GRID Network represents a significant step forward in the cooperation between ground-based and airborne PilotAware assets. As the first in a suite of ‘Flight Information Services’ every ATOM station in the UK and Europe is being continuously provided with weather data from contributing NOAA METAR stations. This is within 150km of each ATOM station location.