FAA Requirements for Improved Meteorological Information Optical Society of America, August 2, 1983, Aspen, Colorado

In 1981, the federal aviation administration (FAA) developed a modernization plan for the national airspace system (NAS) which included a significant increase in funds for programs related to the observation and dissemination of weather. In that same year, administrator helms initiated a national airspace review (NAR) with participation from the user community. The review covered many areas including aviation weather services where 26 recommendations for improvement were made. These recommendations are being studied as a part of the process of updating the FAA aviation weather plan. One of the recommendations, which was also made by a congressional committee, urged the establishment of a focal point for weather in FAA. This resulted in the establishment of the FAA weather coordination program office in 1982. This office has initiated a full review of aviation weather requirements and, under the sponsorship of the federal coordinator's office, a governmentwide review of all weather programs relating to aviation weather services was recently conducted. A revised aviation weather plan is scheduled for publication this fall.