1 Responsible service

The meteorological services for civil aviation are provided by the Meteorological Department of the Civil Aviation authority of the State of Qatar.

Differences to these provisions are detailed in subsection GEN 1.7.

2 Area of responsibility

Meteorological service is provided within the entire territory of State of Qatar, including its territorial waters as well as the airspace over the high seas within Doha FIRTMA.

3 Meteorological observations and reports

4 TYPES OF SERVICES

The Aerodrome Meteorological Watch Office is located in Hamad International Airport (telephone numbers: (974) 4010 2239; (974) 4010 2238) and provides the following services H24:

1. Personal briefing and consultation to flight crew members, upon request;
2. Full meteorological documentation for current operational planning for all flights departing Doha and Hamad International Airports;
3. Supply of meteorological information to aircraft in flight through DOHA INTL radio channels;
4. Meteorological information for ATS; and
5. Information for Search and Rescue Service Units.

Details of documentation supplied for each flight are determined by arrangement between the operator and the Aerodrome Meteorological Watch Office. Flight documentation is normally provided for domestic flights. For international flights, the flight documentation comprises a significant weather chart, an upper wind and upper air temperature chart and the latest available aerodrome forecast for the destination and its alternate aerodromes.

Routine aerodrome forecasts received from other Meteorological Offices are normally included in meteorological documentation without modification. When a required aerodrome forecast is not received, a provisional forecast may be issued by the Meteorological Watch Office providing the documentation.

After documentation has been issued and until take-off, the Aerodrome Meteorological Watch Office makes available amendments to the documentation. It is the responsibility of the operator's local representative to provide pre-departure amendment(s) from the Aerodrome Meteorological Watch Office to the pilot-in- command.

Climatological summaries for DOHA INTL / HAMAD INTL are available from the Aerodrome Meteorological Watch Office.

5 Notification required from operators

Operators requiring meteorological service or changes in existing meteorological services shall notify, sufficiently in advance, to the Department of Meteorology of the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority in accordance with ICAO Annex 3, paragraph 2.3.

Operators or their flight crew members shall notify the Aerodrome Meteorological Office at DOHA INTL / HAMAD INTL, as soon as the following information becomes available:

1. of flight schedules;
2. when non-scheduled flights are to be operated; and
3. when flights are delayed, advanced or cancelled.

6 Aircraft reports

For the benefit of subsequent aircraft and for validation and further enhancement of the low-level wind shear and turbulence alerting services, pilots are requested to inform ATC if they experience any microburst, wind shear or turbulence on arrival or departure, irrespective of whether an alert has been given. ATC will pass such reports to following aircraft.

InFurther Dohato FIRthe pilot reporting of low-level wind shear and turbulence at DOHA INTL / HAMAD INTL airports, pilots are requested to pass special aircraft observationsobservation as soon as possible to the appropriate ATSATS unit by voice communications whenever any of the following conditions are encountered or observed:

1. moderate or severe turbulence;
2. moderate or severe icing;
3. severethunderstorm, without mountainhail (obscured, embedded, widespread wave;or in squall lines);
4. thunderstorms, withoutwith hail, that are (obscured, embedded, widespread or in squall lines;); and
5. thunderstorms, withheavy hail, thatdust arestorm obscured, embedded, widespread or inheavy squallsand lines;storm.
6. heavy dust storm or heavy sandstorm;
7. volcanic ash cloud

When other meteorological conditions not listed above are encountered and which, in the opinion of the pilot-in-command, may affect the safety or markedly affect the efficiency of other operations, the pilot-in-command shall advise ATC as soon as practicable.

Aircraft observations shall be reported as air-reports following the instructions in ICAO PANS-ATM (Doc 4444) - Appendix 1.

7 VOLMET service

NIL

8 SIGMET and AIRMET service

SIGMET and AIRMET for Qatar airspace is issued by the competent Meteorological Watch Office which is responsible for the preparation and dissemination of SIGMETs to appropriate ACC within its own FIR.

Aircraft in flight should be warned by the ACC of the occurrence or expected occurrence of one or more of the following SIGMET phenomena:

1. thunderstorm, with or without hail (see Note 1);
2. tropical cyclone;
3. freezing rain;
4. severe turbulence;
5. severe icing;
6. severe mountain waves;
7. heavy sand/dust storm;
8. volcanic ash cloud.

Note 1: This refers only to thunderstorms (including, if necessary, cumulonimbus cloud which is not accompanied by a thunderstorm) widespread within an area with little or no separation (FRQ), along a line with little or no separation (SQL), embedded in cloud layers (EMBD), or concealed in cloud layers or concealed by haze (OBSC).

Usually, SIGMET messages are identified by the letters WS and are valid for 4 hours, but those referring to tropical cyclones and volcanic ash will be identified by WC and WV respectively (for these two a further outlook for up to 6 hours may be included and are re-issued if they are to remain valid after the original period expires). They can be cancelled or amended within the period of validity. SIGMETs are numbered sequentially from 0001 UTC each day.

SIGMET information is disseminated by the Area Control Centre Qatar for the Doha FIR and by ATS units for their own area of responsibility.

NIL

9 Other automated meteorological services

NIL