Service definition for the IWXXM METAR-SPECI Subscription and Request Service

00.00.05

2024-06-17

IWXXM METAR-SPECI Subscription and Request Service

The IWXXM METAR-SPECI Subscription and Request Service provides the service consumer with METAR/SPECI report(s) for one or more aerodromes of a State as it becomes available.

The service consumer can subscribe to the service, specifying the aerodrome of interest, and receive information as it becomes available.

It is also possible to send a direct request, using a request-reply mechanism, to the service to get the relevant meteorological information.

The meteorological information is issued by the designated Aeronautical Meteorological Station. The meteorological information is only intended to be used by service consumers within the aviation domain.

EUROCONTROL

EUROCONTROL is an intergovernmental organisation with 41 Member and 2 Comprehensive Agreement States.

swim@eurocontrol.int

The service shall make METAR/SPECI report(s) available for one or more aerodrome(s) within a State.

Note: it is expected that a single service will be implemented per State, covering all of the aerodromes within the State.

regulated information exchange

METEOROLOGICAL_INFORMATION_EXCHANGE

http://reference.swim.aero/information-services/service-categories/CodeRegulatedInformationExchangeType.html 

information domain

METEOROLOGICAL_INFORMATION

https://reference.swim.aero/information-services/service-categories/CodeInformationDomainType.html

business activity

INFORMATION_MANAGEMENT

http://reference.swim.aero/information-services/service-categories/CodeBusinessActivityType.html 

intended service consumer

• CIVIL_AIRSPACE_USER

• MILITARY_AIRSPACE_USER

• CIVIL_AIR_NAVIGATION_SERVICE_PROVIDER

• MILITARY_AIR_NAVIGATION_SERVICE_PROVIDER

• AIRPORT_OPERATOR

• REGULATED_METEOROLOGICAL_SERVICE_PROVIDER

• AIR_TRAFFIC_SERVICE_PROVIDER

• COMMUNICATION_NAVIGATION_AND_SURVEILLANCE_SERVICE_PROVIDER

• PROVIDER_OF_DATA_SERVICES

• AIRSIDE_GROUND_HANDLER

https://reference.swim.aero/information-services/service-categories/CodeStakeholderType.html

intended service provider

REGULATED_METEOROLOGICAL_SERVICE_PROVIDER

http://reference.swim.aero/information-services/service-categories/CodeStakeholderType.html 

service type

• METEOROLOGICAL_FEATURE_ACCESS_SERVICE

• METEOROLOGICAL_INFORMATION_SUBSCRIPTION_SERVICE

http://reference.swim.aero/information-services/service-categories/CodeServiceType.html 

A list of operational needs that this service contributes to satisfying is available in Appendix B.

This service satisfies these by offering meteorological information as regulated by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/373 of 1 March 2017 and ICAO Annex 3.

The scope of the meteorological information satisfies the EU Implementing Regulation 2021/116 - Common Project One.

The service provides high quality, up-to-date, trusted, regulated meteorological information in digital form for use by service consumers within the aviation domain.

The service takes into account the following information exchange requirements:

• IER 1: The information currently included in the METAR/SPECI reports as defined in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/373, ICAO Annex 3 Amdt 82 and PANS-MET.

Request the latest METAR/SPECIs

The service consumer shall be able to request the latest METAR/SPECIs for an aerodrome or group of aerodromes.

The meteorological information is received and can be used by the service consumer.

Subscribe to METAR/SPECIs

The service consumer shall be able to subscribe/unsubscribe in order to receive METAR/SPECIs based on ICAO location indicator codes for aerodromes.

The service consumer subscribes to the service and will receive METAR/SPECIs as per the subscription or unsubscribes from the service.

Distribute METAR/SPECIs

The service shall distribute the METAR/SPECIs when they are available.

The service consumer receives the METAR/SPECIs.

There shall be a service policy to ensure that only service consumers within the aviation domain can use the service.

The service policy shall include a requirement that service consumers cannot pass the information obtained from the service to non-aviation users without prior authorisation from the service provider.

There shall be a service consumption constraint to ensure that a service consumer does not impose undue loads on computer and network resources, for example, by polling it at a higher frequency than the status is normally provided.

The service shall ensure consumer authentication in accordance with EUROCONTROL Specification for SWIM Technical Infrastructure (TI) Yellow Profile requirement SWIM-TIYP-0042.

The service shall ensure provider authentication in accordance with EUROCONTROL Specification for SWIM Technical Infrastructure (TI) Yellow Profile requirement SWIM-TIYP-0042.

The service shall ensure that satisfactory authorisation is put in place according to EUROCONTROL Specification for SWIM Technical Infrastructure (TI) Yellow Profile requirement SWIM-TIYP-0070.

The service shall ensure point-to-point confidentiality in accordance with EUROCONTROL Specification for SWIM Technical Infrastructure (TI) Yellow Profile through the use of Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.2 or above.

The service shall ensure point-to-point integrity in accordance with EUROCONTROL Specification for SWIM Technical Infrastructure (TI) Yellow Profile through the use of Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.2 or above.

The service shall achieve a quality that is sufficient to ensure the service is fit for purpose.

The service shall achieve a quality that is sufficient to ensure the service is fit for purpose.

The service shall achieve a quality that is sufficient to ensure the service is fit for purpose.

The service shall achieve a quality that is sufficient to ensure the service is fit for purpose.

The service shall ensure confidentiality by using SWIM Technical Infrastructure (TI) Yellow Profile bindings.

The service shall ensure integrity by using SWIM Technical Infrastructure (TI) Yellow Profile bindings.

The meteorological information offered by the service shall be verified by the service provider.

The meteorological information offered by the service shall be encoded according to the rules of the IWXXM standard.

The meteorological information offered by the service shall satisfy the WMO No. 8 (2018) Guide to Meteorological Instruments and Methods of Observation.

The service provider shall ensure that the meteorological data offered by the services is received from the appropriate authorised originating sources. This includes:

• REGULATED_METEOROLOGICAL_SERVICE_PROVIDER acting as the designated Aeronautical Meteorological Station (AMS); and

• REGULATED_METEOROLOGICAL_SERVICE_PROVIDER acting as the designated Aerodrome Meteorological Office (AMO) for the TREND.

• PUBLISH_SUBSCRIBE

• SYNCHRONOUS_REQUEST_REPLY

The service behaviour shall be in accordance with the patterns detailed in the Message Exchange Patterns: Identification Guidelines.

The typical service behaviour, is:

• The service consumer subscribes to the service

• The service sends the latest METAR/SPECIs to subscribers when they are available and match their subscription.

The interfaces have different behaviour. A combination of an AMQP 1.0 implementation and an OGC implementation shall be used for the basic behaviour.

The typical behaviour for PUBLISH_SUBSCRIBE means that:

• The subscription is handled by either:

  • a request-reply implementation (see IWXXM METAR-SPECI Subscription and Request Service Subscription Interface) or

  • an email request to the service provider.

•  The distribution of the messages is handled by an AMQP 1.0 implementation (see IWXXM METAR-SPECI Subscription and Request Service Distribution Interface).

The typical behaviour for REQUEST_REPLY (as used in IWXXM METAR-SPECI Subscription and Request Service Request Interface) is as follows:

Synchronous Request/Reply

• The request message is sent from the service consumer to the service

• The service consumer remains blocked while awaiting the reply

• The service remains blocked while processing the reply

• The METAR-SPECI, the reply message, is sent from the service to the service consumer.

A service monitoring mechanism should be made available to service consumers.

IWXXM METAR-SPECI Subscription and Request Service Request Interface

Allows the service consumer to request the latest available METAR/SPECIs.

Note: This interface is used to group the operations offered by the chosen OGC standard.

Provider side

IWXXM METAR-SPECI Subscription and Request Service Subscription Interface

Allows the service consumer to select and subscribe to METAR/SPECIs for aerodromes of interest. It allows the service consumer to manage the subscriptions e.g. to unsubscribe.

Note: This is an optional interface. Many service providers will prefer to receive subscription requests by email.

Provider side

IWXXM METAR-SPECI Subscription and Request Service Distribution Interface

Allows the service provider to distribute the latest available METAR/SPECIs meeting the need of the service consumer that has subscribed for updates.

Consumer side

EUROCONTROL Specification for SWIM Technical Infrastructure (TI) Yellow Profile

1.1

WS_LIGHT

The service shall use the network bindings of the SWIM TIYP.