As the National Meteorological Service of Ireland, a lot of people will be aware of Met Éireann’s role in weather forecasting functions, but what is probably not immediately obvious is Met Éireann’s responsibility for providing meteorological data at five of the airports in Ireland – Dublin Airport, Cork Airport, Shannon Airport, Knock Airport, and Casement Aerodrome.
Met Éireann is designated by the state as the Meteorological Authority for Ireland and is therefore responsible for providing meteorological services to air navigation in Ireland. The aviation industry is highly regulated and therefore Met Éireann must be compliant with international safety standards, principally set out by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) – a specialised agency of the United Nations (UN).
As part of this compliance with ICAO standards, Met Éireann is undertaking a modernisation programme to install new meteorological instruments and IT systems at the five airports for which it has meteorological responsibility. The new instrumentation and IT systems will allow the Air Traffic Controllers to have the most representative and up to date meteorological conditions at the aerodromes. This data is used by the Controllers to aid landing and take-off operations.
The programme primarily involves the procurement, installation, and testing of the new instruments and IT systems but equally importantly involves close partnerships with the Irish Aviation Authority, the airport authorities, and multiple government departments and agencies.
