28th May 2010

States of Jersey call upon MetEngUK expertise

At the invitation of the States of Jersey, CI, a team from MetEngUK flew to Jersey Airport on 24 May to carry out a three-day visit, during which a detailed survey of the meteorological instrumentation and systems installed at the airport was completed. 

In addition to the operational aviation meteorological systems, there is a well-established meteorological ‘garden’ at the airport, operated by the Jersey Meteorological Department, and equipped with a diverse array of traditional and modern meteorological instrumentation; where simple copper rain gauges and mercury thermometers sit alongside state-of-the-art laser systems for determining the height of clouds, and 3-D infra-red detectors that can distinguish between rain drops and snow flakes!

The Jersey Meteorological Department provides vital observational and forecast weather data for airport operations, and has supplied weather forecasts to the entire Channel Islands community for more than half a century.

MetEngUK’s comprehensive report that followed the survey, included a number of observations and recommendations covering the ‘synoptic’ as well as the aviation-related meteorological instrumentation. The report was completed and delivered to the requesting authorities within 72 hours of the survey being finalised.