Weather is important to aviation safety and efficiency. The safe operation of aircrafts requires accurate forecasting of aspects of the weather such as wind, temperature, pressure, etc. For both operation at the aerodrome and en route phases, pilots need timely and accurate information about in-flight turbulence, icing, and significant convection such as thunderstorms and lightning. The impact of wake vortex associated with the aircraft would also affect the airport capacity, and the precise location and prediction of the wake vortex requires detailed nowcast about the weather conditions such as turbulence level, atmospheric stability, and crosswind strength.

However, weather is inherently unpredictable, and this poses a significant challenge to the operation of aircraft. In recent years, much research effort has been made in the nowcasting of severe convection, short-term forecast of in-flight turbulence and icing based on meteorological satellite data, and the application of remote-sensing meteorological instruments such as radar wind profilers and Doppler LIDARs for detection and nowcasting of low-level windshear and turbulence. Through such efforts, aviation safety and capability have been significantly improved, but there are still many challenges. For instance, the nowcasting of thunderstorms cannot be accurately extended beyond a few hours, both for the aerodrome and en-route phases. Turbulence forecasting is subject to a relatively high rate of false alarms, and there are still many situations in which low-level turbulence and windshear go undetected. All these still require further research efforts from the aviation community.

This Special Issue aims to collate the latest original research and review articles in aviation meteorology. It covers detection, nowcasting, and forecasting of hazardous weather phenomena from a few minutes up to 36-40 hours ahead. New measurements and forecasting techniques are covered, with a focus on all kinds of weather conditions significant to aviation operation and safety. It is hoped that this Special Issue could serve as a useful reference to the aviation community, not just for meteorologists but also to airport operators in order to keep track of the latest developments in meteorological technology as it applies to aviation.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Low level windshear
• Turbulence
• Icing
• Significant convection
• Nowcasting
• World area forecast system
• Terminal aerodrome forecast (TAF)
• Regional aviation hazardous weather systems
• Numerical weather prediction models
• Meteorological radar and satellites