“An Internationally-Agreed distance from the Runway”

Coordinates – anywhere there is an airfield. Any CIMO assessment. Installed:whenever built.

“You’ll find weather stations located across the UK, often in wide open space so observations can be accurately recorded. For example, official weather stations are often located at airports as they have plenty of open space making them a good place for observations to take place. However, the observation equipment is set an internationally-agreed distance from the runway to ensure no external factors can influence readings in any way.”

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/learn-about/how-forecasts-are-made/observations/weather-stations

So what is this “internationally-agreed distance from the runway”?

When I reviewed Merryfield I decided to get this Met Office claim clarified. I repeat the questions I made:

“Date and time Notification record created: 29/11/2024 21:35:41 GMT

Short Description: Freedom of information request

I made the following request of your enquiries desk but as usual they
completely evaded answering. So I ask the question under FOI.
Your website:-
https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/learn-about/how-forecasts-are-made/observations/weather-stations
is very specific in stating the following.

“For example, official weather stations are often located at airports as
they have plenty of open space making them a good place for observations to
take place. However, the observation equipment is set an
internationally-agreed distance from the runway to ensure no external
factors can influence readings in any way.”

Please could you advise me what exactly this “internationally
-agreed” distance is and where it is specified. Could you also define what
is meant by “runway” as opposed to, for example, “taxiway”

I trust you will understand my need for clarity given these examples and
many others.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/57%C2%B012’18.2%22N+2%C2%B012’19.2%22W/@57.2050627,-2.2078999,589m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m4!3m3!8m2!3d57.2050598!4d-2.205325?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MTExMy4xIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/51%C2%B024’19.6%22N+3%C2%B026’26.7%22W/@51.4054418,-3.443318,678m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m4!3m3!8m2!3d51.4054385!4d-3.4407431?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MTExMy4xIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3

Regards
Ray Sanders”

If an “internationally-agreed distance from the runway” exists it should be remarkably easy to simply state what it is……shouldn’t it? The only tricky part I thought might be the definition of a runway as opposed to a taxiway. A separate definition from Wikipedia, however, needed to be considered.

WEASEL WORD

“In rhetoric, a weasel word, or anonymous authority, is a word or phrase aimed at creating an impression that something specific and meaningful has been said, when in fact only a vague, ambiguous, or irrelevant claim has been communicated. The terms may be considered informal. Examples include the phrases “some people say”, “it is thought”, and “researchers believe”. Using weasel words may allow one to later deny any specific meaning if the statement is challenged, because the statement was never specific in the first place. Weasel words can be a form of tergiversation and may be used in advertising, popular science, opinion pieces and political statements to mislead or disguise a biased view or unsubstantiated claim. Weasel words can weaken or understate a controversial claim. An example of this is using terms like “somewhat” or “in most respects,” which make a sentence more ambiguous than it would be without them”

Taking into account the above, here is the Met Office response to my FOI request.

“The webpage referred to in your request is one of our ‘learn about’ pages, which are designed to
educate the public. As such, they contain basic educational information rather than technical details.
‘Internationally agreed distance’ is referring to the siting classifications that can be found in Annex 1.D
of the WMO guide to instruments and methods of observation – volume 1. ‘Runway’ is used as an
example of what the WMO guide describes as ‘unnatural or artificial surfaces’.
We hope this answers your enquiry.”

I shall leave readers to translate the above as they feel appropriate. I publish those WMO/ISO CIMO guidelines on every review I make and have done since the project started.

THERE IS NO INTERNATIONALLY-AGREED DISTANCE FROM THE RUNWAY

The Met Office are hiding behind weasel words and deliberately making misleading “quotes” and online statements to the public. At the risk of becoming boring in future reviews of aviation sites, I will be referring regularly to this fictional “internationally-agreed distance from the runway”.

The above Met Office web-page has been saved for future reference when they inevitably and covertly amend it to cover their backs.

p.s. The Met Office even knew the Internationally-agreed distance from the runway before aircraft were invented……..