Meteorological Message Coding and Decoding Training

Learning Outcomes

• Apply the correct coding formats for SYNOP, METAR, TAF, and SIGMET messages according to WMO and ICAO standards.
• Decode meteorological messages accurately to extract essential weather parameters such as temperature, pressure, wind, visibility, and cloud cover.
• Analyze coded messages to identify weather phenomena, trends, and potential hazards.
• Evaluate the completeness and consistency of meteorological reports to ensure data integrity.
• Demonstrate proficiency in using reference manuals and coding tables to verify coded information.

Target Audience

This course is designed for meteorological technicians, weather observers, aviation weather specialists, and other professionals who need to encode or decode meteorological reports as part of their duties.

Prerequisites

None — open enrollment

Course Outline

Practicals

Overview

Practical sessions provide hands-on experience in encoding and decoding real meteorological messages using standard formats. Learners will work with actual METAR, TAF, SYNOP, and other reports to build proficiency, followed by quality control exercises and scenario-based integration tasks.

Practical Activities

• METAR and TAF Decoding and Encoding — Learners decode and encode a series of METAR and TAF messages from real observational and forecast data, using reference tables and software tools. (16h)
• SYNOP and Upper Air Decoding — Learners decode SYNOP and TEMP messages, extracting surface and upper-air parameters, and practice encoding SYNOP reports from simulated observations. (12h)
• Special Messages and Aviation Integration — Learners decode SPECI, SIGMET, and AIRMET messages, then integrate METAR, TAF, and SIGMET to assess aviation weather conditions for flight planning scenarios. (12h)
• Quality Control and Final Assessment — Learners perform quality control on a set of coded messages, detecting and correcting errors, then complete a comprehensive assessment covering all message types. (8h)

Summatives

Each delegate is assessed continuously throughout the course via daily exercises, scored practical assignments, and a final summative test at the end.

Practical Assignments — 30%

Practical assignments are observed and scored against a rubric during the practical sessions. Each delegate's practical mark is averaged into a single 100% score and contributes 30% to the final total.

Daily Exercises — 20%

Every training day ends with a multiple-choice exercise scored out of 100%. The scores from each daily exercise are averaged across the duration of the course to produce a Daily Average mark, which contributes 20% to the final total.

Final Test — 50%

On the last day a final summative test is written. It is a multiple-choice paper with multiple-answer questions: each question may have more than one correct option, and a single wrong selection on a question marks the entire question wrong — no partial credit. The final test is scored out of 100% and contributes 50% to the overall mark.

Final Total

Component	Out of	Weight
Practical Assignments (rubric-scored)	100%	30%
Daily Average (multiple choice)	100%	20%
Final Test (multi-answer multiple choice)	100%	50%
Final Total	—	100%

All marks are recorded on the AATICD LMS and visible to each learner under their account.

Certificate

How it works

• Certificates are auto-generated on the AATICD LMS as soon as the marks pass the 50% threshold.
• Each certificate is a branded PDF with the delegate's name, the course title, the unit standard ID, NQF level, credits, and the date of issue.
• You can download or print your certificate from your LMS dashboard at any time after issue — there's no reissue fee and no expiry date.
• If you scored under 50% you can sit the final test again at the next scheduled session at no extra cost.

Where to find it

Sign in to the LMS, open your dashboard, and your certificates appear under My Certificates. Each entry has a View / Download button and a print option.

Training Discounts

Group discounts apply automatically — the more delegates you enrol, the greater the saving. Discounts are calculated at 3% per 5 delegates, scaling up to 40% off for 100+ delegates.

Delegates	Discount
5	3% off
10	6% off
15	9% off
20	12% off
25	15% off
30	18% off
50	30% off
75	35% off
100	40% off

3% discount per 5 delegates, up to 40% off for 100+ delegates. Contact us for a custom group quote.