Automatic terminal information service

Automatic terminal information service, or ATIS, is a continuous broadcast of recorded noncontrol aeronautical information in busier terminal (i.e. airport) areas.[1] ATIS broadcasts contain essential information, such as weather information, which runways are active, available approaches, and any other information required by the pilots, such as important NOTAMs. Pilots usually listen to an available ATIS broadcast before contacting the local control unit, in order to reduce the controllers' workload and relieve frequency congestion.

The recording is updated in fixed intervals or when there is a significant change in the information, e.g. a change in the active runway. It is given a letter designation (e.g. bravo) from the ICAO spelling alphabet.[2] The letter progresses through the alphabet with every update and starts at alpha after a break in service of 12 hours or more. When contacting the local control unit, a pilot will indicate he/she has "information <letter>", where <letter> is the ATIS identification letter of the ATIS transmission the pilot received. This allows the ATC controller to verify whether the pilot has all the current information.

Sample messages

Example at a General Aviation airport in the UK (Gloucestershire Airport)

Problems playing this file? See media help.
Information Section Details
Airfield this ATIS broadcast is for Gloucester (phonetically GLOSTER)
ICAO spelling alphabet letter Quebec
Time (UTC) 14:20
Runway in use 27 (i.e. 270º)
Circuit direction (general aviation) right-hand circuit
Wind speed and direction 270º @ 2 kts
Visibility 10 kilometres or more (maximum)
Cloud cover Few @ 2600 feet and broken @ 4000 feet
Temperature 19 °C
Dew point 13 °C
QNH (pressure @ sea level) 1020 mBar
QFE (pressure @ airfield elevation) 1017 mBar
Other information Request to report altimeter setting in use on first contact.

Noise abatement procedures in effect.

Tower frequency: 122.900 MHz (departing aircraft)

Approach frequency: 128.550 MHz (arriving aircraft)

There is intense gliding activity in the vicinity of the airfield

Instruction to report you have information Quebec

International Airport Example 1

Sample ATIS Message from Amsterdam Schiphol
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Message Explanation
This is Schiphol arrival information Kilo Indicates the broadcast is for aircraft inbound to Schiphol, and the bulletin's identification letter
Main landing runway 18 Right Main runway used for landing is 18R, which indicates the direction (180 degrees magnetic) and Right implies there are other runways with a similar direction (18L (left), and perhaps others, such as 18C (center))
Transition level 50 The aircraft's altimeter is set to a common value of 1013 hPa above the Transition Level, which is at 5000 feet Altitude equivalent to Flight Level 50 in this case. An aircraft climbing through 5000 feet Altitude, would re-set its altimeter to show Flight Level 50, and vice versa for a descending aircraft. Above the Transition Level, the actual prevailing Atmospheric Pressure is abandoned in favour of commonality of altimeter setting in all aircraft.
Two zero zero degrees, one one knots Wind direction from azimuth 200 degrees magnetic (south-southwest), average 11 knots
Visibility 10 kilometres General visibility 10 kilometers or more
Few 1300 feet, scattered 1800 feet, broken 2200 feet Cloud layers at the indicated altitude above the airport
Temperature 15, dewpoint 13 Temperature and dewpoint in degrees Celsius
QNH 995 hectopascal QNH (barometric pressure adjusted to sea level) 995 hectopascal
No significant change No significant change in weather expected
Contact Approach and Arrival callsign only When instructed to contact the Approach and Arrival controller, check in with callsign only (for the sake of brevity)
End of information Kilo End of bulletin, and the bulletin's identification letter again

See METAR for a more in-depth explanation of aviation weather messages and terminology.

Example 2

On tuning to an ATIS frequency, a pilot might hear:

Vancouver International information Bravo one three five five Zulu weather. Wind three zero zero at eight, visibility five. Five hundred few, one thousand two hundred scattered, ceiling three thousand overcast, temperature one five, dew-point eight. Altimeter two niner eight seven. IFR approach is ILS or visual, runway two six left and runway two six right. Simultaneous parallel ILS approaches in use. Departures, runway two six left. GPS approaches available. VFR aircraft say direction of flight. All aircraft read back all hold short instructions. Advise controller on initial contact that you have Bravo.

This translates to:

Vancouver International Airport, the information Bravo is issued at 13:55 UTC. The winds are from 300 (~northwest) at 8 knots. Five statute miles visibility. At 500 feet there are few clouds, at 1,200 there are scattered clouds, at 3,000 feet there is an overcast cloud ceiling. The temperature is 15°C (some airports don't include this due to variability). The dew point is 8°C. The altimeter setting is 29.87 inches of mercury (however this could also be expressed in millibars or hectopascals). Visual and simultaneous ILS landings available using Instrument Flight Rules, using runways 26L and 26R, while departures may use runway 26L. You can conduct an approach via a GPS system. When you first contact air traffic control, inform them your direction of flight if you are using visual flight rules. Any "hold short" instructions the controller gives you need to be read back to the controller to confirm you have received them properly. Finally, inform the controller that you have information Bravo (i.e. this information) when you first talk to him or her.

Example 3

This example was recorded on 11 July 2016 at London Stansted Airport during which time there were ongoing maintenance works taking place on the taxiway surface in a part of the airport near the cargo terminal; the ATIS broadcast reflects this.
Sample ATIS Message from London Stansted
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Message Explanation
Stansted information Uniform. Indicates the broadcast is for all aircraft arriving or departing from Stansted, and the bulletin's identification letter.
Time 12:50, automatic. The information and meteorological data was last sampled at 12:50 UTC and that the measurements were made automatically.
Runway in use 22. Runway 22 DRY DRY DRY. Runway 22 is being used for take-offs and landings and that it has dry surface conditions in all three thirds of the runway length.
Ground is open, delivery is closed. The ground controller frequency is open and is manned whilst the IFR clearance delivery frequency is closed and unmanned - clearance requests should be made to the ground controller.
Transition level - flight level 65. The aircraft's altimeter is set to its common value above 6500 feet.
Expect an ILS approach. Expect the approach procedure to be the one published for Runway 22 ILS.
Surface wind 250, 14 knots. Wind direction from azimuth 250 degrees magnetic (west-southwest) with an average windspeed of 14 knots.
Visibility 10 kilometre or more. General visibility 10 kilometers or more.
Scattered 2400 feet, broken 4600 feet. Cloud layers at the indicated altitude above the airport.
Cumulonimbus detected. An observation of cumulonimbus cloud; typically associated with strong turbulence, thunderstorms and lighting; was made.
Temperature +19, dew point +14. Temperature and dewpoint in degrees Celsius.
QNH 1007 The airport barometric pressure is 1007 hectopascal.
Work in progress in Apron Alpha - taxiway Juliet closed between Papa and Alpha. There is maintenance work in progress in the Alpha Apron and that a nearby taxiway has been closed.
Acknowledge receipt of information Uniform and advise aircraft type on first contact. When contacting the controller, tell them that you have made note of the details in this ATIS bulletin and give them your aircraft type.

System operation

The ATIS at an airport is usually given by an automated voice, this allows a busy air traffic controller to quickly type a new ATIS message (or for a computer system reading weather instruments to generate parts of the message dynamically) instead of making a time-consuming voice recording, although at some smaller, less busy airports with a control tower, it may be made by a controller and not a computer. Most airports in a certain country will often have the same ATIS format or layout with the same automated voice. For example, all ATIS information at major airports in the United Kingdom such as Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh and even smaller ones, such as East Midlands and Newcastle, have a similar format or layout and are all given by the same automated voice.

Shown below are samples of the same ATIS information formatted according to the formats used at two of the UK airports, both of which have the same automated voice as nearly all other UK airports. It shows that some airports give information that others do not even within the same country.

Luton information Oscar, time 1250. Runway in use 26. Expect an ILS approach. Surface wind 230 8 knots. Visibility 10 kilometers or more. Scattered 2,800 feet. Temperature +18. Dewpoint +10. QNH 1016. Threshold QFE 997 hectopascal. Transition level flight level 60. Departing aircraft should make initial contact with Luton ground on 121.750. Acknowledge receipt of information Oscar and advise aircraft type on first contact.
Stansted information Oscar, time 1250. Runway in use 22. Expect an ILS approach. Ground is open. Delivery is closed. Surface wind 230 8 knots. Visibility 10 kilometers or more. Scattered 2,800 feet. Temperature +18. Dewpoint +10. QNH 1016. Transition level flight level 60. Acknowledge receipt of information Oscar and advise aircraft type on first contact.

As Heathrow and Manchester airports both have two runways and both airports use one for arrivals and the other for departures, they have two ATIS frequencies, one for arrivals and one for departures. Manchester only uses its second runway part-time however both ATIS frequencies still remain active when only one runway is active, both ATIS services will have a recorded message saying "single runway operations" after it gives the runway in use when this is the case.

Technical background

ATIS systems can be classified into solid-state and PC-based. Solid-state ATIS systems are microcontroller-powered devices that incorporate speech synthesis and data processing in a single piece of proprietary equipment, while PC-ATIS systems are based on COTS-hardware, like normal rack-mounted PCs with multiple high-performance soundcards.

Many airports also employ the use of Digital ATIS (D-ATIS). D-ATIS is a text-based, digitally transmitted version of the ATIS audio broadcast. It is accessed via a data link service such as the ACARS[3] and displayed on an electronic display in the aircraft. D-ATIS is incorporated on the aircraft as part of its electronic system, such as an EFB or an FMS. D-ATIS may be incorporated into the core ATIS system, or be realized as a separate system with a data interface between voice ATIS and D-ATIS.

See also

References

  1. ↑ https://www.vatsim.net/pilot-resource-centre/general-lessons/understanding-atis
  2. ↑ http://www.icao.int/Pages/AlphabetRadiotelephony.aspx
  3. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-02-11. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
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