SADIS

What is SADIS?

SADIS stands for Secure Aviation Data Information Service and is a service provided on behalf of, and under the oversight of, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

Its purpose is to make available meteorological data for international air navigation as specified in ICAO Annex 3 - Meteorological Service for International Air Navigation; and as described in the Regional Air Navigation Plans for the ICAO European, African, Middle East, North Atlantic, and Asia Pacific regions.

SADIS is a data library. It does not process/visualise data. It makes data available for extraction, processing and/or visualisation by end user systems.

Two versions of SADIS are currently available, the SADIS FTP (which will be retired in 2028) and the new SADIS API.

SADIS API	SADIS FTP
NEW: Introduced in early 2024, the SADIS API is a SWIM compliant system that will replace the SADIS FTP.	No new users will be onboarded to the SADIS FTP system, and it wll be retired in November 2028 (or sooner if all users have migrated to the API)
SADIS API will contain the full sets of the new higher resolution WAFS gridded data sets, and the new multi-timestep WAFS SIGWX forecasts.	SADIS FTP will contain a subset of the available WAFS gridded and SIGWX data sets.
Take me to the SADIS API webpage so I can find out more.	The SADIS FTP User Guide part 1 and part 2 contains further information.

Data available via SADIS

SADIS delivers World Area Forecast System (WAFS) products, as well as other character-orientated OPMET information required for pre-flight planning and flight documentation.

Data Type	Data Products
WAFS Products	WAFS gridded upper air forecasts WAFS significant weather (SIGWX)
OPMET Data available in TAC (traditional alphanumeric format)	METAR SPECI TAF SIGMET AIRMET (where specified as required in regional Air Navigation Plans) GAMET (where specified as required in regional Air Navigation Plans) Volcanic Ash Advisories (VAA) Tropical Cyclone Advisories (TCA) Space Weather forecasts
OPMET Data available (PNG format)	VAG  TCG (where available)
OPMET Data available in IWXXM (xml format)	METAR SPECI TAF SIGMET AIRMET (where specified as required in regional Air Navigation Plans) Volcanic Ash Advisories (VAA) VA SIGMET Tropical Cyclone Advisories (TCA) TC SIGMET Space Weather forecasts

How to access SADIS?

All users of SADIS must have the prior and ongoing approval of their State Meteorological Authority. You can get the contact details of the correct State Meteorological Authority from Aeronautical Information Publications (AIP) or the ICAO Directory of National Civil Aviation Administrations (DGCA). Please note, if a State withdraws its approval, then access to SADIS FTP will be terminated.

Register your interest by emailing the SADIS Manager, or calling 0370 900 0100 from inside the UK, or +44 330 135 000 from outside the UK

How much does SADIS cost?

The provision of SADIS is funded through cost recovery. With the exception of States that are defined by the United Nations as Least Developed Countries (LDC), all user States (that is, any State that has users accessing SADIS from within its borders), are required to contribute to the costs of the service. The cost payable by each State is calculated annually by ICAO through the SADIS Cost Recovery Administrative Group (SCRAG). The precise mechanism and responsibilities of parties are described in the SADIS Agreement.

All reports relating to the calculations of amounts due from each contributing State are available on the ICAO website. The calculations are agreed in November, and are usually published in December of any given year. Invoices are issued in January of the following year. It should be noted that States are responsible for payment of SADIS invoices, not individual users.

ICAO responsibility

It is a fundamental principle that all data distributed via SADIS must be agreed by the formal ICAO groups responsible for SADIS. Specifically, SADIS is tasked to make available data as specified in ICAO Annex 3. Supplementary data not covered under Annex 3 may be available when authorised by the relevant ICAO group overseeing SADIS.

Groups with oversight of SADIS day-to-day operational matters, working under the authority of the Meteorological Panel (METP):

• the Meteorological Operations Group (WG-MOG)
• the Meteorological Information Exchange Group (WG-MIE)
• the Meteorological Requirements and Development Group (WG-MRAD)

SADIS workstations and software

Individual SADIS users will be required to procure and fund the necessary computer workstations/servers and software; internet connections; and ongoing support and maintenance.

Authorized SADIS users wishing to develop their own software to extract, process and/or visualize data from SADIS FTP are invited to follow the criteria specified in the SADIS Fourth Round Evaluation Criteria. For the SADIS API the criteria are specified in the SADIS API Evaluation Criteria. It will be necessary for programmers to have familiarity with:

• FTP or API protocols
• digital certificate protocols (FTP)
• World Meteorological Organization (WMO) coding protocols
• WMO FTP concatenation processes
• WMO Manual on Codes (306), in particular BUFR and GRIB specifications

The SADIS FTP workstation evaluation guide and SADIS API User evaluation guide is provided to allow users to self-assess systems or software that is designed to use the data available on SADIS. 

The SADIS provider is able to assist in the evaluation of software and systems (chargeable) if required. The evaluations will check the high level functionality and display of the different data sets that are provided on SADIS. If interested, please email the SADIS manager.

Contact details of data processing and display suppliers, and results of their SADIS evaluations.

Backup to SADIS

SADIS has proved a very reliable service with an extremely high level of availability for many years. Nonetheless, it is recognised that in the very unlikely event of a problem, a contingency data feed would be required.

Approved users of SADIS are encouraged to set themselves up with a WIFS account for contingency purposes. WIFS is provided by WAFC Washington (NOAA) https://aviationweather-bldr.ncep.noaa.gov/wifs). Please note that certain usage restrictions may apply.

Register with WIFS.

How do I report a problem with SADIS?

In the first instance, check to see if you have received any SADIS administrative messages. These are used to inform users of operational matters relating to the service.

See the last ten SADIS FTP administrative messages.

If the problem you are experiencing is not identified in a SADIS administrative message, please contact us on +44 330 135 4444 or e-mail [email protected].