AFMAN15-124 — Meteorological Codes

AFMAN15-124 governs meteorological codes for Air Force weather operations and coded reports of weather, solar, and ionospheric observations.

Search AFMAN15-124

  • Publication number: AFMAN15-124
  • Title: METEOROLOGICAL CODES
  • Date: 2019-01-16

View AFMAN15-124 on armypubs.army.mil


It contains formats and coding rules for solar flares, solar radio spectra, virtual height profiles, and total electron content and scintillation reports. Compliance with the publication is mandatory, and it includes limits on uncertainty, flux reporting, and burst reporting.

Applies to: This publication applies to all personnel responsible for weather operations to include AF Reserve, Air National Guard (ANG) and government contractors performing weather operations in support of Federal missions.

Topics covered

  • fixed file times
  • solar flare reports
  • uncertainty in hours and full minutes
  • virtual height
  • total electron content and scintillation

Questions and answers

What format does AFMAN15-124 require for fixed file times?

Fixed file times will use DDHHmm format. (paragraph 2)

What is the FLARE code used to report?

Use this code to make event-level or routine reports of solar flares as observed with an optical telescope viewing at a wavelength of 6563Å (Hydrogen- alpha). (paragraph 3)

How should mean flux be reported for noise storms or fluctuations?

Do not report mean flux for noise storms or fluctuations; instead encode "000". (paragraph 2)

When should bursts of less than 100 sfu be reported?

Do not report bursts of less than 100 sfu unless they are significant and/or contribute to the understanding of what is occurring. (paragraph 9)

What is virtual height?

Virtual height is the apparent height of a reflecting layer.

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