ATPL(A) · subject 050

Meteorology — revision notes

The broadest subject in the syllabus. It falls into three movements: understand the atmosphere, understand what it produces, and know how to read what is said about it.

Written on the EASA Learning Objectives, checked against the primary texts, delivered as an A4 PDF and a screen edition, in English and in French.

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Meteorology

Part 1 · 050 01

The atmosphere

Composition, vertical structure, temperature, pressure, density, the standard atmosphere and altimetry. The foundation of the whole subject.

Part 2 · 050 02

Wind

The forces involved, geostrophic and surface wind, general circulation, local winds, mountain waves, turbulence and jet streams.

Part 3 · 050 03

Thermodynamics

Humidity, changes of state, adiabatic processes and stability. This is where everything that will form in the sky is decided.

Parts 4 and 5 · 050 04 to 07

Clouds, fronts and depressions

Cloud formation and classification, fog, precipitation, air masses, fronts, depressions and anticyclones, tropical revolving storms.

Parts 6 and 7 · 050 08 and 09

Climatology and hazards

Climatic zones, typical situations, then the inventory of hazards: icing, turbulence, wind shear, thunderstorms, mountains, visibility.

Part 8 · 050 10

Meteorological information

METAR, TAF, SIGMET, upper wind and significant weather charts, VOLMET and ATIS. A block entirely absent from the source notes.

The parts, in syllabus order

Part 1	The atmosphere	050 01 — Composition · Temperature · Pressure · Density · Standard atmosphere · Altimetry
Part 2	Wind	050 02 — Forces involved · General circulation · Local winds · Waves · Turbulence · Jet streams
Part 3	Thermodynamics	050 03 — Humidity · Changes of state · Adiabatic processes and stability
Part 4	Clouds, fog and precipitation	050 04 · 050 05 — Cloud formation · Fog and visibility · Precipitation
Part 5	Air masses, fronts and depressions	050 06 · 050 07 — Air masses · Fronts · Pressure systems · Tropical revolving storms
Part 6	Climatology	050 08 — Climatic zones · Tropical climatology · Typical situations
Part 7	Flight hazards	050 09 — Icing · Wind shear · Thunderstorms · Inversions · Mountains · Visibility
Part 8	Meteorological information	050 10 — Observation · Charts · Information for flight planning · Services

Exam traps you will meet in this subject

What people get wrong

A sample from Appendix B. The full list is in the notes.

Believing the tropopause is higher at the poles: it is the reverse, higher and colder at the equator.
Forgetting that humid air is less dense than dry air.
Getting the sense of altimetry error wrong: from warm to cold, you actually descend.
Confusing QNH, QFE and QFF. QFF is not used in aviation.
Believing Coriolis creates wind or changes its speed: it only deflects.
Forgetting that the gradient wind is stronger around an anticyclone than around a depression, for the same gradient.

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050 Meteorology

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