SIGMA : System of Icing Geographic identification in Meteorology for Aviation 2003-01-2085

Icing is a very dangerous phenomenon in aeronautics. In order to help the forecasters to predict icing conditions, Meteo-France has developed a system for the identification of icing areas, named SIGMA (System of Icing Geographic identification in Meteorology for Aviation). This system is based on the combination of three different sources of data: an icing risk index calculated from Météo-France's numerical weather prediction model, the infra-red data from the geostationary Meteosat spacecraft, and Météo-France's operational centimetric radar network. This system has been verified in two manners. Firstly, an icing PIREP collection campaign was organized with French Air Force during one winter. The output of SIGMA together with the SIGMET messages were compared with the PIREPs. SIGMA showed encouraging detection rates. Then, last winter, a comparison by the forecasters between radiosoundings and the results of SIGMA has confirmed these good results.