2
$\begingroup$

I'm looking for a complete list of the types of NOTAMs that can be found in the USA and under the ICAO definition. I looked at this question and it gives me a good starting point, but I'm not clear on how NOTAMs vary between the USA and when ICAO is used. Or maybe the USA is using "the ICAO way."

Is there a document that could help me compare where there is overlap and where there is a difference between how NOTAMs are defined in the USA and internationally. I assume there are ICAO definitions for NOTAMs that are used internationally.

If there are specific definitions for NOTAMs for countries other than the USA, that would fall outside the scope of my question here but might be an interesting additional subject matter for a very thorough answer.

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
3
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ I'm voting to close this as too broad, because comparing US to "International" encompasses up to 194 different answers, and a minimum of dozens of answers. The world is not divided into "US" and "Not US", and the US does not vary from ICAO definitions any more or less than any other country. Needless to say, most countries have their own NOTAM definitions, although they broadly come into two categories: Aerodrome, and local/area. $\endgroup$
    – Jon Story
    Mar 14, 2018 at 14:11
  • $\begingroup$ @JonStory I addressed your concern about the broadness. I just want the answer in terms of the USA and ICAO. That's two sets of criteria. What do you think? $\endgroup$
    – ryan1618
    Mar 15, 2018 at 16:48
  • $\begingroup$ I've retracted my close vote, as I feel this is now an answerable question $\endgroup$
    – Jon Story
    Mar 21, 2018 at 13:05

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
3
$\begingroup$

There are significant differences between US domestic NOTAMs and international NOTAMs, please note that US NOTAM Office issues NOTAMs in both formats (NOTAMs susceptible to affect international flights being issued in international format). Canada is also issuing domestic NOTAMs in the same format than US.

  • encoding is different, US domestic encoding is described in FAA order 7930.2R (https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Order/7930.2R_basic_dtd_1_5_17_(2).pdf), international NOTAM encoding is defined by ICAO doc 84000
  • Domestic NOTAMs are mainly split between D NOTAMs (about airports and navigation facilities) and FDC NOTAMs (about airspace, procedures or regulations), there are also military NOTAMs with more subtypes.
  • there is to my knowledge no document describing in detail all differences between both encodings, although the FAA order 7930.2R is quite detailed and provide information on both types and some list of differences.
  • other documents are useful, for example https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/150-5200-28F.pdf that provides guidance on using the NOTAM system for reporting airport facilities changes or outages and for utilizing the Runway Condition Assessment Matrix for airport condition reporting

There are many differences between both formats, for example:

  • domestic NOTAMs are easily recognized as they start with an exclamation point !
  • the international NOTAM encoding is more structured. For example, a Q field will summarize essential NOTAM information, including affected FIR, vertical boundaries, geographic coordinates. In US NOTAM, geographic coordinates is described in the text of the NOTAM and then less easily decoded automatically.
  • the Q code also store the type of affected facility and the state of the facility. US encoding for facility types is different.
  • domestic NOTAMs are using standardized phrases defined in FAA document but not recognized by ICAO standard, the FAA order 7930.2R list them.
Improve this answer
$\endgroup$

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .