The Aeronautical Meteorological Department (AMD) of the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SSCA) sent two officials, Mr. Heang Vandy, Director of the Aeronautical Meteorological Department, and Mr. Chhin Pav Ming, Deputy Director of the Aeronautical Meteorological Department, to attend the CSI Workshop 2026, which was held from 3 to 5 March 2026 at the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) Headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. The workshop was also streamed online, with a total of 35 participants from meteorological organizations.

   During the workshop, participants recognized the challenges related to future aviation weather plans under ICAO activities and discussed how the CSI scheme could contribute to Hazardous Weather Information Services (HWIS), focusing on cumulonimbus (CB) clouds and turbulence, which are phenomena frequently addressed through SIGMET issuance by CSI Member States. Participants also conducted practical exercises on creating CB area polygons using CB Nowcasts available through the CSI tool.

   The CSI Workshop 2026 demonstrated that the CSI scheme is functioning as a practical regional platform for addressing emerging aviation weather challenges under ICAO, particularly the transition to IWXXM and the implementation of HWIS. Through information sharing, technical discussions, and hands-on exercises, participating States identified concrete opportunities for collaboration, including the use of CB Nowcasts as a candidate product for HWIS trials.

   Participants recognized that Member States are steadily implementing SIGMET coordination procedures and shared recent improvements during the workshop. JMA also shared planned updates to the CSI tool, and participants noted that Member States will continue to provide suggestions for further tool enhancements during CSI online and technical meetings.

   During the Joint Session, participants recognized that frequent communication between adjacent FIRs is essential for tropical cyclone (TC) SIGMET handovers. Participants also noted that discrepancies between TC analyses issued by a Tropical Cyclone Advisory Center (TCAC) and an MWO may result in SIGMET information that is difficult for users to interpret, requiring careful consideration. Regarding volcanic ash in the stratosphere, participants noted that MWOs are required to issue volcanic ash (VA) SIGMETs even when the volcanic ash is well above typical aircraft cruising altitudes.