Section 3. Use of Terms

1. USE OF CONTRACTIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS

1. Contractions and abbreviations designated for ICAO usage as specified in FAA Order JO 7340.2, Contractions, and ICAO Document 8400, ICAO Abbreviations and Codes, must be used in the NOTAM system. When an ICAO-usage contraction is not available, plain text is required, except for the list of differences in Appendix C.
2. For indicating abbreviated days of the week, use a hyphen to indicate successive days or each day can be specified individually separated by a single space; for example, MON-FRI means Monday through Friday, whereas MON WED FRI means Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
3. Use the Pilot/Controller Glossary to define terms in the NOTAM system.
4. Location identifiers used in the NOTAM system are those contained in FAA Order JO 7350.9, Location Identifiers.
5. Use applicable contractions and abbreviations published on instrument flight procedure charts in the text of FDC NOTAMs relating to approach and departure procedures.
6. Contractions written in the singular form decode to mean both the singular and plural.
7. Contractions written in the past tense decode into both the past and present tense.

1. EXPRESSION OF TIME IN THE NOTAM SYSTEM

1. The day begins at 0000 and ends at 2359.
2. Times used in the NOTAM system are Coordinated Universal Time (UTC/Zulu) unless otherwise stated, as in the body of Temporary Flight Restrictions, and must be stated in 10 digits for the year, month, day, hour, and minute (YYMMDDHHMM).
3. When describing a daily schedule, Sunrise-Sunset (SR-SS) may follow the day(s) or “DLY”.

1. UNITS OF MEASUREMENT

Specify the unit of measurement in distance, height, altitude, or weight. When using an abbreviation, do not add a space between the measurement and the unit of measurement. At a minimum, latitude must be 6 digits and longitude must be 7 digits.

1. USE OF VIRGULE (/)

The use of virgules should be limited to separate runway pairs (RWY 03/21), combining positions and affected frequencies (LOCAL CTL/CD), and equipment, affected components and frequencies (ILS GP/OM/MM, VOR/DME 111.0/CH77).

1. RUNWAY IDENTIFICATION

1. Specify the runway identification as it is published, including the leading zero (0).
2. List the runway identifications in clockwise order beginning from the 1 o'clock position.
3. Use runway pair when applicable.
4. Indicated runways should be in feet for sections, closure of a movement area, or portion thereof. Partial runway closures must be indicated by feet, for example, E 500FT.
5. Identify runways with the prefix RWY followed by magnetic bearing indicator.

1. Differentiate parallel runways by using the runway designators followed by L (left), R (right), and C (center). Use L, R, and C with runway designators only.

1. Where the magnetic bearing indicator has not been established, identify the runway to the nearest eight points of the compass.

1. TAXIWAY IDENTIFICATION

1. Identify taxiways with the prefix TWY followed with the taxiway designator letter or letter/number as assigned.

1. Describe a taxiway that does not have an assigned designator as adjacent to a runway or direction from runway.

1. When a cardinal direction is used to describe a taxiway condition, the word describing the direction must be spelled out in full to ensure that the cardinal direction is not mistaken for a taxiway designator; for example, “EAST,” “WEST,” “SOUTHWEST.”
2. Describe a helipad located on a taxiway as:
   …TWY HELIPAD 3…
3. Describe a runup pad located on a taxiway as:
   …TWY A RUNUP PAD…
   …TWY C RUNUP PAD FOR RWY 27…

1. Keyword TWY may be followed by designator “ALL” to indicate every taxiway at an airport, even if there is only one taxiway as: (Can be used as “TWY ALL EXC TWY X” if needed.)
   …TWY ALL…
2. For multiple taxiways, use a comma between each designator. Do not add “TWY” prior to each individual taxiway identifier.

1. Taxiway segments may be identified using geographic points, cardinal directions or by feet.

1. Geographic. Identify geographic segments using “BTN” and “AND”.

1. Cardinal Direction. Identify directional segments using a cardinal direction.

1. Dimension. Identify the amount of a taxiway affected by feet.

1. Multiple taxiways. Indicate a series of taxiways using a hyphen between the first and last descriptors.

1. Multiple segments. Indicate all taxiway segments by starting with the contraction “TWY”, and then add the segment description separated by commas.

1. Multiple segments (Single Taxiway). Indicate multiple segments of a single taxiway with each portion beginning with TWY.

1. Full taxiways and taxiway segments separated by commas share the same condition for example: CLSD, NOT MARKED, WIP SN REMOVAL, etc.

1. APRON IDENTIFICATION

1. Identify aprons with the keyword APRON followed with the apron designator. There is no requirement for RAMP or APRON to be part of the name of the surface. Keyword may be followed by designator “ALL” to indicate every APRON at an airport, even if there is only one APRON as: (“APRON ALL” or “APRON ALL EXC WEST APN” if needed.)

1. SPOTS, GATES, HARDSTANDS, etc., can be used as geographical reference points to delineate a section on aprons or taxiways, but do not meet NOTAM criteria as its own “attribute”.

1. STANDARD NOTAM PHRASES

The following are a listing (not inclusive) of standard terms used in NOTAMs.

1. CARDINAL DIRECTIONS

Cardinal directions (excluding TAXIWAY usage) is in abbreviation format. This includes N, NNE, NE, ENE, E, ESE, SE, SSE, S, SSW, SW, WSW, W, WNW, NW, and NNW. Also included are directions for high altitude balloons - northbound - NB, northeast bound - NEB; eastbound - EB; southeast bound - SEB; southbound - SB, southwest bound - SWB; westbound - WB; northwest bound - NWB.