Definition
A label or timestamp displayed alongside an electronic weather product (such as a NEXRAD radar image, METAR, or TAF) showing how old the data is at the moment the pilot is viewing it. The age indicator allows the pilot to judge whether the information is still current enough to be used for flight decisions.
Plain English
A small note on a weather display that tells you how long ago the information was received or measured, so you know how fresh it is.
Context Anchor
Seen when checking aviation weather on electronic displays, weather briefings, and flight-planning tools before or during a flight.
Derivation
Age means how long something has existed. Indicator means something that points out or shows a condition. Together, age indicator means a display that points out how old the information is.
Why Pilots Care
It lets pilots judge whether the weather data is still current enough for safe flight planning and decisions.
Intuition Check
Do not assume an age indicator means the weather is still safe or valid. It only shows how old the displayed information is; the pilot still has to check whether it is current enough for the flight decision.
Example Sentence 1
Before deviating around the cell, she checked the age indicator and saw the radar image was already eight minutes old.
Example Sentence 2
Before departure the pilot checked the age indicator on the TAF and saw it had been issued four hours earlier.