French multinational Thales has revealed that it is supporting Switzerland-based weather data specialist Meteomatics to develop hyperlocal weather forecasts.
Combining meteorological, computing and drone expertise, Meteomatics develops high-resolution forecasts specifically for lower atmosphere environments.
The company has developed a hyperlocal forecasting model, which aggregates existing national weather data with its own drone data measurements to provide precise measurements of the mid and low atmosphere.
The company’s Meteodrones can be operated in weather conditions such as fog, low-level stratus clouds, heavy wind, thunderstorms and icing conditions to gather data. The drones can be operated as mobile units or as part of a permanent Meteobase installation. Meteobases are docking pods that enable automatic and simultaneous operation of multiple drone systems.
Thales is supporting Meteomatics’ work as it can see its potential for using hyperlocal weather data to minimize risk, increase safety and reduce operating costs in weather dependent sectors, such as air traffic management, as well as radar reconnaissance and optimization of control and signaling for railways.
Several pilot studies have already demonstrated the impact of Meteodrones on the quality of high-resolution local fog and storm forecasts. In the coming months, Meteomatics will deploy several automated Meteobase systems in eastern Switzerland to further test the orchestration of an automated Meteodrone network, and feed the new data operationally into Meteomatics’ high-resolution weather model.