Meteomatics has announced a partnership with NOAA’s National Mesonet Program (NMP) to make operational weather drone data available to the National Weather Service (NWS) for the first time.
The weather intelligence and technology company’s Meteodrones will collect lower-atmospheric data, between 50ft and 20,000ft above the ground, where the national observing system is the thinnest.
Working in collaboration with KBR, the NMP prime contractor, and Synoptic Data PBC, the lead contractor, the drone insights will be integrated into US weather forecasts and daily operations.
Meteodrones provide vertical profiles of temperature, humidity and wind in this lower region of the atmosphere, where some of the most impactful weather develops.
By filling these data gaps with frequent measurements, forecasters gain clearer signals of forthcoming weather, such as where thunderstorms will form; when fog will lift; whether a winter storm will bring rain, snow, or ice; how smoke and poor air quality will spread; and when dangerous low‑level winds will develop.
It is expected that that the enhanced observations will lead to more confident and timely forecasts, therefore translating to fewer disruptions for various industries and public infrastructure, and improved emergency management.
As a part of an initial pilot project, from February until the end of April 2026, Meteomatics will run routine flights from a remotely operated Meteobase in Oklahoma. Meteobases enable pilots to manage drone operations at many sites from a remote operations center, increasing efficiency and operational flexibility.
“Public-private partnerships like the National Mesonet Program are essential to expand national weather observing capabilities, especially as weather events become more severe”, said Martin Fengler, CEO of Meteomatics. “Our Meteodrones were designed for exactly this purpose, strengthening forecasts with previously inaccessible data to prepare and protect nations. By infusing our data into the NWS’s strong capabilities, we hope to advance what modern weather forecasting is capable of.”
“Synoptic’s mission is to expand access to observational data, and our work with the National Mesonet Program ensures NOAA and the NWS are receiving the most high-quality, lowest latency data to support their mission of saving lives and protecting property,” said Ashish Raval, president/CEO of Synoptic Data.
Under NMP, the KBR team provides meteorological observation data sourced from non-federal observing networks, including 35,000 observing platforms covering all 50 states. This data supports the NWS and NOAA in forecasting, severe-weather warning and climate monitoring.
“This partnership marks a major step forward in advancing NOAA’s long‑standing goal of enhancing vertical profiling across the US observing system,” said Ellen Cousins, KBR’s NMP program manager. “By integrating drone-collected data into national forecasts, we are helping fill critical gaps in the lower atmosphere while strengthening public-private collaboration in operational weather observation.”
In related news, KBR secures US$350m US Geological Survey contract to support next-generation Earth observation
