EXTON, PA, UNITED STATES, 25th October 2024 –– Meteomatics, the weather intelligence company that accurately forecasts the weather’s impact on the world’s leading businesses, announced the expansion of its autonomous weather drone network through work with energy, insurance and agriculture companies in the U.S. The company’s weather drones, dubbed “Meteodrones,” can fly up to 20,000 feet above mean sea level and forecast local weather events created in the low-level airspace atmosphere. For companies across the energy, insurance and agriculture sectors, visibility into weather at this level is critical to identify risks, forecast production and resource needs, predict business outcomes and maximize revenue growth.
Despite today’s technological advancements, government and commercial weather observation technology still lack the data to detect and forecast weather between 50-20,000 feet in the atmosphere. It’s in this low-level airspace that local weather phenomena (e.g. fog, precipitation, wind, hail and changing temperature) are created. Without insight into weather at this level of granularity, companies cannot accurately predict the constantly changing weather conditions that directly affect their business. This disproportionately impacts companies in the energy, insurance and agriculture industries.
Meteomatics’ autonomous weather drones close this meteorological data gap by observing conditions and gathering local weather data from the lower and middle atmosphere. The company pairs this data with its high-resolution weather models for significantly improved weather forecasts delivered in real-time.
Energy, insurance and agriculture companies can use these high-precision forecasts to better predict severe local weather phenomena to help them quickly identify and prepare for emerging weather threats, accurately forecast demand and production needs and optimize earnings.
Forecast Energy Demand and Production
Accurate weather forecasts are crucial in determining the demand and production of energy. Meteomatics pairs its hyperlocal weather data from its Meteodrones and 110+ other data sources with live data from companies’ respective power plants to calculate and deliver intra-day and day-ahead energy forecasts.
This enables energy companies to accurately forecast the weather conditions that will shape how individuals and companies utilize energy and predict how much energy they can produce from renewable sources, such as solar, wind and hydropower. For example, if high temperatures spike air conditioning demand–and higher power consumption–companies can identify how much energy they can generate from solar, wind, etc. to effectively address the increased demand. These forecasts are also a critical part of optimizing trading strategies.
With accurate forecasts, energy companies can also better protect their infrastructures from emerging weather threats and avoid interruptions to daily operations.
Identify Insurance Risk and Validate Claims
Determining the probability of extreme weather events and their impact to property and assets is central to the insurance industry. The speed and precision to which insurers can do this will determine a competitive advantage.
Insurers can quickly identify the potential value at risk to an asset from an extreme weather event and make smarter underwriting decisions with accurate weather data. With hyperlocal weather data, insurers can also determine the validity of damage claims by comparing them against observed weather conditions for any coordinate in the world, at any time.
Ensure Successful Crop Production
With real-time insight into precipitation, wind, temperature and other local phenomena, farmers can quickly react to weather conditions to ensure the success of crop production. Using weather data, farmers can also better manage irrigation systems, prepare their fields for workability and strategically schedule fertilization and pesticide applications. This optimized planning reduces the amount of chemicals going into the soil which increases crop quality.
Power U.S. Companies to Reach New Heights
The expansion of Meteomatics’ autonomous weather drone network for energy, insurance, and agriculture industries follows other recent Meteodrone milestones. This includes the use of Meteodrones by The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to improve weather forecasting and the launch of the first U.S. Meteodrone at GrandSKY aviation park at Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota.
“Weather can have a detrimental impact on companies across the energy, insurance and agriculture industries, especially if they’re making decisions based on inaccurate data or they’re not prepared for weather conditions,” said Lukas Hammerschmidt, Chief Drone Officer, Meteomatics. “With the amount of extreme weather events increasing and directly affecting each of these industries, it’s never been more important for companies to have access to highly precise, hyperlocal weather data. Our Meteodrone is providing companies exactly that–and we’re looking forward to expanding our work in the U.S. within these industries and beyond.”
Hammerschmidt has served as Meteomatics’ first Chief Drone Officer for over three years, previously serving as the company’s Head of Drone Development and Operation. He scaled the company’s drone department by 10x during his tenure and will continue to lead the development and innovation of the Meteodrone network as it widens its reach in current regions and industries and enters new ones. Beyond the U.S., Meteomatics also deploys its weather drones in Switzerland, France, Italy, Germany, Romania and Norway.