Meteomatics is the first Swiss Company to receive the BVLOS-Approval for mini UAVs
After the CTI and FOCA acknowledged support for the Meteodrone project in November 2014, there is yet another piece of good news for the innovative weather service provider from St. Gallen: Meteomatics is now the first Swiss company who received the approval to fly beyond visual line of sight (BLVOS) with multiple mini UAVs at the same time; which is the supreme discipline on the way to commercializing the drone application.
The Meteodrone was developed to close data gaps in existing weather models. These gaps concern the boundary layer, which is the main trigger of phenomena like fog, low stratus, freezing rain and thunderstorms. The Meteodrone enables highly accurate measurements of weather parameters in the boundary layer. During the first test phase in summer 2014 more than 100 test flights were conducted; collectingvertical profiles of temperature, humidity, pressure, wind speed and direction up to 1.5km above ground.
Thanks to the approval of FOCA the Meteodrones have now the permission to fly even into clouds and fog, which enables Meteomatics to conduct meteorological real world field campaigns. Thus, a next phase for evaluation and scale can now start. With the data collected in the forthcoming measurement campaign, the development of an improved weather model will continue, in which fog and thunderstorms are much more precisely predictable.
About Meteomatics:
Meteomatics is based in St. Gallen Switzerland and offers meteorological products and services for industries, like the energy and trading sectors, with have a demand for extremely accurate weather forecasts.
For more information please contact:
Dr. Martin Fengler, CEO Meteomatics
