Meteomatic’s hyper-local drone weather forecasting gets Lockheed Martin funding boost

Swiss specialized local weather forecasting company Meteomatics is set to get a boost from aerospace giant Lockheed Martin, which is reportedly moving to provide funding to scale the startup’s drone-based meteorological activities, which in turn may help fill a gap in the US group’s own climatic monitoring profile.

News of a financing and strategic planning agreement between the two companies was reported by Axios, which quoted Lockheed officials confirming the move. Though the sums involved were described as “single-digit millions,” they aims to provide Meteomatics support in developing its use of drones to collect the incredibly fast changes in hyper-local weather conditions. Those are not only critical to various existing activities, but will also shape decisions in future air taxi and other aerial operations, and in defense operations.

Just last May, Metreomatics expanded its work from its native Switzerland to the US, where it provides services to clients across the nation, including work at Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota.

Meteomatics fills the gap existing between the satellite, radar, aircraft, and other high-altitude methods for gathering data for wide-area forecasts, and the rapidly shifting wind, rain, sleet, fog, and other factors at lower levels. It does that by dispatching its Meteodrone UAVs into weather systems at atmospheric levels  up to 20,000 feet. It then uses sensors and video to provide localized conditions, including temperature, wind speed and direction, humidity, and air pressure. 

That information is fed directly to a ground station whose computer generates a high-resolution model of the current situation, as well as accurate hyper-local forecasts. Those, the company says, are nine times more focused on specific areas – with a precision of up to one-square kilometer – than even the best meta-weather companies can manage. The craft launch from fixed ground stations about every half hour, compared to twice-daily by weather balloons.

That information then allows drone and other aircraft operators – as well as clients including Tesla and the Kansas City Royals – to use Meteomatics data to determine the weather they’ll face in the immediate future. Those include probable changes in near-time involving  problematic situations they can avoid.

Lockheed Martin sees a lot of potential for that activity, including Meteomatics’ drones filling the hyper-local thin spots in its own networks of satellites and lower-level and ground data collection assets. 

Chris Moran, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin’s venture capital division, told Axios the firm also identifies obvious defense applications for Meteomatics weather drones in the planning and launching strategic military operations. 

“Meteomatics’ weather intelligence has the potential to give the US and its allies a better understanding of the dynamic environments in which assets and personnel operate, both improving operational effectiveness and reducing risk,” Moran said.