Our Technology

Unique weather data from the planetary boundary layer

Our Technology

Unique weather data from the planetary boundary layer

Revolutionizing the world of weather forecasting, with data from 6km above ground level

Since the beginning of weather modeling, meteorologists have been faced with the problem of data shortages in the mid and lower levels of the atmosphere. Meteomatics has found the solution to overcome this challenge with the Meteodrones.

Meteomatics operates its own Meteodron program, which includes design, development and production of the drones. With the approval of the Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA), the Meteodrones can be flown beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) and within the regulated airspace in Switzerland, enabling data of the atmosphere up to 6 km above the ground to be collected. The results are assimilated into the in-house developed high-resolution model to provide incomparably precise local weather forecasts.

How data from 6km above ground revolutionizes the world of weather forecasting

Since the beginning of weather modeling, meteorologists have been faced with the problem of data shortages in the mid and lower levels of the atmosphere. Meteomatics has found the solution to overcome this challenge with the Meteodrones.

Meteomatics operates its own Meteodron program, which includes design, development and production of the drones. With the approval of the Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA), the Meteodrones can be flown beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) and within the regulated airspace in Switzerland, enabling data of the atmosphere up to 6 km above the ground to be collected. The results are assimilated into the in-house developed high-resolution model to provide incomparably precise local weather forecasts.

Permission to fly

Thanks to the approval of the Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA), Meteomatics is the first Swiss company that was awarded with a permission to fly multiple mini UAVs simultaneously beyond visual line of sight. Meaning that the Meteodrones are also approved to fly within clouds and fog. In 2017, this permission was extended allowing Meteodrones to operate beyond line of sight during the day under certain conditions. Including flights of up to 6 km above ground level.

Permission to fly

Thanks to the approval of the Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA), Meteomatics is the first Swiss company that was awarded with a permission to fly multiple mini UAVs simultaneously beyond visual line of sight. Meaning that the Meteodrones are also approved to fly within clouds and fog. In 2017, this permission was extended allowing Meteodrones to operate beyond line of sight during the day under certain conditions. Including flights of up to 6 km above ground level.

Technical Details


	Meteodrone SSE	Meteodrone MM-670	Meteodrone MM-670 ML
Number of engines	6	6	6
Take-off weight	ca. 1.1 kg	ca. 4.9 kg	ca. 5.0 kg
Dimensions	40 x 40 cm	70 x 70 cm	70 x 70 cm
Max. climb rate	10 m/s	10 m/s	10 m/s
Max. wind speed	100 km/h	92 km/h (50 knts)	92 km/h (50 knts)
Max. flight altitude*	1'500 m	6'000 m AMSL (20'000 ft)	6'000 m AMSL (20'000 ft)
Max. flight duration	ca. 12 min	ca. 30 min	ca. 30 min
Waterproof	✗	✓	✓
Propeller Heating	✗	✗	✓
Navigation lights	✓	✓	✓
Position lights	✓	✓	✓
Rescue system	✗	✓	✓
Ground station	✓	✓	✓
VLOS*	✓	✓	✓
EVLOS*	✗	✓	✓
BVLOS*	✗	✓	✓
Measured parameters:
- Sample rate	250 ms	250 ms	250 ms
- Temperature	✓	✓	✓
- Wind speed	✓	✓	✓
- Wind direction	✓	✓	✓
- Dew point	✓	✓	✓
- Air pressure	✓	✓	✓
Optional parameters:
- Particular matter/ black carbon	✗	✓	✓
- Ozone	✗	✓	✓
- Radioactivity	✗	✓	✓
Available formats:
- WMO TEMP (FM35)	✓	✓	✓
- WMO TEMP MOBILE (FM38)	✓	✓	✓
- PILOT (FM32)	✓	✓	✓
- WMO PILOT MOBILE (FM34)	✓	✓	✓
- WMO BUFR	✓	✓	✓
- CSV	✓	✓	✓