EURO1k Outperforms MEPS in 70% of Cases, NORCE Evaluation Shows

A recent evaluation by NORCE as part of Project Gondul shows that EURO1k, Meteomatics’ high-resolution weather model, delivers more accurate forecasts than the MEPS model from the Norwegian Meteorological Institute in over 70% of cases for key weather parameters. This result underscores the potential of EURO1k to substantially improve decision-making in critical operational environments, particularly in cold, Arctic conditions.

Project Gondul: Weather Intelligence for Arctic Military Operations

Project Gondul, led by the Norwegian Army School of Intelligence and Electronic Warfare, investigates the Value of Information (VoI) provided by Meteomatics’ EURO1k model and Meteodrone data. The focus is on supporting tactical decision-making and risk management in Arctic operations, particularly for NATO class 1 UAV missions in adverse weather.

Forecast Accuracy Evaluation: EURO1k Outperforms MEPS in Over 70% of Cases

This phase of the project compared forecasts from Meteomatics’ EURO1k model (1 km resolution) and the Norwegian Meteorological Institute’s MEPS model (2.5 km resolution) against observations from 249 ground-based weather stations across Norway.

The evaluation focused on weather variables relevant to military drone operations and planning: wind speed and direction, air temperature, relative humidity, air pressure, and precipitation.

Results showed that EURO1k consistently outperformed MEPS, providing more accurate forecasts in over 70% of the cases.

What’s Next: Integration of Meteodrone Observations

While the current analysis is based on comparisons with ground station data, the next phase of Project Gondul will incorporate vertical observations from Meteodrones to further improve and validate the accuracy of EURO1k forecasts.

Drone-based data collection is set to begin in summer 2025, with a long-term plan to deploy a network of 30 Meteodrones across the country.