Vaisala's Radar Donation Facilitates Extreme Weather Research in Colorado
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Meteorology Edition - Spring 2017 Vaisala’s Radar Donation Facilitates Extreme Weather Research in Colorado / Page 9 Advancements in Airline De-icing / Page 10 Better Quality Air Means a Better Quality of Life / Page 20
Vaisala in Brief
Vaisala is a global leader in
environmental and industrial
measurement. Building on 80 years
of experience, Vaisala contributes to
a better quality of life by providing a
comprehensive range of innovative
observation and measurement
products and services for chosen
weather-related and industrial
markets. Headquartered in Finland,
Vaisala employs approximately 1,600
professionals worldwide and is
listed on the NASDAQ Helsinki stock
exchange.
Contents Events & Webinars
www.vaisala.com/events
www.vaisala.com/webinars
Meteorology Edition - Spring 2017
Publishing Information
Published by: Vaisala Oyj
P.O. Box 26
FI-00421 Helsinki
3 Getting Ready for Changing Weather
FINLAND
Phone (int.): + 358 9 894 91
4 Improved Weather Forecasting Internet: www.vaisala.com
Capabilities for the Bahamas
Editor-in-Chief: Tiina Kiianlehto
6 Helping the Sun Shine Brightly on Contributors: Katri Ahlgren, Anne
the Global Solar Industry Hänninen (CoComms), Francesca
Davidson, Elina Nylund, Melanie Scott,
Riika Pikkuvirta, Jon Tarleton, Carrie
9 Vaisala’s Radar Donation Facilitates Tennick (Axonn Media)
Extreme Weather Research in Colorado Cover photo: Shutterstock
The image Schiaparelli Lander
10 Advancements in Airline De-icing Model at ESOC by Gerbil on page
15 is licensed under the Creative
12 Using Fire Weather Outlooks to Identify Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0
Areas of Concern and Help Reduce Incidents International license.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
15 Space-Proof Sensors File:Schiaparelli_Lander_Model_at_
ESOC.JPG
16 Flying into the Eye of the Storm Design, Layout: Grapica Oy
Printed in Finland by: Grano Oy
19 Vaisala’s Corporate Science Advisor Knighted ISSN 1238-2388
20 Better Quality Air Means a Better Quality of Life Subscriptions
22 Belgium’s Air Quality Tracked with For subscriptions,
cancellations, feedback
Vaisala Lidar Ceilometers and changes of address,
please email:
23 Vaisala Expands to Africa vaisala.news@vaisala.com
Disclaimer and Copyright
This publication may include forward-
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statements may materially differ from
actual future results or performance
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uncertainties, are not to be relied on.
The copyright of this publication is
reserved by Vaisala. This publication
may not be reproduced in whole or
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without the prior written consent of
2 Spring 2017 Vaisala.
President’s Column
Getting Ready for
Changing Weather
Extremes of weather are becoming
more prevalent. Since the work done
to curb the rise in global temperature
will prove its efficacy only with time,
there is a more urgent need to adapt to
the impact of tropical storms, lightning
storms, and floods.
What does that require? Since
weather cannot be changed, deflected
or mitigated, we need to have warning
systems in place, making it possible
to protect people and property. They,
again, cannot work properly without
reliable observations.
Hurricanes are a good example.
Knowing where they will land and how
strong they are, is literally a matter of
life and death.
Evacuating people from the path of
a major hurricane can save thousands
of lives. Evacuating people from the
wrong place incurs unnecessary costs
and eats at people’s confidence in
forecasts, which can lead to tragedies
later on.
So they, like other types of weather,
need to be studied and observed over
long periods of time, to be able to see
slowly occurring changes and trends.
Decisions need to be driven by data
and science.
United States already has its
Weather-Ready Nation program, bring- addition to mitigating extreme weather
ing together government organizations, impacts, they can then use relevant
private enterprises and academia to weather information in order to eradi-
build communities that are ready and cate poverty and achieve internation-
resilient to severe weather events. ally agreed development goals. Kjell Forsén
However, extreme weather often Vaisala is gradually getting more President and CEO
occurs in regions that are highly involved in this work, too, helping
vulnerable to its effects – in developing nations get weather-ready.
countries where the infrastructure is Helping save lives and minimize
not as advanced. damages to property makes our work
This is one of the reasons why the relevant to the whole humankind and
World Meteorological Organization motivates us to keep looking for new
wants to build meteorological capacity ways to improve our operations and
in the least developed countries. In solutions.
Spring 2017 3
Improved Weather
Forecasting Capabilities
for the Bahamas
The Bahamas Over recent years, severe weather
has become more frequent in
The Bahamas is an archipelago
of some 700 islands scattered over
is investing in a the Caribbean. So improving the
weather forecasting capabilities
100,000 squares miles of ocean. The
weather in the northern islands can
new nation-wide of the Bahamas Department of be completely different from that in
Meteorology will help improve warn- the southernmost islands. Moreover,
meteorology network ings and preparedness for severe the islands are low and flat, prone to
weather and will assist in minimizing any rise in sea level, and in particular
to keep its citizens loss of life and property from the to flooding from heavy rains and to
ravages of tropical cyclones (hurri- storm surge from hurricanes.
and visitors safe from canes, tropical storms, and tropical
depressions) affecting the country.
Equipment to Cover
extreme weather. “The Bahamas is called the
all Islands
’Jewel of the Caribbean’ because
of its beauty, and because of its Currently, The Bahamas has only one
geographical location to the United Doppler Weather Radar installed at
States of America it is envied by the Lynden Pindling International
many. But this comes at a price. Airport, in the capital city Nassau,
From the beginning of June to the on the island of New Providence.
end of November, is the official hur- It covers the Northwest Bahamas
ricane season,” says Trevor Basden, but only a portion of the Central
Director of the Bahamas Department Bahamas. The Southeast Bahamas is
of Meteorology. completely without coverage.
4 Spring 2017
After Hurricane Joaquin caused The deliveries will start at the thus improve aviation safety as opera-
widespread destruction in the beginning of 2017, to be completed tors are more accurately advised of
Central Bahamas and the Southeast by the end of 2019. the weather parameters over and in
Bahamas in 2015, the Government the vicinity of the airports.
of The Bahamas heeded the cry of “The Bahamas has some five
Keeping People Safe
the meteorology department and million visitors annually, and we have
decided to invest in a network of “Thanks to the weather radars, we 28 government owned airports on our
Doppler Weather Radars that will will be able to see more accurately islands. The heavy rains, lightning,
cover the whole country whose the current weather and when tropi- thunderstorms, low visibility and
land and sea area is on par with cal cyclones are in The Bahamas – wind shear associated with severe
that of Cuba. how fast they are moving and how weather events are definitely a hazard
When looking for the best suit- severe they really are.” to aviation, so we need to be able to
able provider, the Department of The radars will help in building a service the airports better as well as
Meteorology soon turned to Vaisala. more reliable early warning system in meet International Civil Aviation Orga-
“We have over 40 years of order to alert the population of signifi- nization (ICAO) and World Meteoro-
history with Vaisala, and Vaisala cant or severe weather conditions logical Organization (WMO) standards
has provided the most robust and The AWOSes will assist the air- and regulations.”
reliable equipment. In this case, ports to operate more efficiently and
it was also important that Vaisala
thought of the whole picture for
The Bahamas – not just trying
to made the deal. Training, for
example, was an essential part of
the contract for us,” Mr. Basden
points out.
The contract was signed with
Vaisala partnering with FMI on
October 26th 2016. Vaisala will
provide The Bahamas with four
Doppler Weather Radars, nine
Automatic Weather Observation
Systems (AWOS) for airports,
sixteen Automatic Weather Stations
(AWS), one Direct Readout Ground
Station (DRGS), and related ser-
vices. FMI will provide meteorologi-
cal software and training. Electronics Manager Byron Bain (on the left) and Director Trevor Basden from the Bahamas
Department of Meteorology visited Vaisala’s factory and headquarters in Finland in late 2016.
Spring 2017 5
Helping the Sun
Shine Brightly on
the Global Solar
Industry
Vaisala Solar Time Series
Tools offer easy access to
bankable solar resource
records at any location
around the world.
It’s no secret that solar technology energy players to act quickly and aggressive new target. The initial
is presenting major opportunities make investments at the right time. result of this work was the country’s
for the energy sector and all sorts of Latin America is a prime example. first renewable energy auction, held
businesses around the world. In 2016 In the last few years there has been a in September 2016 with the results
global solar capacity is expected to great deal of focus on solar develop- announced in early October.
reach 64.7 GW, up from 57.8 GW in ment in Chile and Brazil, but now To submit a project bid in the
2015. Argentina is the market to watch. auction, developers are required
To put that in perspective this At the end of 2015 the Argentine to provide a long-term energy
incremental 6.9 GW increase is larger government announced a renewable estimate. To be competitive, this
than the total 2008 installed capacity energy goal, stating that it would estimate must be as accurate as
worldwide – a ten-fold increase in get 8 percent of its energy from possible, demonstrating a strong
only eight years – and there are no renewables by 2017 and 20 percent solar resource and low uncertainty
signs of a slowdown in sight. by 2025. around projected performance. In
While this growth is driven by the After signing this into law, this aspect of the auction, Vaisala
leading markets of China, the United policymakers spent the first half of played a key role, supporting 30
States, Japan and India, new markets 2016 putting the framework in place percent of the solar auction bids
frequently emerge. And when oppor- to help drive the development and with due diligence services and
tunity strikes it is critical for global investment required to meet the helping both local and global com-
6 Spring 2017
Vaisala Solar Weather Station SP12 is an
all-in-one system specifically designed for
the solar industry to help collect reliable
ground measurements.
panies act quickly to enter the new Through its 3TIER consulting high-resolution dataset that contin-
market. services, Vaisala has been active in ues to be used today by developers,
In the solar industry, weather is the solar space since 2009, assisting project owners, policymakers and
both the project’s fuel and operating customers in translating weather governments to make high-level
environment and as the leader in conditions into long-term solar financial, infrastructure and opera-
applied weather science, Vaisala energy estimates in the pre-con- tional decisions.
in uniquely positioned to help the struction phase and observing and Recently Vaisala partnered with
industry adapt and mitigate weather forecasting real-time performance in IRENA, the International Renewable
risk while making informed deci- the operational phase. Vaisala was Energy Agency, to make portions
sions that reduce costs and increase also the first to map the world’s solar of this dataset publicly available
profitability. energy resource potential through a through its Global Atlas platform.
»»
Spring 2017 7
It is with these customers in mind
that we recently introduced two new
products that help developers better
evaluate potential projects. Our new
Solar Time Series Tools offer easy
access to bankable solar resource
records at any location around the
world at a low annual subscrip-
tion cost. These dynamic online
tools allow developers to visualize,
compare and order up to five global
datasets and receive data files within
24 hours to meet tight deadlines
while reducing project performance
uncertainty.
We have also launched our new
Vaisala Solar Weather Station SP12,
an all-in-one system specifically
designed for the solar industry to
help collect reliable ground mea-
surements. This station is rugged
The aim of the partnership is to centration of solar capacity due to the and ready-to-install, equipped with
increase access to high-quality resulting smoke and haze. state-of-the-art sensors and a data
resource data for large-scale planning In the spirit of continuous logger proven to withstand extreme
and remove information barriers for improvement, Vaisala is always conditions.
countries trying to promote renew- looking for ways to innovate in the Solar has a bright future and
able energy. solar measurement and consulting Vaisala plans to remain a leader in
Vaisala’s significant data capabili- services field to better support clients the solar resource assessment, mea-
ties are also put to work in the opera- who must respond quickly in a chal- surement and forecasting area as the
tional space. For example, we often lenging and ever-changing industry. industry grows and matures. With
monitor the impact of large-scale These customers need a partner who more and more opportunities clearly
weather trends on wind and solar can deliver both on speed and accu- on the horizon, Vaisala is making
performance. Last fall we published racy to help them enter new markets solar a strategic company focus and
a study illustrating the impact of Cali- and put forward only the most com- will continue investing in practical
fornia’s summer wildfires on energy petitive and profitable projects for innovations that provide value to
production in areas with a high con- auction or investor consideration. customers around the world.
8 Spring 2017
Vaisala’s Radar
Donation Facilitates
Extreme Weather
Research in Colorado
The new radar will be used by the is an avid experimentalist conduct-
Vaisala donates a students of University Distinguished ing special experiments to collect
Professor V. Chandrasekar in the in-situ observations to verify new
brand new, state-of- research of extreme weather. techniques and technologies.
“Due to the radar’s small size, it Vaisala’s compact C-band radar
the-art C-band radar can travel with us to international uses dual polarization to locate
areas where we haven’t been able precipitation, calculate its motion,
to Colorado State to bring radars to before, opening intensity, and determine the type of
important possibilities to measure precipitation, and is able to classify
University (CSU) weather-related phenomena in new targets into categories such as hail,
locations. It’s an exciting oppor- snow pellets, snow or rain.
for the study of tunity to teach my students and Unlike traditional collegiate
further our research,” says Professor gifts that are typically donated only
weather in previously Chandrasekar. after initial use, the equipment is
Professor Chandrasekar has being developed specifically for the
unreachable places. contributed significantly to the devel- university.
opment of weather radar science and
technology and is one of the world’s
leading researchers in this area. He
Spring 2017 9
Advancements
in Airline De-icing
The importance of airline de-icing cannot be
overstated, with the lives of passengers and flight
crews at stake.
which will go towards reducing the
environmental impact of airline
de-icing.
There have been a number of
organizations working together
to harmonize de-icing procedures
globally. Regulators including the US’
Federal Aviation Administration, the
European Aviation Safety Agency,
Transport Canada and the Interna-
tional Civil Aviation Organization
can implement their own de-icing
guidelines or refer to recommended
practices established by others.
Different mixes of fluids are used
to ensure that ice does not form on
vital aircraft parts before takeoff.
These fluids must be chosen depend-
ing on various circumstances and
play an important part in establish-
ing holdover time for pilots, which
is the time a fluid will prevent the
When it comes to airline de-icing, taking off capacity reduction during formation of ice.
there is little room for error. Accord- reduced visibility that occurs during There are two main problems
ing to the International Air Transport a storm. Vaisala CheckTime provides with the formation of ice or snow on
Association (IATA), more than eight the confidence in the application and aircraft. Firstly, the additional weight
million people travel by aircraft thus lead to fewer treatments. of the ice or snow adds to the total
every day on average. These people Airlines are also concerned about weight of the aircraft, increasing the
have to be kept safe, and a huge environmental practices. Sustain- lift required for the aircraft to take
factor in that is de-icing. ability is becoming more important off. Secondly, the formation of frost,
Another very significant issue all the time because of the damage ice or snow also changes the airflow
to airlines is the potential for time being inflicted on the earth. Using over the wing, reducing the overall
delays when working to de-ice air- a more reliable system to establish lift it can produce.
craft. Especially at busy international holdover (HOT) time will allow It is the pilot’s responsibility
airports the flights are often taking pilots to work out exactly how long to determine the holdover time
off less than a minute apart. Winter they have before it will have to be by taking into account the outside
weather causes delays to aviation reapplied. Effectively calculating temperature, which fluid mix will be
particularly from the process of holdover time can ensure that there used, precipitation and an estimate
receiving deicing, and from landing/ is no unnecessary use of these fluids, of fluid failure based on visibility.
10 Spring 2017Holdover time is calculated using
tables, which can often become
burdensome and inconvenient. They
could prove distracting and rely on
estimates, rather than up-to-date
information. holdover tables can
be inaccurate as they do not take
into account the changing weather
conditions.
Pilots in colder countries should
therefore be relieved to hear about
Vaisala CheckTime, which makes
the process of de-icing aircraft more
streamlined and efficient.
CheckTime uses precision
weather measurement equipment
positioned at the airfield the pilots
are taking off from, to measure the
Liquid Water Equivalent, the amount
of water in the precipitation, and
uses that to calculate the de-icing
and anti-icing fluid saturation point.
As the techniques for de-icing
airlines evolve and become more
effective, so should the processes for
determining holdover time. This is
why CheckTime is recommended as
the best option for ensuring safety
during takeoff during winter weather.
All this information, and more,
is detailed in our webinar, which
is presented by Pasi Piirainen. He
has 25 years’ experience in airline
operations, including managing
winter operations around the world.
Please visit vaisala.com/webinars to
learn more about Vaisala CheckTime,
as well as other interesting topics
covered in Vaisala webinars.
Spring 2017 11Using Fire Weather
Outlooks to Identify
Areas of Concern and
Help Reduce Incidents
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Storm
Prediction Center (SPC) shared their story with Vaisala about the risks and
rising costs of wildfires, and how lightning data is helping the United States
identify high-risk areas and provide better forecasts.
12 Spring 2017United States due to the drier of severe and fire weather forecasts
climate. Drier thunderstorms and especially in their area,” comments
longer periods with lower atmo- Nick Nauslar, Research Scientist
spheric moisture prime the forests at the University of Oklahoma
and rangelands of the western U.S. Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale
for lightning wildfire ignitions. Light- Meteorological Studies, working at
ning ignited wildfires are dependent the Storm Prediction Center. SPC fire
on a combination on the amount, weather forecasters coordinate with
type, and dryness of fuels and atmo- state and federal land agencies and
spheric moisture (relative humidity NWS Weather Forecast Offices when
and rainfall). The vast majority of producing Fire Weather Outlooks.
lightning strikes do not ignite wild- FEMA also uses SPC fire weather
fires, with less than 1% to about 10% outlooks for daily briefings and situ-
of lightning strikes resulting in a wild- ational awareness.
fire. This percentage depends on a SPC publishes all of its outlooks
number of factors including fuel type to its websites and also uses social
and dryness, land surface character- media (i.e., Twitter and Facebook)
istics, and atmospheric moisture. to reach a greater audience. SPC
forecasters coordinate with the
local NWS Weather Forecast Offices
Keeping the Public Informed
across the country to provide a clear,
The SPC is part of the National consistent, and accurate message.
Weather Service’s National Centers Weather information and forecasts,
for Environmental Prediction. The such as the Fire Weather Outlook,
SPC mission is to provide timely and allows the public to plan and helps
accurate forecasts and watches for explain why some restrictions, such
severe thunderstorms and tornadoes as burn bans, are in place.
over the contiguous United States. SPC’s forecasts and research
The SPC is also responsible for moni- directly align with the NWS Mission
toring fire weather events across the and Vision. The NWS Mission is to
continental United States and issuing provide weather, water, and climate
Fire Weather Outlooks. data, forecasts and warnings for
Rising Costs and Concern In addition to severe thunder- the protection of life and property
storm and tornado forecasts, the SPC and enhancement of the national
In the United States, Federal costs also produces Day 1, Day 2, and Day economy, and the NWS Vision for a
for suppressing wildfires routinely 3 Fire Weather Outlooks that identify Weather-Ready Nation is to have a
exceed $1 billion and exceeded $2 areas of elevated, to extremely society prepared for and responds to
billion last year (2015) for the first critical, fire weather conditions and weather-dependent events. The NWS
time. Suppression expenditures con- dry thunderstorm potential, and of has teamed with many well-respected
tinue to increase and now account increased probability of critical fire agencies, including Vaisala, who are
for more than 50% of the Forest Ser- weather conditions during days four Weather-Ready Nation Ambassadors
vice’s annual budget. According to through eight. The Fire Weather Out- and share the mission for being well
the National Interagency Fire Center looks are intended to delineate areas informed and prepared for weather
(NIFC), while human caused wildfires of the contiguous U.S. where pre- events.
account for 80-90% of all wildfires, existing fuel conditions, combined
lightning ignited wildfires account with forecast weather conditions
Behind the Scenes
for more than half of acres burned during the next eight days, will result
on federal lands. In addition to costs in a significant threat for the ignition Scientists around the world never
for suppression, each year wildfires and/or spread of wildfires (read more stop researching and experiment-
cause millions of dollars of property at http://www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/ ing to determine the best methods
loss with property at risk totaling about.html). or solutions in their field of study.
in the billions of dollars across the The Fire Weather Outlooks This is true for scientists working at
United States due to wildfires (http:// are designed for the NWS, as well Vaisala and at the Storm Prediction
www.iii.org/issue-update/wildfires). as other federal, state, and local Center. Weather, and specifically
Lightning caused wildfires occur government agencies. “However, we
more frequently in the western encourage the public to be aware
»»
Spring 2017 13lightning, has been a highly studied and input into these weather models, wildfire suppression resources to
phenomena for decades. There is a as well as thunderstorm and light- more efficiently and safely suppress
vast amount of research about light- ning prediction, and research. wildfires,” notes Nauslar.
ning physics (how it works), detec- SPC will continue to improve its
tion, and lightning safety. And while outlooks and forecast tools through
Results and Future Plans
scientists have figured out how to research and verification while inte-
detect lightning, forecasting lightning SPC provides probabilities of dry grating weather, fuels, and wildfire
is difficult. Forecasting conditions thunderstorms and probabilities occurrence data to provide compre-
leading to lightning ignited wildfires of various thresholds for lightning, hensive Fire Weather Outlooks. “We
is even more difficult and complex. relative humidity, and rainfall. SPC will also continue to work with the
SPC fire weather forecasters have to is currently examining lightning fire community and public to better
synthesize a lot of weather and fuels prediction tools (calibrated thunder understand how to address their
information on multiple temporal and probability, for example), and needs,” adds Nauslar.
spatial scales to provide accurate researching ways to improve proba-
Fire Weather Outlooks. bilistic lightning guidance.
SPC utilizes Vaisala’s quality The verification of SPC’s
controlled and archived historical outlooks and forecast tools dem-
lightning data to help formulate, onstrate accurate and reliable
calibrate, and verify the probabilistic forecasts. “It is very difficult to
thunderstorm and lightning models quantify any reduction of incidents
while monitoring real-time lightning or costs, but land agencies do use
data during forecast shifts. Data from our outlooks and forecast tools
Vaisala and other private sources are as input to pre-position and move
critical to the SPC’s understanding
14 Spring 2017Space-Proof Sensors
Thanks to their
stability and high
quality, Vaisala’s
humidity and pressure
sensors were again
sent to the demanding
conditions of Mars,
this time on board the
ExoMars 2016 mission.
Model of Schiaparelli, Lander of ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter Project 2016, at ESOC in Darm-
stadt, Germany
The ExoMars mission 2016 consists surements, for example, in condition started its three-day descent towards
of two modules, the Trace Gas monitoring of high-voltage assets at Mars. Contact was lost with the
Orbiter and the Schiaparelli lander. power transmission industry. lander about 50 seconds before the
The lander was equipped with a suite “The Finnish Meteorological expected landing time. It was discov-
of science instruments for recording Institute has been using Vaisala ered that the landing had not been
the wind speed, humidity, pressure sensors for space research thanks to successful, and that the lander had
and temperature at the landing site. their stability,” says CEN principal fallen from too high, destroying it.
This suite included the DREAMS scientist Tomi Salo. Had the landing been successful,
instrumentation built by the Finnish “Users can trust that the changes the lander would have gathered more
Meteorological Institute, a long-time indicated by our sensors are real information and possibly unveiled
partner of Vaisala. It was based on changes in the measured environ- more secrets about the Martian
one Vaisala humidity sensor and two mental conditions.” environment.
Vaisala pressure sensors. Despite the unsuccessful landing,
The humidity sensor is a the Finnish Meteorological Institute
Valuable Experience
standard product, and the smaller received important information
for the Future
pressure sensors are the same ones about the functionality of the new
used in Vaisala’s RS92 radiosondes, The main objective for the Schia- technology used in the instrumenta-
but specially customized and verified parelli lander was to test its entry, tion: the instruments can survive
at Vaisala to be able to measure the descent and landing capabilities to a trip to Mars, as they worked per-
extremely small pressures on Mars. better prepare for the next ExoMars fectly until the crash.
The humidity sensor and the mission in 2020. This proves that the same tech-
smaller pressure sensor are used in After a successful separation nology can also be used in ExoMars
radiosondes, while the larger pres- of the orbiter and the lander on 2020 mission and NASA’s Mars 2020
sure sensor is used in process mea- October 16, the Schiaparelli lander rover.
Spring 2017 15Flying into
the Eye of the Storm
Hurricane Hunters fly If you live inside a hurricane zone,
knowing a storm is coming your way
“It may seem a bit old-fashioned,
but it is the best way to determine
into hurricanes to save can be a matter of life and death.
NOAA’s Hurricane Hunters fly into
exactly how strong the storm is
and whether it is gaining or losing
hurricanes to gather data and to help strength,” says Richard Henning,
lives. Accurate data weather forecasters determine how Flight Director at NOAA Aircraft
strong the storm is and where it is Operations Center. He has been a
about hurricanes helps heading. Hurricane Hunter for 21 years now,
the last seven with NOAA.
get people out of their
Best Data from Inside
way and understand the Hurricane Dropsondes Show
Strength and Trend
There are all kinds of ways to gather
their behavior. information about a storm: satellites, The Hurricane Hunters have two P-3
buoys offshore, balloon radiosonde Orion turboprop planes to do the
launches and surface weather dirty work, bounced around in the
observations. hurricane at 5,000–10,000 feet above
Ultimately, the most accurate the ocean surface.
information you can gather about a Scientists aboard deploy Vaisala’s
hurricane is by flying into it. dropsondes as the P-3 flies through
16 Spring 2017the hurricane. They continuously 30–35 – to see what the atmosphere Richard Henning Flight Director at NOAA
Aircraft Operations Center on a hurricane
transmit measurements of pressure, is doing. The data enables forecast- mission
humidity, temperature, and wind ers to map the steering currents
direction and speed as they fall, pro- that influence the movement of
viding a detailed look at the structure hurricanes.
of the storm and its intensity. “Dropsonde data is critical to
“Probably some of the most what we do. We have a very good
important dropsondes are dropped relationship with Vaisala, and as
from the P-3 into the eyewall of the a team, we are always striving to
storm to determine the strongest make dropsonde data as precise and
winds,” Richard Henning says. dependable as possible,” Richard
Sondes dropped in the eye of the Henning points out.
storm are also very critical to the
forecasters in determining the pres-
sure inside the eye. The lower the
pressure, generally the stronger the Becoming a Hurricane Hunter
storm is. “I had been flying in the Navy, and I had a Master’s
in meteorology. The combination provided me an
opportunity to fly with the Air Force Reserve hurricane
Data from Above the Storm hunters. This qualified me for my job in NOAA.”
A Gulfstream jet is used to gather
data from above the hurricane, at an “We have only about 100 people in the Aircraft Operations
altitude of 40,000–45,000 feet. Center, so the hiring process is very competitive. Pilots,
“The best way to describe it is scientists and technicians are usually highly educated and
to compare the hurricane to a block experienced before coming here.”
of wood floating on a stream: on the
jet, we are gathering information
about the stream carrying the block,” “The qualification process takes up to three years, and
Henning says. many flights with someone instructing you before you get
Even more dropsondes are used to fly into a storm on your own.”
per mission than on the P-3 – usually
»»
Spring 2017 17NOAA Hurricane Hunters
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is US
environmental intelligence agency, focusing on the oceans
and atmosphere. In Florida, NOAA has a fleet of nine aircraft
at its Aircraft Operations Center, which is also the base for the
Hurricane Hunters.
Why aren’t Hurricane Hunter planes torn apart in storm?
Planes are generally not destroyed by strong winds while in
flight. It is the shear, or sudden change in horizontal or vertical
winds, that can destroy an aircraft.
Saving Lives commercial airliner in rough weather. barely see the tips of the wings. It is
Sometimes it is much worse. like going through a car wash, on a
The data from both planes is “At times it is like being on a rollercoaster.”
streamed to the National Hurricane rollercoaster with speed bumps.
Center in Miami, in seconds. There Going through the eyewall, it can
it is combined with other weather be raining so hard that you can
data. Computer models are run many
times a day to predict the storm’s
movements and strength, several
days in advance.
The Hurricane Hunters are at
times the first people to know if the
storm has turned or intensified.
“One storm I remember more
than any other in this regard is
Katrina in 2005. We were inside the
storm, when it intensified from a
category 3 to 5,” Richard Henning
remembers.
This was early on a Sunday
morning, and based on Hurricane
Hunters’ data, the residents of Loui-
siana and Mississippi were warned
of the category 5 hurricane heading
their way.
“Tens of thousands of people
evacuated from the coast that
morning. Had they not left, many
would have died, as it was such a
severe storm.”
Rollercoaster with
Speed Bumps
Flying in the storm is not always as NOAA Aircraft Operations Center technician, Mr. Damon Sans Souci, preparing to launch an
turbulent as you would expect; some- expendable into a storm from the WP-3D Orion Hurricane Hunter.
times it is no worse than being on a
18 Spring 2017Vaisala’s Corporate
Science Advisor
Knighted
Dr. Walter Dabberdt, Vaisala’s former
Chief Science Officer and Corporate
Science Advisor, has received one of
the highest honors bestowed by the
Finnish government.
Dr. Dabberdt has been made
Knight, First Class, of the Order of
the Lion of Finland for promoting the
knowhow and export of Finnish envi-
ronmental technology. The honor is
given based on exceptional personal
merit, gained in his own field of
profession.
Building Collaboration
As a renowned scientist in the area of
meteorology, Dr. Dabberdt has initi-
ated and increased Vaisala’s coop-
eration with world-leading research
institutes, especially in the USA.
The ensuing research has led to
commercial products and strength-
ened Vaisala’s position as the tech-
nology leader and primary partner
for environmental observations.
“Close collaboration with
research institutes is critical for our
business and future success. Walt’s
role in building our networks has
been extremely important. He is a
Dr. Walter Dabberdt, Kirsti Kauppi, the Ambassador of Finland to the United States and Presi-
well-known and respected scientist dent and CEO of Vaisala Kjell Forsén
not only in USA but also in China and
Germany. In Washington D.C., he has Vaisala, he spent 15 years at the the American Meteorological Society
even contributed to environmental National Center for Atmospheric and is a Fellow of the Royal Meteoro-
legislation,” says Kjell Forsén. Research (NCAR) as scientist, facility logical Society.
manager, and Associate Director. Dr. Dabberdt retires from Vaisala
He has served on numerous in early February 2017, after 16 years
Eminent Meteorologist
regional, national and international with the company.
Dr. Dabbert has a long career in the panels and committees. He is also a
field of meteorology. Prior to joining Fellow and past President (2008) of
Spring 2017 19Better Quality Air
Means a Better
Quality of Life
Air quality affects our quality of life, but current measurement networks do
not provide accurate enough picture of the air quality situation. By bringing
air quality monitoring where it previously has not been practical, Vaisala Air
Quality Transmitters provide information that can directly impact our daily lives.
20 Spring 2017Since the London smog incident equate for providing real-time localized conditions. For example, wind can
in the 1950s, ambient air monitor- air quality information. move pollutants distances of hun-
ing has developed into a globally Vaisala Air Quality Transmitters dreds of kilometres, and under low
adopted public task. It is performed provide a new type of a cost effective level inversion conditions, pollutants
to ensure the health and safety solution for monitoring ambient air, accumulate to generate high ground
of citizens as well as to minimize providing a real-time picture of the level concentrations. Wet deposition
adverse environmental effects due to local air quality situation. Quick and due to rainfall clears the air from
pollutants. easy to deploy, they are ideal for pollutants but can also pollute the
complementing an analyser-based environment in the form of acid rain.
network for a more accurate picture of Understanding local weather con-
Providing Local Air
the air quality situation. ditions is therefore important in fully
Quality Information
They are also an easy way to understanding air quality conditions.
In today’s statutory air quality establish a monitoring network around To this end, the Vaisala Air Quality
networks, measurements are made industrial sites, like petrochemical Transmitters can seamlessly be
with fixed air monitoring stations facilities, power plants or mines, where connected to the Vaisala Weather
using standard reference methods. air quality is of particular interest. Transmitter family of products. These
Analysers using these methods are Vaisala also offers software products measure the essential
well established and accurate, but solutions for managing a network of weather parameters (wind, rain, PTU)
are costly to operate and maintain, instruments and making the measure- in a compact and easy to deploy
so the number and spatial density of ment data easily accessible for users format.
these stations is typically relatively and applications. The data can also be Also a solar irradiation sensor
low. Typically, stations are several used to support air quality forecasting. can be added to provide data on local
kilometres apart even in cities. photochemical conditions. Vaisala also
However, due to the localized offers ceilometer instruments for 24/7
Weather Conditions
nature of pollution sources and micro- monitoring of boundary layer height
Impact Air Quality
climatic effects, the air quality in cities and conditions.
inevitably varies on much smaller The accumulation of air pollution
scale, making current networks inad- also depends on local meteorological
Spring 2017 21Belgium’s Air Quality Tracked
with Vaisala Lidar Ceilometers
In Belgium, volcanic eruptions of the early The collected data is sent con-
tinuously to the Belgian Interregional
2010s proved the need to follow pollutants in Environment Agency, where it is
integrated with other air quality
the boundary layer in the atmosphere to better measurements – such as data on
particles and gas – to improve under-
understand air quality in all weather conditions. standing of current and near-future
weather conditions.
Data on the boundary layer is
Air quality is not only affected by in Uccle, Brussels in 2011. In 2014, the also useful for verifying numerical
emissions in the atmosphere. How monitoring was expanded with the simulations of air pollution and pre-
quickly pollutants are dispersed is installation of three additional moni- dicting ozone formation.
determined by the weather as well as tors in Zeebrugge, Diepenbeek, and
the thickness of the boundary layer Humain.
where emissions are diluted vertically. Remote sensing with a Lidar
Monitoring the boundary layer, ceilometer is a cost-effective and
also known as the mixing layer height, accurate way to measure the bound-
is critical for estimating the nature, ary layer and to improve atmospheric
transformation, and removal of pollut- research and air quality monitoring.
ants in the air. “Lidar ceilometers have improved
In Belgium, the need for this in recent years and now offer the
monitoring was brought home by the opportunity to continuously monitor
volcanic eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull the vertical profile of aerosols and the
and Grimsvötn in 2010 and 2011, mixing layer height,” says Dr. Hugo
leading to closing of large parts of De Backer, who is responsible for
European airspace. ozone and UV observations and data
The ozone, aerosol, and UV maintenance at the RMI.
research group at the Royal Meteo- The raw data gathered by the
rological Institute of Belgium (RMI) sensors is analyzed to determine the
decided to track the vertical profile of maximum vertical gradient and the
aerosols using Lidar (Light Detection temporal variant of the backscat-
And Ranging), and installed its first ter profile, while also comparing
Vaisala Lidar Ceilometer CL51 monitor boundary-layer models over time.
22 Spring 2017Vaisala
Expands to Africa
Vaisala is setting up a new subsidiary “At the same time, climate Kenya was selected at the subsid-
in Nairobi, Kenya, to be close to its change and urbanization are increas- iary’s location, as it is the one of the
current and prospective clients in a ing the importance of weather data most advanced economy in Eastern
rapidly developing market. in Africa.” and Central Africa, an important
“We want to grow our business in A local presence is needed to business hub with many Western
Eastern and Southern Africa. Several be within easy reach for Vaisala’s companies already established there.
countries there are seeing rapid African clients and to be able to It is also one of the regional meteoro-
economic growth, so their ability to monitor the market and develop logical centers.
invest in meteorological systems is operations there. In Africa, Vaisala
improving,” says Panu Partanen, focuses primarily on meteorology
Head of Weather APAC&MEA. and airport clients.
Spring 2017 23Europe Americas Asia and Pacific
Vaisala Oyj Vaisala Inc. Vaisala KK
P.O. Box 26 Boston Office Tokyo Office
FI-00421 Helsinki 10-D Gill Street Jimbocho Mitsui Building
FINLAND Woburn, MA 01801 1-105 Kanda-Jimbocho
USA Chiyoda-ku
Vaisala Oyj Tokyo 101-0051
Malmö Office Vaisala Inc. JAPAN
Drottninggatan 1 D Boulder Operations
S-212 11 Malmö 194 South Taylor Avenue Vaisala KK
SWEDEN Louisville, CO, 80027 Osaka Office
USA Soken Midosuji Bldg 2F
Vaisala Oyj 3-5-13 Awaji-machi
Stockholm Office Vaisala Inc. Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi
Johanneslundsvägen 2, 1tr Houston Office Osaka 541-0047
S-194 61 Upplands Väsby 1120 NASA Road, Suite 220-E JAPAN
SWEDEN Houston, TX 77058
USA Vaisala KK
Vaisala GmbH Nagoya Office
Bonn Office Vaisala Inc. GS Sakae Bldg 3F
Adenauerallee 15 San Jose Office 5-26-39 Sakae,
D-53111 Bonn 6980 Santa Teresa Blvd. Naka-ku, Nagoya-shi
GERMANY San Jose, CA 95119-1393 Aichi 460-0008
USA JAPAN
Vaisala GmbH
Hamburg Office Vaisala Inc. Vaisala China Ltd
Notkestr. 11 St. Louis Office Beijing Office
D-22607 Hamburg 2055 Craigshire Road, Suite 120 2F, EAS Building
GERMANY St. Louis, MO 63146 21 Xiaoyun Road
USA Chaoyang District
Vaisala Ltd
Birmingham Operations Vaisala Inc. Beijing 100027
Elm House Seattle Operations PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
351 Bristol Road 2001 6th Avenue, Suite 2100 Vaisala China Ltd
Birmingham B5 7SW Seattle, WA 98121 Shanghai Office
UNITED KINGDOM USA Room D, 12F, Meihuan Building
Vaisala Ltd Vaisala Inc. No.107 Zhongshan 2nd Road Southern
Bury St Edmunds Office Tucson Operations Xuhui District
Unit 2b Hillside Business Park 2705 East Medina Road Shanghai 200032
Kempson Way Tucson, AZ 85756 PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP32 7EA USA Vaisala Oyj
UNITED KINGDOM Korea Liaison Office
Vaisala Inc.
Vaisala SAS Westford Office 16th Floor, Gangnam Bldg
Paris Office 3 Lan Drive, Suite 100 1321-1 Seocho-dong
2, rue Stéphenson Westford, MA 01886 Seocho-gu
F-78181 Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines USA Seoul 137-070
FRANCE SOUTH KOREA
Vaisala Canada Inc.
Vaisala SAS 110 - 13551 Commerce Parkway, Vaisala Pty Ltd
Lyon Office Richmond BC, Canada, V6V 2L1 Melbourne Office
12, Avenue des Saules CANADA 3 Guest Street
F-69600 Oullins Hawthorn, VIC 3122
FRANCE Vaisala Serviços de Marketing Ltda AUSTRALIA
Ladeira Madre de Deus, 5 - Gamboa
20-221-090 Rio de Janeiro Vaisala Oyj
Middle East BRASIL Regional Office Malaysia
Level 11, West Block
Vaisala Oyj Wisma Selangor Dredging
Single Business Tower, 9th Floor 142-C Jalan Ampang
Office No. 906 50450 Kuala Lumpur
Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai MALAYSIA
C210094EN
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
3TIER R&D India Private Ltd.
T-2, Farhaan Centre, # 24/1
Walkers lane, Langford Road Cross
Richmond Town, Bangalore- 560025
Karnataka
INDIA
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