May 23, 2023
Contact: Deb Seminary, dseminary@odney.com
Images and Video from the launch available upon request.
Weather Center will be a game changer for countless industries
Grand Forks, N.D. – GrandSKY today launched the first of its kind weather forecasting system at the Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota.
Nine times more granular than even the best available government or commercial services, the specially equipped Meteodrone will measure hyper-accurate and exact real time micro-weather readings, including humidity, barometric pressure, and wind speed above the Earth’s surface. This advanced micro-weather service will produce a 1km resolution weather model that will feed into GrandSKY’s Weather Operation’s Center user interface.
The partnership between GrandSKY, TruWeather Solutions and Meteomatics will increase flight time for commercial and military drones flying out of GrandSKY and fills a gap in weather data gathering.
“We pride ourselves on many firsts in the UAS field; this new micro-weather service will now be a first for the state and the country. More importantly, it will result in reduced risk and more flights from and around GrandSKY,” said Thomas Swoyer Jr., President of GrandSKY. “We’ve been working with an exceptional team to develop ‘first of its kind’ capabilities and processes here at GrandSKY. Meteomatics, TruWeather Solutions, Northern Plains Test Site and the 319th Reconnaissance Wing – all collaborating to get this project where it is. Together, we’ve developed a robust weather data collection system, unlike anything else in the country, so we can bring high accuracy weather forecasts to GrandSKY.”
Currently about 30 percent of flights at GrandSKY are canceled due to weather. The addition of real-time, local, accurate weather data could allow at least 10 percent of those flights to take off and fly as scheduled. North Dakota’s flat landscape allows weather systems to move quickly across the state which can lead to rapid changes in temperature and precipitation. Despite significant advancements, the current national weather observation network still lacks the data needed to effectively detect and forecast weather in low-level airspace. Since testing began, the GrandSKY system has been accurately forecasting local weather down to thirty-minute intervals.
While this forecasting is a boon for GrandSKY, the system will be beneficial for other industries such as agriculture, renewable energy and infrastructure. Operations currently paused because of weather forecasts could continue if truly accurate weather data was available. Attendees at the launch were given access to the TruWeather Solutions Workbook and encouraged to give feedback in the weeks ahead.
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About GrandSKY
GrandSKY is the first commercial UAS-focused business park in the United States. Strategically located on Grand Forks Air Force Base near Grand Forks, North Dakota, the 217-acre business and aviation park provides unmanned aerial systems (UAS) industry tenants with unmatched research, development, training testing amenities, including authorization for large UAS BVLOS (beyond visual line of sight) flights in partnership with the Northern Plains UAS Test Site. GrandSKY is permitted for more than 1.2 million square feet of hangar, office, shop, laboratory and data collection space available on a build-to-suit basis with financing available. For more information, visit grandskynd.com.
