GeoMetWatch Partners with AsiaSat to Launch
Advanced Severe Weather Payload
April 3, 2013
Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Limited (AsiaSat) and
GeoMetWatch Corp announced that the two companies have entered
into a strategic partnership to host the first of six Sounding &
Tracking Observatory for Regional Meteorology (STORMTM)
instruments on board a new satellite planned to be launched by
AsiaSat in 2016.
“We are pleased to have reached this cooperation agreement with
GeoMetWatch. We are excited to take part in this ground breaking
project that will provide advanced data to improve weather
forecasting, natural disaster monitoring and climate modeling.
This new partnership with GeoMetWatch will open up new
opportunities to expand our satellite services into new areas,
and allow us to explore a new source of revenue for the
company,” said William Wade, President and Chief Executive
Officer of AsiaSat.
“GeoMetWatch’s partnership with AsiaSat is a significant step
towards the implementation of our global geostationary
hyperspectral sounder constellation. The first STORM™ sensor
will provide unprecedented atmospheric and weather data over
Asia and the Pacific region, for which we have already had
significant interest to purchase the data when available,” said
David Crain, Chief Executive Officer of GeoMetWatch. “For the
past 25 years, AsiaSat has been the preeminent satellite
operator in Asia and we are pleased that our first STORM™
hyperspectral sounder will
be hosted on their satellite.”
Planned for launch in 2016 and to be positioned at 122 degrees
East, this new AsiaSat satellite will host the first
hyperspectral STORM™ sensor that will collect and return to
Earth sophisticated and critical weather data not currently
available. This hyperspectral data will enable meteorologists to
provide better daily forecasts, predict severe weather and
atmospheric instability more accurately, and improve location
and storm tracking and analysis of the intensity of hurricanes
and typhoons, resulting in earlier evacuations that can improve
the preservation of lives and property.
“STORM™ will provide significantly earlier warning for severe
weather and climate instability, and it will do so faster, more
frequently and with finer detailed measurements than any
capability in orbit today,” Crain said.
The first STORM™ sensor is currently being manufactured by Utah
State University’s Advanced Weather Systems. AWS is part of Utah
State’s rich heritage of designing, building and testing
state-of-the-art space based sensors. “AWS is thrilled to be a
part of the GMW-AsiaSat partnership,” said Robert T Behunin, AWS
Board Member and USU vice president for commercialization. “This
unprecedented partnership and the activities that will come from
it will revolutionize the weather sensor and data community; it
will also provide a more efficient business model to secure and
distribute weather data.”
Partnering with Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC) of
University of Wisconsin for expertise in hyperspectral algorithm
development and data processing, the GeoMetWatch system will
provide high-resolution, visible and infrared images of
atmospheric conditions as well as a complete set of
quasi-continuous measurements that are high resolution in
vertical, spatial and temporal dimensions. These include
profiles of temperature, water vapor, pressure, clouds and wind,
three-dimensional fields of aerosols, pollutants, and trace
gases, volcanic ash and gases, weather instability,
precipitation and flood forecasts, hurricane intensity and
ground track, and
other data. GeoMetWatch’s products and services will be
available globally under an innovative fee-for-service data-buy
model that enables its clients to meet their critical
atmospheric data needs with increased accuracy, efficiency and
affordability.