This week the world’s leading meteorological exhibition opened its doors in Paris, France, much to the delight of meteorological, hydrological and environmental professionals from around the globe!
The three-day event was packed full of exhibitions and presentations, all designed to showcase the very best in technological innovation and thought leadership from the brightest minds in the sector.
Visitors could enjoy all the latest advancements in commercially available meteorological, hydromet, metocean and environmental monitoring systems and services, with displays and demonstrations from 140 leading international technology suppliers and developers.
Once again, Meteorological Technology World Expo hosted the WMO Technical Conference on Meteorological and Environmental Instruments and Methods of Observation (TECO-2022), which featured a plethora of high-quality presentations and posters themed on ‘sustainable fit-for-purpose measurements’. This year’s event was also host to the Satcom Forum – a unique networking and workshop opportunity to learn about the many benefits and possibilities that satellite technology brings to the meteorological and hydromet sectors.
Tailored for meteorological experts and professionals only, the event provided an unrivaled opportunity to conduct business and network with industry peers. As Andy Nadler, consulting agricultural meteorologist at Peak Hydromet Solutions, confirms, it was a “great opportunity to catch up with past acquaintances, to meet new people in the industry, and to learn the latest developments to help measure our environment. A fantastic experience! Compliments to the organizers and presenters!”
Enjoying a return to live events following the pandemic, Florian Schmidmer, CEO of Graw Radiosondes, said that he had “really enjoyed meeting people in person,” adding, “Meteorological Technology World Expo is the most important event for us because it’s a place where the entire meteorological society and partners meet. It’s the only big event.”
Commenting on the value of networking opportunities, Nicolas De Coster, a hard/soft developer for automatic weather stations at the Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium, said that the event circumnavigated the daily to-ing and fro-ing of email discussions by providing a “great chance to connect with these people face to face, discuss the solution and get the details straightaway”.
While first time visitor Anna Moraes, a designer at Scintec, enthused that it was “really nice to see everyone from all over the world”. She added, “We’re having a lot of valuable conversations here. We’ve had a lot of meetings with customers and potential customers. We’ve also had the chance to exchange our experiences with other exhibitors, which has been really good.”
New products
Weather drone specialist Meteomatics presented its newly launched European weather model EURO1k, capable of providing fine-scale forecasts for industries across Europe through its 1km resolution. Through its fine-scale resolution, the model can even detect the smallest meteorological phenomena such as thunderstorms and hail. Using highly accurate geodata based on downscaling algorithms, the EURO1k even achieves a spatial resolution of up to 90m.
Microcom revealed a model of its GTXO-2.0 Satellite Transmitter, which is set to launch in the first quarter of 2023. The new model has been created to better meet the needs of Microcom’s clients and provide a more cost-effective option. This is because many of its clients replace the GTX-2.0’s datalogger with their own datalogger and only use the satellite transmitter functionality. As with its predecessor, the GTXO-2.0 will be able to support satellite transmissions to a worldwide set of data collection systems, including NOAA/GOES, EUMETSAT, JMA/Himawari, INSAT and ARGOS/SCD.
Darrera showcased its new range of meteorological data buoys, a product family not previously seen at the show. Darrera’s data buoys monitor the weather conditions and water quality in coastal areas, lakes and oceans. The buoys are available in different sizes, the most compact model having a diameter of 42cm. They can also be customized with a wide range of meteorological and water quality sensors, depending on customer requirements.
Also making its show debut was Menapia’s automated, high-altitude, weather-resistant, multirotor unmanned aerial system (UAS) with integrated meteorological sensors. This drone, launched about a month before the show, can fly for up to 40 minutes at a time and can hover without wind. According to the company, it provides 2km of profiling 97% of the year in the UK. The solution has a velocity of 16m/s in ascent, can ensure up to 28m/s of wind resistance and has a ceiling of 10km without wind. It has a payload of 600g, but this affects its endurance. Its surplus energy and mounting options have been included to enable an array of supplementary instruments to be carried.
Additonally, AEM demonstrated its new Lambrecht meteo IceLoad sensor, which has been designed to help proactively mitigate risk due to dangerous ice build-up. The IceLoad Sensor is a lightweight solution created to improve power potential, locate disturbances in delivery lines and monitor key structures for ice-related strain. Applying the same measurement principle as Lambrecht meteo’s industry-leading rain[e] weighing precipitation sensor, the IceLoad Sensor provides increased accuracy with a measurement range of up to 20kg. Its seawater-resistant aluminum construction is built to withstand harsh conditions with full year-round functionality in an environmentally friendly package free from antifreeze.
WMO-TECO 2022
At the TECO conference, more than 50 speakers presented research and findings from the forefront of the industry during 15-minute presentations based on one of six topics: innovative measurements, techniques and integration; intercomparisons and characterization of instruments and methods; traceability of measurements to recognized standards; measurement quality assurance and quality control; capacity development toward quality measurements and sustainability; and advancing measurements in support of WIGOS vision 2040. Leading presenters included: Dr Yong-Gyoo Kim, principal research scientist at World Meteorological Organization; Dr Ludovic Thobois, data science manager at Vaisala France; Dr Salvador Peña-Haro, chief technical officer of photrack ag; Dr Laura Bevilacqua, research scientist at National Physical Laboratory; and Jean-Philippe Andreu, senior research associate at Joanneum Research.
Meteorological Technology World Expo also hosted the TECO-2022 Awards ceremony, meaning the organization presented the highly prestigious industry accolades to the winners of the 2020 and 2022 categories. The winning research papers for 2020 were: ‘Automation solution to manage technical operations and transfer the real-time information from manual meteorological and hydrological stations in Viet Nam’, which was published in Vietnam Journal of Hydro-Meteorology; and ‘The Precision Solar Spectroradiometer (PS) for direct solar irradiance measurements’, which was published in Solar Energy. The 2022 awards went to the paper ‘Unified AWS Data Collection, Integration and Processing Systems (UNI-AWS DCIPS)’ which was published as a Project Report by Direction de la Météorologie; and ‘Spectrum calibration of the first hyperspectral infrared measurements from a geostationary platform: Method and preliminary assessment’, which was published in the Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.
Visitor quotes
Emanuele Vuerich, airforce officer, Italian Air Force, commented, “At the show, I’m looking for new technologies and scientific advances. In the past, I was a member of the former expert teams that worked with the WMO. I’m here making some notes about the most interesting insights I’ve seen from the conference. Having participated in four of five different conferences in the past, I think that this show is a great combination of meteorological instruments expositions with technical conferences.”
Andy Nadler, Consulting Agricultural Meteorologist at Peak Hydromet Solutions, said, “I had the privilege of attending the Meteorology Technology World Expo and the WMO Technical Conference on Meteorological and Environmental Instruments and Methods of Observation (TECO) in Paris. A great opportunity to catch up with past acquaintances, to meet new people in the industry, and to learn the latest developments to help measure our environment. A fantastic experience! Compliments to the organizers and presenters!”
Greta Bonacina, International Sales Specialist, Tecnosens, said “Today we visited Meteorological Technology World Expo in Paris, the exhibition about weather and air quality monitoring, it has been a great opportunity to see the trends of this field and discover new possible applications!”
Raffaele Salerno, scientific director, Meteo Expert, said, “It is the most important trade fair in Europe in the sector and a unique opportunity to present its novelties in an international context.”
Nicolas De Coster, a hard/soft developer for automatic weather stations at the Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium, said, “I’m at Meteorological Technology World Expo because it’s a great chance to speak to technical experts in the field in person. In everyday life, we work with commercial stakeholders a lot and when we ask them a specific question, they have to refer us to their technical person’s email. This is a great chance to connect with these people face to face, discuss the solution and get the details straightaway.”
Céline Laplace, an engineer at Météo-France, said, “I enjoy Meteorological Technology World Expo 2022 because I think it’s interesting to see new technology and offer answers to important questions in the field. I’m particularly interested in innovations surrounding upper-air observation because that’s my job. The whole event is very pleasant.”
Chiara Musacchio, a researcher at Inrim, said, “Meteorological Technology World Expo is a good chance to speak to and network with different collaborators for our research projects. Taking in the booths, the new technologies and the presentations are also always key reasons for being at the show.”
Exhibitor quotes
Florian Schmidmer, CEO of Graw Radiosondes, said, “After three years of not being able to come to the show, I’ve really enjoyed meeting people in person. Meteorological Technology World Expo is the most important event for us because it’s a place where the entire meteorological society and partners meet. We meet partners from all over the world here. It’s the only big event.”
Anna Moraes, designer at Scintec, said, “It’s my first time at the expo and I’ve really enjoyed it. It’s been really nice to see everyone from all over the world. We’re having a lot of valuable conversations here. We’ve had a lot of meetings with customers and potential customers. We’ve also had the chance to exchange our experiences with other exhibitors, which has been really good.”
Alana Dachtler, vice president of sales and marketing at Intermet Systems, said, “We decided to exhibit here because it’s a really great meeting space for so many professionals in the mineralogy community. It’s an opportunity for us to meet with current customers and engage with potential new customers.”
Lotte Kroer Myrvoll, stand organizer at Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace, said, “We come to Meteorological Technology World Expo to meet clients, and find new prospects. It’s the biggest one in Europe. I know when I come here, I will be able to access a lot of clients. That’s the main purpose.”
Guido Bernardi, vice-president of institutional relations at CAE, said, “We’ve participated for 10 years because this is the main exhibition in the industry. We are very happy to see all of our suppliers, partners, clients and friends here.”
