The Weather Company has partnered with AirMap to provide real-time and hyperlocal weather data such as temperature, precipitation, pressure and cloud cover directly to drone operators.

The partnership will enable operators to gain access to weather data from The Weather Company via AirMap’s app for iOS and Apple Watch, as well as AirMap’s APIs for developers.

Precise and accurate weather data have now become a much needed requirement for drone operators to undertake safe and efficient operations.

In June, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has released a new section of the Federal Aviation Regulations, Part 107, which defines new rules for commercial drone flights.

To be effective from later this month, the new rule, requires remote pilots of unmanned aircraft or drones to be familiar with available weather information before making a flight.

AirMap CEO Ben Marcus said: “Part 107 is a major milestone in drone regulation for visual line-of-sight operations.

“The availability of real-time hyperlocal weather data from The Weather Company will help today’s drone pilots avoid hazardous and severe weather."

“The availability of real-time hyperlocal weather data from The Weather Company will help today’s drone pilots avoid hazardous and severe weather, and will be absolutely critical for safe, efficient flight planning and operations of more autonomous, beyond visual-line-of-sight drones."

A provider of low-altitude airspace navigational data and communication tools for unmanned aircraft industry, AirMap has developed technology that transforms airspace below 500ft to create an interconnected drone ecosystem.

The Weather Company business solutions president Mark Gildersleeve said:“As a result of this AirMap deal, we can help drone operators not only be in compliance with Part 107 regulations, but also be able to leverage precise and accurate hyperlocal weather data to help guide decision-making and help work towards the safety, efficiency, and performance of their unmanned aircraft."

The company produces weather forecasts in every 15min for 2.2 billion locations worldwide.

The Weather Company’s cloud-based platform provides an average of 20 million forecasts a day.


Image: Drone operators will be able to access the weather data from The Weather Company via AirMap's app for iOS and Apple Watch, as well as AirMap's APIs for developers. Photo: courtesy of The Weather Company.