Following the approval by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) to use Biral sensors at aerodromes in 2016, 45 airports now use the VPF present weather sensors as part of their RVR (runway visual range) systems.

Biral’s VPF-730, VPF-710 present weather sensors and the ALS-2 ambient light sensors are the ideal choice for airport applications due to their efficiency, reliability and performance. The sensors are a compact and robust package which makes them perfect for aviation applications where strong winds and other damaging conditions are often present.

The CAAC certification means Biral’s sensors are approved for all airports in China for use in aviation weather monitoring systems (AWOS) and RVR systems.
One of the largest airports using the VPF-730 is the new Qingdao International airport, which currently has two runways with a further two planned for the airport's second phase. When the two phases are completed, the new Qingdao airport will be able to serve about 55 million passengers a year, allowing 452,000 landings and take offs, making it one of the country's largest airports alongside those in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Biral has also received an order from Tangshan airport, which is significant because it will be the first Chinese airport to also install a BTD-300 lightning warning system into the operation.

Further information is available from Biral on +44 1275 847787, email: enquiries@biral.com or by visiting the company’s website at www.biral.com.

The new Vaisala HMD60 and Vaisala TMD60 are broadening the HMD60 Series product portfolio. The HMD60 measures humidity and temperature and the TMD60 is dedicated to temperature measurements only. Both models come with two optional probe lengths: a long or a short probe, which is optimized specifically for small ducts. The transmitters are fully configurable and scalable, which enables users to get precisely the needed parameter and scale without having to know the exact application requirements when placing the order.

System (GRAF) will be the first hourly-updating commercial weather system that is able to predict something as small as thunderstorms globally. Compared to existing models, it will provide a nearly 200% improvement in forecasting resolution for much of the globe (from 12 to 3 km). It will be available later this year.

GRAF uses advanced IBM POWER9-based supercomputers, crowdsourced data from millions of sensors worldwide, and in-flight data to create more localized, more accurate views of weather globally. IBM Chairman and CEO Ginni Rometty announced GRAF at CES 2019 in Las Vegas. ​

Accurate visibility and present weather measurements are fundamental requirements for meteorology and airport weather applications. Vaisala Forward Scatter FD70 Series utilizes innovative technology setting a new standard in precipitation identification, quantification and visibility determination accuracy. FD70 Series is the seventh generation of Vaisala's high-end visibility and present weather sensors. 

FD70 Series consists of two product models:

• FD71P full-featured visibility and present weather sensor and
• FD71 visibility sensor.
  
  

Both product models can function as stand-alone units, interoperate as an integral part of Vaisala systems, or work with different third-party systems. Deliveries are estimated to start in Q2/2019. More info here. 

Following a successful 2018, leading meteorological specialist Biral is excited to be starting 2019 with a number of high profile projects and company expansion under way.

​Biral’s Marketing Director Nathan Neal is delighted with the company’s progress commenting, “During 2018, we won some very significant projects around the world in the aviation, transport and professional meteorological sectors. To accommodate the increasing demand for Biral’s equipment, we have taken on more development engineers and sales staff, invested in our R&D and expanded our factory premises with a new unit.”

Vaisala introduces the latest version of the RFL series data loggers – the RFL100 Temperature-only.  The data loggers use Vaisala’s proprietary VaiNet wireless technology to monitor temperature in fridges, freezers, incubators, LN2 tanks, cold rooms, and ultralow temperature freezers. 

Each wireless data logger can communicate over 100 meters indoors, depending on conditions. Connectivity for up to 32 RFL100 data loggers is provided by a VaiNet Access Point (AP10). The RFL100 temperature data loggers use fixed or cabled probes for a measurement range of -196 to +90 °C. For temperature and humidity monitoring, Vaisala launched the VaiNet Wireless Temp/RH Data Logger RFL100 earlier this year. All RFL data loggers use viewLinc 5.0 software for monitoring, alarming and reporting.

Orbital Micro Systems (OMS), a leader in advanced instrumentation for small satellite missions and weather intelligence analytics, announced it has formed a strategic relationship with Lemon Advisors, a consultancy focused on international expansion and strategic business development activities, to assist the company in increasing sales of its unique weather intelligence services for commercial and government entities.

Under the leadership of founder Subhash Ghosh, Lemon Advisors UK will work closely with OMS to identify and engage key industrial and government customers that can benefit from the unmatched volume and precision of analytics-ready weather observation data generated from OMS’s International Center for Earth Data (ICED) facility in Edinburgh, Scotland. Lemon Advisors UK will also contribute local expertise to contractual matters, sales and promotional activities, partnering and alliance opportunities, business formalities, and operational management.

Vaisala, the global leader in environmental and industrial measurement, including comprehensive lightning data, has developed the capability to distinguish cloud-to-ground lightning strokes that contain continuing current, the most damaging of lighting strokes. This first-of-its-kind technology offers precision in identifying these strokes, which can last up to 1,000 times as long as a typical lighting stroke and may be more likely to cause fire or other extreme heat-related damage.

"Our patent-pending technique is a game-changer in lightning detection. For the first time, industries where charge transfer from lightning is a threat, including electric utilities, oil and gas, wind farms, and land management organizations, can identify and target the small percentage of lightning strokes most likely to cause asset damage or start fires," said Brooke Pearson, Vaisala's Global Solutions Manager for Lightning.