Maritime technology company Sofar Ocean has partnered with the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) to provide data for its extreme weather warning systems, assisting both weather forecasters and the shipping industry.
In partnership with the National Mesonet Program (NMP), KBR, and Synoptic Data PBC, the NHC has operationalised data from Sofar’s network of sensors to validate its weather models and verify current conditions in the ocean.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Sofar CEO Tim Janssen said: “Real-time data is essential for reducing weather and climate uncertainty, and forecasting extreme storms. Our global network of ocean sensors makes direct observations at a planetary scale.
“We are excited to supply the NHC with the ground truth data it needs to support early warning systems.”
The sensors used by Sofar are known as Spotter buoys and are used to collect and transmit real-time atmospheric pressure data and wave, wind and sea surface temperature.
In addition to its stable network of spotters, Sofar also deploys buoys in the path of hurricanes nearing landfall to collect crucial data about the path and condition of the weather events.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataThe data collected by the sensors will be displayed in the National Weather Service’s (NWS) Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System with support from KBR, Synoptic and NWS’ Total Operational Weather Readiness – Satellites team.
Curtis Marshall, NWS’ program manager for the NMP, said: “Wind, wave, and temperature data from these buoys could be useful to weather forecasters, as exemplified by their utility to the operations of the NHC and the Ocean Prediction Center.”
The partnership with the NWS and NHC expands Sofar’s services beyond just the maritime and shipping industry, adding to its existing solutions such as the Dynamic Route Optimisation Platform designed to maximise the route efficiency of cargo and bulker ships.
