WASHINGTON, Jan 18, 2026, 06:58 EST
- Meteomatics has secured a contract to provide NOAA’s National Mesonet Program with weather-drone profiles, which will support the National Weather Service’s forecasting efforts.
- Pilot flights operating from a remotely controlled base in Oklahoma will continue through April 2026; KBR and Synoptic Data are set to manage integration into NOAA systems.
- The data focuses on a gap in the lower atmosphere, a common zone for storms, fog, and smoke to form.
Swiss weather data company Meteomatics has announced it will start providing the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) with data from its autonomous weather drones as part of a pilot program with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The firm said this marks the first time that operational weather-drone observations are integrated into daily NWS forecast operations. Aviationweek
The target zone is a tricky layer of air close to the surface — between roughly 50 feet and 20,000 feet (about 15 to 6,100 meters) high — where many major weather changes kick off. Meteomatics says its drones can penetrate this layer and deliver vertical profiles, capturing temperature, humidity, and wind data as the drone ascends. Dronedj
The firm said more frequent profiles could improve forecasts on when thunderstorms develop, how long fog lingers, and whether a winter storm shifts to rain, snow, or ice. The NWS already combines satellite, radar, and surface data; the drone feed targets a gap in coverage between those sources.
The pilot, set to run through April 2026, will rely on routine flights from a remotely operated Meteobase in Oklahoma, the company said. Pilots will handle operations from a central control center instead of being physically present on site.
Data will stream into NOAA’s National Mesonet Program (NMP), which serves as a hub for weather info from non-federal sources, before reaching NWS systems. Meteomatics noted KBR leads the program as prime contractor, while Synoptic Data PBC will handle the drone data integration. The mesonet itself already pulls from over 35,000 platforms nationwide across all 50 states.
Meteomatics CEO Martin Fengler described public-private partnerships as “essential to expand national weather observing capabilities,” highlighting the growing need for denser data as severe weather events increase. Commercialuavnews
Synoptic Data President and CEO Ashish Raval emphasized their aim to provide “high-quality, lowest latency data” — information that reaches users fast enough to support daily forecasts and warnings.
Meteomatics explained that Meteodrones are built to perform repeated climbs and descents, capturing rapidly shifting conditions over brief distances and time frames. These fluctuations, particularly in wind and humidity, can significantly alter forecasts for fog, smoke, and storms.
NOAA’s experience with weather drones isn’t new. Back in June 2024, the NWS kicked off a research program at the GrandSKY Flight Operations Center in North Dakota. The drones there flew as high as nearly 17,000 feet (around 5,200 meters), gathering data to see if it could boost forecast accuracy.
The Oklahoma pilot runs under tight time and geographic limits, with no word yet on when agencies might expand it. Airspace restrictions and the weather conditions the drones are supposed to monitor could also limit flights, casting doubt on how much additional coverage can be maintained long-term.
