4DAero EFB application built upon the Panasonic 4D Weather platform. Photo: Panasonic Weather Solutions

[Via Satellite 01-06-2016] Panasonic’s weather solutions division is now operating an advanced global weather forecasting platform, called Panasonic Global 4D Weather. The weather prediction capability uses Panasonic’s atmospheric datasets, which include the continuous feed of detailed tropospheric data in four-dimensions: longitude, latitude, altitude and time. It also employs data quality control and data assimilation, powered partially through data collected from aircraft.

Across the globe, hundreds of commercial aircraft are collecting and reporting critical weather observations in real-time, using Panasonic’s patented atmospheric Tropospheric Airborne Meteorological Data Reporting (TAMDAR) sensors. The lightweight sensors measure humidity, temperature, wind, pressure, icing and turbulence, and the data is reliably transmitted via the Iridium global satellite system. TAMDAR-acquired atmospheric data and all of the other globally available datasets, including all satellite radiance data, are filtered through Panasonic’s data assimilation processes to drive an array of sophisticated, high-resolution weather forecasting models.