Technology company Vaisala has worked alongside Unikie to enable better utilisation of hyperlocal accurate weather data in ports with its new Vaisala Beacon weather station network.
To produce these insights, Vaisala’s weather station solution collects real-time hyperlocal observations from the port area, combined with a real-time port data sharing and control system developed by Unikie. Overall, this system aims to enhance port operations and improve safety.
“Nearly half of the weather-related risks and operational problems in ports are related to winds and their sudden changes. Vaisala Beacon weather station network enables accurate observations of the key weather parameters, such as wind speed and direction, and rainfall throughout the port area,” said Mikko Nikkanen, Head of Maritime at Vaisala.
“Accurate weather data helps port operators in their day-to-day decision-making and improves port safety and efficiency. The collected weather data can also be used in the future to support the port’s infrastructure development more intelligently to address changing climate conditions and extreme weather impacts.”
Coinciding with this, Unikie has implemented a real-time situational awareness solution for the port environment. The POLO environment enhances the flow of information in ports by combining information collected from the equipment of different port operators into a real-time information sharing, warning, and control system. This user interface is already being used in 15 Finnish ports.
Petri Kalske, Head of Industrial Solutions at Unikie, added “We are constantly developing new features for POLO with the aim of better optimising port operations and improving the situational awareness. Vaisala’s expertise adds a new dimension to our solution, as hyperlocal weather data is an essential part of the process and real-time situational awareness of the port and its operators.
“The first joint projects are already underway and the results of the utilisation of hyperlocal weather data in the port will be seen as early as next spring.”
The hyperlocal weather information produced by the Vaisala Beacon weather station can be used by all port operators with an application developed by Unikie.
Vaisala has previously spoken to PTI about how using lidar for wind detection can help just-in-time operations. The technology company went on to say that requirements from ports for lidar technology to monitor wind speeds has “grown rapidly” over the past several years.
