Active research and development are a key prerequisite for the success of the Vaisala Group. Vaisala's customers rely on the company's ability to develop premium class technology also in the future. Vaisala explores new development areas by utilizing its unique ability to innovate new technologies.
Vaisala has R&D activities in all its business areas, and investments in the continuous development of new technologies are significant. In 2006, R&D expenses totaled EUR 20.6 million, which is 9.3 % of the Group's net sales.
Vaisala's R&D resources represent the best in the field. The activities are located in Finland; the United States in Tucson, Arizona, and Boulder, Colorado; England, Birmingham; and Germany Hamburg. Approximately 19% of Vaisala's personnel work in R&D.
In addition to its own R&D activities, Vaisala works closely with customers, research institutes and universities in the field. Cooperation includes partnership projects with leading research institutes, and support for meteorological training programs, scholarships, grants and internships.
One of the most important research and development efforts in 2006 was the weather radar, which has been developed together with leading international research institutes and partners. New technology has been used in the radar development. For example, the radar's dual-polarization technology enables more precise information on the quantity and quality of precipitation. A prototype was completed in 2005, and has been in research and test use in Kumpula, Helsinki. A production prototype has been in Vaisala research laboratory's use since spring 2006. Read more
Another significant development project is the Helsinki Testbed, which is a research platform for precision weather applications and services. The project has been carried out together with the Finnish Meteorological Institute and partners. Helsinki Testbed works as an open innovation platform where new weather and environmental information systems and services can be tested in an authentic environment. Helsinki Testbed has been in research use during 2006. Organizations interested in environmental services have been welcome to join the project. Learn more about the Helsinki Testbed.
Vaisala participates in many projects together with leading research organizations in the field, such as the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, NCAR, as well as the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.
Vaisala also actively participates in the COST actions, which promote European cooperation in the fields of science and technology, and supports multinational and cross-scientific research networks. Among others, Vaisala has participated in the COST 720 action, which focuses on remote sensing, and COST 723, which focuses on humidity measurement.
Universities are also part of Vaisala's partnership network. Vaisala has a long history of cooperation with the University of Oklahoma in the United States. One of the main focus areas is the development of an observation and forecasting system for small scale weather phenomena. In lightning detection, Vaisala works together with the University of Arizona in research and development.
Vaisala supports meteorological studies and training programs, and grants scholarships and internships. For several years, Vaisala has partly sponsored meteorology students selected by the American Meteorological Society. In Finland, Vaisala sponsors the final thesis of ten university students annually.
Vaisala is also sponsoring the global THORPEX program (The Observing-System Research and Predictability Experiment), which is carried out together with the WMO (World Meteorological Organization). Launched in 2003, THORPEX is a 10-year observing system research and predictability experiment. It aims to research and improve the effectiveness of both earth-based and space-based atmospheric observing systems. As part of the program, Vaisala supports four post-doctoral partnerships. Two thesies were completed in 2006.
In addition to the THORPEX program, Vaisala continued to cooperate with the universities of Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Colorado State and Puerto Rico-Mayaguez, and supported their CASA program. CASA is a ten-year research program, whose goal is to develop a remote sensing system based on low-power, low-cost dual-polarization Doppler weather radars. Learn more about CASA.
