Advanced Air Mobility

The weather challenges the Advanced Air Mobility industry will face are significantly different from those of traditional airports. Weather phenomena such as wind gusts, icing, and high or low temperatures can pose significant challenges to eVTOL operations. These conditions can not only impact safety, but can also affect the efficiency and profitability of operations.

Built infrastructure causes microclimates with wide variations in wind speed and direction from one area of a city to another. The top five weather elements that can have the most impact on eVTOL operations are:

• Wind: Strong, sudden winds in clear conditions can cause aircraft to drift off course and lose control
• Icing: Icing can cause rotors to freeze and malfunction, leading to a crash
• Heavy rain: Heavy rain can damage electrical components and reduce visibility
• Fog: Fog can reduce visibility, making it difficult to navigate
• Extreme temperatures: Extreme temperatures can cause the battery to drain faster, reducing flight time

In addition, terrain and a lack of ultra-local area forecasts can pose significant challenges for drone and eVTOL operations. Fortunately, technology is available today that provides the real-time insights needed for accurate decision making.

With our in-depth experience with airport and urban weather measurement needs, we offer a wide range of innovative, configurable technology to suit vertiports and other eVTOL operation locations of any size, geography and climate.

Our weather experts will help you determine the instruments and placement that will be the most effective for your location, depending on the operational environment complexity and traffic density.

• Vaisala WindCube® is the industry gold standard wind lidar, providing exceptionally accurate wind measurements at multiple heights and distances.
• Vaisala ceilometers measure boundary layer position, precipitation and aerosols conditions by type, and detect the risk of icing conditions.
• Vaisala visibility and precipitation sensors provide up-to-the-minute weather observations with pinpoint accuracy.
• Vaisala multi-parameter weather sensors provide ground truth in several configurations to meet your specific needs.
• Vaisala Xweather visualization, forecasts and data feeds can combine sensor measurements with nowcasting technology to provide insights for now and the near future (up to 4 hours).

For almost 90 years, Vaisala has been helping weather-critical businesses be more safe, efficient and resilient in a rapidly changing climate. We understand the importance of pioneering innovative solutions for a more sustainable world.

Vaisala has been a pioneer in aviation weather technology for almost 50 years, ensuring that every measure is taken for unparalleled safety, efficiency, and sustainability while complying with applicable industry standards. We understand how different the weather challenges will be for eVTOL operations and vertiports, and are actively researching alongside AAM industry organizations to meet them.

Our gold standard suite of solutions is trusted in more than 170 countries and over 2,000 airports globally. In fact, every commercial flight around the world will use weather observations produced by Vaisala equipment or forecasts driven by our sensor measurements at some point in their journey.

With a commitment to constantly evolving our portfolio, Vaisala remains at the forefront of the industry, continuously exploring new horizons.