This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Weather drones are being tested to help update forecasts of extreme weather more quickly, and could help us prepare earlier for upcoming winter storms. With an unprecedented El Niño increasing the chance of storms and wet weather in Europe this winter, meteorologists will be looking at new and developing tools to help them forecast as accurately as possible.
The ability of new types of weather drones to collect more information ahead of incoming bad weather has already attracted the attention of financial traders. Energy traders have to buy and sell electricity produced from sources like wind and solar farms. They need to judge the supply and demand as quickly as possible.
This means they need updates to weather forecasts so they can predict when clouds might shade solar panels, or if an approaching storm could increase wind turbine generation. U.S. researchers have recently highlighted that the ability of drones to collect information on air pressure and wind speed, for instance, in real time is proving useful for forecasting extreme weather events faster. Meanwhile, U.K. researchers are pushing the technology further by using drones to collect valuable data inside clouds.
Clouds are fundamental to many weather effects, including rain, fog, lightning, hail and extreme winds. In 2024, the World Meteorological Organization hosted its first demonstration of weather drones. These drones measured temperature and wind speed, and focused on the lowest few kilometers of the atmosphere.
This use of drones is being developed with the expectation that they can be used as part of a network of drone stations by meteorological agencies, to complement traditional networks of weather stations. These drones can be deployed remotely from a dock, allowing routine measurement of the lower atmosphere to inform weather forecasts. This is similar to how weather balloons currently operate.
Drones, however, have the potential to provide data at much higher frequency, and more quickly. Data could be collected hourly or more often, and with less waste such as lost weather balloon equipment. A new research project, Drone Observation Of Clouds (DOOC), led by the University of Leeds, is working out if new kinds of measurement could become part of weather forecasting in the future.
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