NASA drones could provide better weather data

BI Intelligence

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Currently, the highest-profile example of a high-altitude unmanned aircraft is Alphabet X’s Project Loon, which is testing the use of balloons and other unmanned aircraft to provide internet access for much of the developing world.

But NASA scientists are looking to develop another beneficial use of high-altitude unmanned aircraft: a glider that would hopefully gather more accurate weather data, reports Engadget. The data gathered could have both strong monetary and nonmonetary benefits for NASA, the government, and any company that may want to purchase access to this data.

Here are two noteworthy implications of more accurate weather data for NASA and private companies:

• It could bring strong operational benefits for NASA and the federal government more broadly. With more accurate weather data, NASA could make more precise determinations on when to launch satellites, for example. Further, there are other arms of the federal government that could use this data. The air traffic controllers might, for instance, be able to leverage the data to anticipate and react to bad weather and determine whether planes need to be rerouted or grounded entirely.
• The National Weather Service could seek to sell this data to interested parties. Several parties might be interested in more accurate weather data. For example, an airline could leverage more accurate weather data to help it anticipate potential reroutes of planes, for example. Further, local weather stations may have an interest in this data, though the government may not want this data to be publicly available.

But other companies may want to use their own drones to collect this data rather than purchase it from NASA or the government. As prices of unmanned aircraft decline and the technology improves slowly over time, it will become easier for companies to utilize high-altitude and standard-altitude drones. As a result, an agricultural company whose business depends heavily on weather might want to develop its own drones to collect its own enhanced weather data, for example.

Drones turned the corner in 2015 to become a popular consumer device, while a framework for regulation that legitimizes drones in the US began to take shape. Technological and regulatory barriers still exist to further drone adoption.

Drone manufacturers and software providers are quickly developing technologies like geo-fencing and collision avoidance that will make flying drones safer. The accelerating pace of drone adoption is also pushing governments to create new regulations that balance safety and innovation.

Safer technology and better regulation will open up new applications for drones in the commercial sector, including drone delivery programs like Amazon’s Prime Air and Google’s Project Wing initiatives.

BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed drones report that forecasts sales revenues for consumer, enterprise, and military drones. It also projects the growth of drone shipments for consumers and enterprises.

The report details several of world’s major drone suppliers and examines trends in drone adoption among several leading industries. Finally, it examines the regulatory landscape in several markets and explains how technologies like obstacle avoidance and drone-to-drone communications will impact drone adoption.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:

• We project revenues from drones sales to top $12 billion in 2021, up from just over $8 billion last year.
• Shipments of consumer drones will more than quadruple over the next five years, fueled by increasing price competition and new technologies that make flying drones easier for beginners.
• Growth in the enterprise sector will outpace the consumer sector in both shipments and revenues as regulations open up new use cases in the US and EU, the two biggest potential markets for enterprise drones.
• Technologies like geo-fencing and collision avoidance will make flying drones safer and make regulators feel more comfortable with larger numbers of drones taking to the skies.
• Right now FAA regulations have limited commercial drones to a select few industries and applications like aerial surveying in the agriculture, mining, and oil and gas sectors.
• The military sector will continue to lead all other sectors in drone spending during our forecast period thanks to the high cost of military drones and the growing number of countries seeking to acquire them.

In full, the report:

• Compares drone adoption across the consumer, enterprise, and government sectors.
• Breaks down drone regulations across several key markets and explains how they’ve impacted adoption.
• Discusses popular use cases for drones in the enterprise sector, as well as nascent use case that are on the rise.
• Analyzes how different drone manufacturers are trying to differentiate their offerings with better hardware and software components.
• Explains how drone manufacturers are quickly enabling autonomous flight in their products that will be a major boon for drone adoption.

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The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you’ve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of the world of drones.