LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Climavision and The Weather Company, an IBM Business, are working together to offer television broadcasters a subscription to X-band radar, offering stations a less costly alternative to installing and integrating their own radars.
With a direct interface into The Weather Company’s Max product suite, Climavision’s service gives broadcasters the advantages of a station-owned radar, the company said.
Climavision’s radars are located in the gaps where NEXRAD radars are not. Most NEXRAD radars reside in large urban areas, meaning many communities fall within these gaps and go underserved, it said.
Earlier this year, Climavision installed three new radars in central North Carolina to close one of the country’s most notable gaps. The move brought unprecedented low-altitude coverage to an area that’s home to more than 3 million people, it said.
Gray TV’s WBTV was the first television station to access the new system, delivering a new level of weather to viewers in the 21st-largest television market.
“Viewers trust us with their family’s safety during severe weather, so we owe them the best information we can possibly provide,” said Molly Kelleher, news director at WBTV.
“Climavision’s radar-as-a-service fills in a critical gap in NEXRAD coverage near Charlotte, so we get a much more complete picture of dangerous weather—when and where it’s happening. That could make a lifesaving difference for our viewers or even our own crews in the field.”
The Weather Company makes Climavision’s service seamless for meteorologists and for viewers. The data from Climavision’s network can be incorporated directly into a client’s Rapid Radar Service data feed, meaning it can be displayed on-air right alongside NEXRAD data. The Weather Company’s Max system can also highlight the Climavision feed to inform viewers of the added value the station is delivering, the company said.
Climavision radar data also can be integrated into other applications through an API. That means clients who use The Weather Company’s proprietary Max Mobile weather app can seamlessly integrate the Climavision feed with NEXRAD radar data for mobile users as well, it said.
The company continues to add radars. Currently, it has radars in North Carolina, Texas, Louisiana and Tennessee. It plans to have 35 online by the end of the year and ultimately will scale the network to more than 200, it said.
More information is available the websites of Climavision and The Weather Company.
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