Maersk releases all weather observations to aid climate scientists
Danish carrier Maersk announced today that it is releasing all historical and future ocean weather observations into the public domain for free use by the scientific community around the globe. The data which has been collected by Maersk vessels since 2012 increases publicly available ocean weather data by 28%, the company claimed.
The goal is to aid climate research and weather forecasts by providing weather data from the world’s oceans, where ground level data coverage is slim, and most data comes from satellite observations which have their limitations.
The data increases publicly available ocean weather data by 28%
“Maersk crews and vessels have collected weather observations for years, and we are proud that we now can share these data and help researchers in gaining a better understanding of the impact climate change has on our surroundings,” said Aslak Ross, head of marine standards at Maersk.
The observations will give a more precise picture of how surface-level ocean conditions and the interaction with the atmosphere has evolved since 2012.
The data – more than 9m observations – will be shared via the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), run jointly by UNESCO and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). GOOS collects ocean weather observations for climate science and provides input to weather forecasts.
With all 300 Maersk-owned vessels sharing data multiple times a day, Maersk shares more than 7,000 observations every day. Some vessels are even live feeding data to weather services around the globe. In collaboration with the National Meteorological Service of Germany, Maersk has installed automated weather stations on several of its vessels. These are calibrated research-grade measurement stations which collect a greater variety of data points.
