Foreca seeks to use all the data sources fit for a particular forecasting point/territory. The choice of sources strongly depends on data reliability, stability of data flow from sources and various other factors which are part of a complex data selection algorithm Foreca employs. In total, Foreca gathers and fuses 50+ different data sources world-wide.
The following is a non-exhaustive sample of current incoming weather data providers per country in alphabetical order:
- Austria (ZAMG)
- Finland (FMI, ELY, commercial w/license)
- France (MeteoFrance)
- Japan (JMBSC, commercial w/license)
- Germany (DWD, commercial w/license)
- The Netherlands (KNMI, commercial w/license)
- South Korea (commercial w/license)
- Spain (AEMET, commercial w/license)
- Sweden (SMHI, TrafikVerket, commercial w/license)
- Taiwan (commercial w/license)
- UK (UK MetOffice, commercial w/license)
- USA (NOAA, DOTs, JPL, commercial)
As of June 2017, Foreca has integrated over a dozen different weather models into its system. To put it simply, Foreca seeks to provide the best possible forecasting output for a forecasting territory, whether an in-house model output or some 3rd party solution, including government services. The choice was made after thorough comparisons of data sources and constant sensing of latest offerings available in the field of meteorology. The data selection process is constant, and Foreca continuously adds new data sources, sometimes dropping old ones, if they no longer perform up to expectations.
Additional Sources
It is also possible to integrate sensor data from cars or winter maintenance trucks into the Foreca prediction system. Connected vehicle sensor data as an additional data source can be used for improving road weather forecasts or the real time situation accuracy.
Cars can be a good source for detecting local precipitation events and are especially valuable for detecting water on the road. Additionally, they can provide temperature information, especially in areas where road weather stations are scarce or their data is not available. Currently, there is no third-party car sensor data that would be available for all customers.
Though Foreca has the capacity and successful history of assimilating data from private stations, they are usually part of customised services and the standard global offering does not include them. Adding private weather stations to the service is subject to separate commercial and technical discussions.