Mirae Climate launches interactive 3D analyzer
Ryu Seong-hyun, right, CEO of Mirae Climate, poses with Won Wan-sik, manager of the company’s weather business team, at an international weather equipment trade show in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in July last year. / Courtesy of Mirae Climate
This is the third in a series of stories about Korean meteorological equipment makers seeking overseas expansion. ― ED.
By Park Si-soo
Mirae Climate has developed an interactive three-dimensional visualization system for large gridded meteorological data sets, with which experts can make more accurate weather forecasts.
The system, named KMet3D, displays horizontal and cross-sectional charts, flow charts of wind vectors and streamlines, and an iso-surface chart onto a spherical globe. Users can change colors of the layers, contours and other information on their own.
The system is available in Korean and English, and runs on Microsoft’s Windows. The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) has adopted the system.
“The KMet3D presents a more clear and visualized picture of what’s happening on earth,” CEO Ryu Seong-hyun told The Korea Times at his office in Geumcheon-gu, southwest of Seoul. “Still, many weather forecasters do their work based on two-dimensional pictures. This product will guide them into an innovative way of climate analysis.”
He said the KMet3D would also be useful in education, broadcasting and other non-weather industries where involved people feel the need to analyze weather changes and patterns on their own.
“The biggest advantage to our system, compared with rival products, lies in a simpler user interface,” he said. “Unlike rival products that require users to enter complicated instructions using keyboards, our product enables users to do everything they want with a mouse.”
The company will launch two types of the program ― a professional version for weather agencies and expert users and a “light” version for broadcasters, schools and other non-expert users. The KMet3D will be promoted at the Meteorological Technology World Expo in Belgium in October, according to the CEO.
“I think there will be high demand for the program in developing countries with outdated weather forecasting systems,” he said. Potential markets include Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Mongolia, Myanmar, Uzbekistan and Ethiopia, he said.
“Weather experts from these countries have been invited to the KMA and learned how to make accurate weather forecasts using our product. They will become our customers in the future,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mirae Climate has developed a pilot-only software that visualizes data from the World Area Forecast Center (WAFC) in London and Washington. The WAFC provides real-time meteorological information broadcasts for aviation purposes.
The program, which has yet to be named, can display all kinds of weather conditions, including turbulence, icing and cumulo-nimbus clouds that could affect a designated flying route.