Climate market has huge potential

By Kim Yong-gyoo

Precise prediction of weather and climate on the basis of accurate measurements is becoming a more significant issue than ever before as climate changes strikingly due to global warming.

About 80 percent of the world economy is known to be affected by climate directly or indirectly. Especially, sales of climate-sensitive industries in Korea take 52 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) which is higher than the 42 percent in the United States.

Therefore, dealing with climate change properly is important for the Korean economy. Weather and climate-related industry in Korea has been drastically growing since the Weather Industry Promotion Act was implemented in 2009, and had a 400 billion won market size in 2013.

However, the number is still small compared to the world market. The world biggest meteorological equipment manufacturer, Vaisala Oyj in Finland, reported that its sales in 2013 were about 270 million euro, which is tantamount to the total sales of Korean meteorological industries in that year.

The meteorological equipment business is rapidly growing as a blue ocean due to the progress in satellite, radar and monitoring technologies that are based on state-of-the-art measurement science and technology. The world market of meteorological industry is projected to be $23 billion in 2020 and thus preemptive efforts to increase market share are necessary.

Although the Korean government supports development of cutting-edge equipment and domestication research, notable outcomes have not been obtained yet. In 2013, the total research budget in this area reached about 100 billion won. Most research was devoted to the weather and climate science, and also to the analysis and prediction of natural disasters.

However, there were few developments in meteorological instruments and measurement systems. High priced equipment such as Raman lidars, microwave radiometers and visibility meters are still dependent on importation. In particular, visibility meters that are used not only for meteorology but also for agricultural, forestry, and aviation industries are imported from a foreign company.

In 2010, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) signed a Mutual Recognition of Arrangement (MRA) with the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM), under which all meteorological results should be traceable to international measurements standards. Measurement equipments should be calibrated and verified through reference standards to prove that all measured results are correct and validated. Also measurement protocols and procedures should be prepared in forms of documents according to the guideline of international standards such as ISO/IEC 17025 and ISO Guide 34.

These quality control works are now emerging as a fresh business in weather and climate market. Therefore, demands for the reference standards or certified reference materials (CRMs) are expected to be increased. Moreover, establishment of national quality control systems will be another class of huge business.

In order to raise the share in the world meteorological market which is rising as a new blue ocean, cooperative action between industry and academia and support from the Korean government is a key.

Research projects that proceed independently can be turned into multidisciplinary cooperative research focusing on increasing the international competitiveness of Korean meteorological industry. Hopefully, a hidden champion comes out in the meteorological industry from the convergence of nano- and information-technologies, the greatest strength of Korea.

Also, well-prepared quality management systems by the Korea Laboratory Accreditation System (KOLAS) and well-established measurement standards by Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) may help weather and climate-related societies in Korea to establish the traceability chain to the international standards. On the basis of this traceability chain, everyone can trust meteorological measurements everywhere.

As champions are made through patience and effort, the Korean meteorological industry can bloom through continuous support from the government and the efforts of manufacturers.

The writer is a principal researcher at Korea research Institute of Standards and Science’s center for thermometry, division of physical metrology.