Did you wonder how they did it so well?

Vancouver BC, CANADA — Vaisala’s weather observation systems supported forecasting at the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. While the world’s best athletes pushed themselves to the limits, somewhat less visible, but equally hard at work was a league of behind-the-scenes organizers, such as weather forecasters.

Reliable and timely weather information is a prerequisite for the success of any outdoor event, the Winter Olympics being no exception. Not just sports, but the safety and security of the entire event are affected by weather.

In order to support accurate forecasting for the Winter Games, Environment Canada, the Games’ official weather services provider, decided to expand its observational network in the area using several of Vaisala’s instruments.

The newly extended weather observation network consists of a host of measurement instruments, including ceilometers for cloud height detection and boundary layer characterization, visibility and current weather sensors, Doppler weather radars, and wind profilers.

Advanced meteorological sensors often used at airports were also deployed for remote locations, chosen for of their ability to provide rapid updates of high-impact weather events.

Several outdoor venues of the 2010 Winter Games were located along a u-shape valley north of Vancouver called the Sea-to-Sky Corridor. The complex terrain conditions found here are subject to high winds, reduced visibility and mixed-phase precipitation, creating significant challenges for weather forecasting.

The observation data from Environment Canada’s new network helped researchers within a program called Science and NOWcasting of Olympic Weather for Vancouver 2010 (SNOW-V10).

This program, operating under the World Meteorological Organization, focuses on delivering short-term forecasts or nowcasts (within 6 hours) of high-impact weather over the complex terrain.

Vaisala has provided weather observation systems for all Olympic Games since Sydney in 2000.

Now, after the Olympics, the newly installed equipment in the Vancouver area will be used as part of Canada’s national weather observation network.

About Vaisala
Vaisala is a global leader in environmental and industrial measurement. Building on more than 70 years of experience, Vaisala contributes to a better quality of life by providing a comprehensive range of innovative observation and measurement products and services for meteorology, weather critical operations and controlled environments. Headquartered in Finland, Vaisala employs over 1300 professionals worldwide and is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki.

For More information, visit:www.vaisala.com/weather/products/weatherinstruments.html or contact:

Martti Husu, Executive Vice President, Meteorology
Tel. +358 40 548 3423, martti.husu[at]vaisala.com