BURLINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Current space-based methods of measuring hurricane intensities have large errors and have not significantly improved for decades. This has created a lack of trust in the “official” weather predictions among the millions of people worldwide affected by catastrophic storms. As a consequence, hurricane predictions and warnings often result in complacency and inadequate response or cause unnecessary overreactions.

To address this critical problem, a team of MIT atmospheric scientists and aerospace executives has formed Tropical Weather Analytics, Inc. (TWAI) to provide the most accurate worldwide measurements and forecasts of hurricanes (also called tropical cyclones).

TWAI is applying unique space-based data acquisition technologies and analytic tools to deliver proprietary higher-accuracy insight into tropical cyclones intensities and tracks. This will have enormous impact on reduction of loss of life and property caused by these catastrophic storms.

TWAI plans to provide this proprietary storm data to industrial partners, financial institutions and world governments.

TWAI’s constellation of microsatellites with onboard sensors is called the Tropical Cyclone Intensity Measurement System (TCIMS). Once TCIMS is deployed, TWAI will provide hurricane measurements that are up to twice as accurate and four times more frequently than today’s satellite-based approaches. TWAI’s accuracy has been empirically demonstrated to result in major improvement in damage predictions. TWAI’s technology is complementary to NOAA’s hurricane hunter aircraft and will bring the same level of measurement accuracy, so effectively demonstrated with Hurricane Matthew, to the rest of the world.

TWAI is pleased to announce that the Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University (JHU/APL) has agreed to partner with TWAI for system engineering of TCIMS. JHU/APL has been the prime contractor on many upper-atmospheric and space programs, including NASA’s highly successful “New Horizons” mission to explore Pluto and has played a central role in numerous projects using low-cost microsatellites.

A.T. Stair, Founder/CEO of TWAI and the Chief Scientist of many space programs, along with Paul Joss, Founder/CTO of TWAI and Professor Emeritus of Physics/MIT, and their team have established new methods that TWAI will use to measure key properties of tropical cyclones from space. To quote Professor Joss, “At TWAI, we are implementing major innovations in atmospheric science. We will be the first to bring the theory of the fundamental thermodynamics of tropical cyclones into the realm of practical measurements of these powerful storms. In doing so, we will carry tropical cyclone measurements to a level heretofore impossible with space-based imaging techniques.” George Lauro, Executive Chairman of TWAI’s Board, former Partner at Wasserstein Perella and a veteran technology VC investor, states, “I am excited to be working with this team of leading atmospheric scientists and space engineers on an initiative of such positive societal impact. I look forward to helping the team build TWAI into a high-value commercial enterprise.”

Once fully operational, TWAI will provide other proprietary data including 3D, wide-field, high-resolution maps of clouds and “cloud streets” and worldwide selectable sea surface (and land) thermal maps with better than 50 meter resolution and ~3ºC temperature accuracy.

With Headquarters in Burlington, Massachusetts, TWAI is seeking corporate and industrial partnerships. If you would like to learn more about TWAI and/or would like to explore commercial partnerships, please contact:

George Lauro, Executive Chairman, Board of Directors, Tropical Weather Analytics

George.lauro@tropicalweatheranalytics.com