🇫🇮 Skyfora and New York State Mesonet launch collaboration to advance next-generation precipitation nowcasting across the New York City region
September 15, 2026
The joint initiative combines Skyfora’s GNSS meteorology technology with the New York State Mesonet’s operational observing network, infrastructure and scientific expertise to establish one of the world’s densest urban networks for continuous atmospheric water vapor monitoring. More than 20 stations are currently streaming data. By capturing rapid changes in atmospheric moisture every few minutes, the project aims to improve understanding of how heavy rainfall develops and strengthen next-generation weather forecasting, AI nowcasting and flood resilience.
Extreme rainfall and flash flooding remain among the greatest weather-related risks facing major metropolitan areas. Atmospheric water vapor is the fuel for precipitation, and changes in its distribution often provide valuable early signals before intense rainfall reaches the ground. The collaboration will investigate how high-resolution GNSS-derived water vapor observations can complement conventional weather observations to provide earlier and more accurate situational awareness for forecasters, emergency managers and critical infrastructure operators.
Through the collaboration, Skyfora provides the StreamGNSS hardware and atmospheric processing platform, while the New York State Mesonet contributes installation sites, operational infrastructure, deployment, maintenance and complementary surface meteorological observations. Together, the partners will evaluate the performance of the observations and engage researchers and future operational users to demonstrate their value.
“Our mission as a public research university is to advance science and technology while serving New Yorkers,” said June Wang, director of the New York State Mesonet and recognized expert in hydrological applications of this technology. “This pilot project will allow us to test whether Skyfora’s technology provides significant advantages over other water vapor measurements and can help us give emergency managers the best available information on the risks to the public.”
Skyfora’s technology transforms existing GNSS infrastructure, like telecom cell towers, into a distributed atmospheric sensing network capable of producing continuous observations of precipitable water vapor in near real time. The technology complements traditional weather observing systems by significantly increasing observation density in the atmospheric boundary layer, where many rapidly developing weather events originate.
“The New York State Mesonet is internationally recognized as one of the world’s leading environmental observing networks, making it an ideal partner for demonstrating the value of dense GNSS atmospheric observations,” said Jostein Mælan, Chief Commercial Officer at Skyfora. “Together we are exploring how real-time humidity observations can enable earlier and more accurate precipitation nowcasts, helping communities, emergency managers and critical infrastructure operators gain valuable time ahead of flooding and other high-impact weather. We also believe this collaboration can help shape the next generation of AI-powered weather forecasting and contribute to future National Mesonet capabilities across the United States.”
As the pilot progresses, the partners expect to evaluate applications including:
- 0-6 hour precipitation nowcasting
- Operational usage of dense GNSS-signal delay observations
- Flash-flood early warning and urban flood monitoring
- Severe thunderstorm/hailstorm development
- AI-assisted weather forecasting and rapid forecast updates
- Weather intelligence for critical infrastructure such as Electric Utilities, Telcom infra and Urban Hubs
- Future National Mesonet capabilities
The collaboration provides an opportunity to demonstrate how dense GNSS atmospheric observations can complement existing national weather observing systems and support the evolution of future operational environmental monitoring networks.
About Skyfora
Skyfora, a company dedicated to pushing the boundaries of meteorological innovation, transforms the future of meteorology with unique, high-resolution weather data. Skyfora’s patented solutions extract atmospheric data from GNSS receivers in existing infrastructures like telecom networks, unlocking previously untapped data sources to power the next generation of AI weather models. By delivering a continuous flow of high-resolution weather intelligence, Skyfora boosts AI forecasts enhancing climate resilience and supporting critical decision-making across weather-sensitive industries. With a clear focus on data, Skyfora is redefining what’s possible in weather forecasting on a global scale.
About the New York State Mesonet
The New York State Mesonet, operated by the University at Albany, is one of the nation’s leading environmental monitoring networks, providing high-quality atmospheric observations that support weather forecasting, research and public safety across New York State.
Originally published on September 15, 2026 by Skyfora.
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