New features for weather forecasting tech

Weather forecasting tech provider Sencrop has launched three new features to UK subscribers.

The new features enable UK farmers and growers to benefit from more precise and reliable forecasting up to six days ahead, according to the company, with the launch coming at a time of increasingly extreme and unpredictable weather. 

The updates include:

• The forecast comparator: This pulls forecast data from all the main weather models that inform UK, regional, and local forecasts - including HRMN5, operated by the Met Office - into a single, easy-to-read graph. The user can compare all the forecast models by meteorological measurement including rainfall, temperature, humidity, and wind speed.
• Model ranking: This feature ranks all the forecasting models in order of reliability for each type of meteorological measurement. As it is based on Sencrop weather station data, the ranking is specific to each user and changes depending on location and time of year.
• Sencrop tailored forecasting: Taking it a step further, users can generate a tailored and evolving forecast for the chosen location using both the main weather models and their own and surrounding Sencrop weather stations. Essentially, this creates a ‘new model’ which continually evolves as weather stations record data for the location, providing access to the most reliable forecast on the market for that specific user and their chosen location.

“Weather forecasts are used to plan farm work and help producers to anticipate weather and disease risks, which informs their application of plant protection products and irrigation,” said Mark Herriman, UK B2B manager at Sencrop.

“It’s not uncommon for farmers to consult three or four different weather forecasts, which are all on different websites or phone apps, and that makes the difficult and often inaccurate interpretations even more difficult.”

Sencrop says the new features are “informed by field data from our network of over 35,000 weather stations, some 3,500 sited in the UK, and using machine learning, the software compares up to 40 different forecast models; making it possible to compare, score and determine the most accurate and reliable data for each Sencrop user, depending on their location and the time of year.”

The company stresses that the information is accessible and easy to interpret, with farmers able to use their smartphones to access ultra-precise, ultra-local weather information like temperature, humidity, wind speed, and cumulative rainfall on their sites, with the ability to generate information and forecasts that can better inform them.