At Microsoft Research’s annual TechFest, researchers have introduced a tool that would allow retrieval of relevant climate information from the hundreds of data collected by various weather stations throughout the globe. The tool could prove to be invaluable to cruise liners and maritime shipping companies.
Named FetchClimate, this analytical tool is already available and is conveniently cloud-based, which means any necessary weather information can be easily retrieved using an internet-enabled device. Aside from enabling shipping crew to check the climate during voyage, this can also be used by importers and exporters who are concerned about the integrity of their cargo, particularly when the shipping liner in question is delayed.
In almost all aspects, FetchClimate functions similarly to Google’s search engine. Upon inquiry, FetchClimate will return climate information filtered according to geographical region, grid resolution (whether global, continental, or measured in kilometers), range of years, days within the year, and/or hours of the day. The tool also provides the estimated accuracy of the returned results when information on the same environment varies on multiple sources. The url of the search result can be easily shared so that others can retrieve identical information.
Not only is this tool a great help for voyaging ships, but it can also be used for maritime insurance disputes. When the weather during a particular maritime incident is in question, the analytical tool can be relied upon to return the most accurate climate information pertaining to the area where the incident took place, without maritime insurance agents needing to wade into hundreds of unrelated weather information.
This analytical tool would prove beneficial if made available to shipping lines in addition to other marine software solutions already available from marine software companies, and can also aid during voyage calculation to provide the accurate duration of a voyage.
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