FAQ
Common questions and answers.
What makes Unisphere different from a weather provider?
Unisphere creates a digital twin of your planned drone flight and thus determines the weather-related feasibility of the flight along the entire flight route, using high-resolution weather data.
Which parameters are considered with NOVA?
NOVA provides access to more than 20 weather parameters relevant to safe flight operations. The full list can be viewed in the application when selecting weather parameters for your operational limit sets. In addition to standard parameters such as wind, gusts, temperature or precipitation, we also offer more advanced parameters such as the CAPE index (indicator of instability and increasing probability of thunderstorms and hail).
How do I know the aircraft limit and performance set of my drone?
To determine your drone's flight envelope (aircraft limit set) and drone capabilities (performance set), refer to the drone's data sheet provided by the drone manufacturer. If you don't have the data sheet to hand, we recommend contacting the manufacturer directly for reliable information.
How do I change the units in which I see the weather evaluation?
To change the units for the weather evaluation, navigate to the settings in the NOVA Operations Platform and click on the 'Units' tab. Select the desired units, and they will automatically update in your missions and the Nowcasting section
What is the difference between a user and an administrator?
In NOVA, a user has regular access rights and can perform specific tasks assigned to them. An administrator has additional privileges inviting team members and managing user roles.
Can I use NOVA for any kind of aircraft?
NOVA focuses on the needs of drones. Since drones vary widely in design, the platform is designed to be agnostic, allowing it to be used in a variety of settings, from small multi-copters over large helicopter drones to eVTOLs. Therefore, with the proper setting aircraft types to support flight operations and types of aircraft to support flight operations and flight testing.
Who is responsible if something happens despite a positive weather forecast?
Current regulations require pilots to check weather conditions before take-off and decide whether a flight is possible. The NOVA platform's automated evaluation of weather conditions assists pilots in this safety-critical task by automatically evaluating weather parameters and limits relevant to the flight - providing a clear decision basis for the pilot in charge of the take-off decision.
How often is the weather data updated?
Generally, the global weather models are updated four times a day (every 6h). Our forecast data is using always the most recent data. For the radar data and the observation, the data is updated every 5 minutes, ensuring you have access to the most current information.
What is the best browser to use for NOVA?
NOVA is compatible with Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge, and all Chromium-based browsers.
How does NOVA differ from conventional weather forecasts?
The NOVA Operations Platform is more than just a weather app. NOVA combines best-in-class weather data with Unisphere's digital co-pilot technology, which uses simulation technology to automatically assess the impact of weather on a drone flight and ensure the flight is within the drone operator's operational concept. So, while weather is a critical part of NOVA, it is enhanced by several other features to increase the automation and safety of drone flight operations.
What are “assets” in the NOVA pricing bundle logic?
Using NOVA, you can create a digital twin of your flight operations. This allows you to define the aircraft capabilities and limitations, as well as various operational limits, that form the baseline for reliable automation of your flight operations. The term ‘assets' refers to the different elements you can define within the platform, namely (a) aircraft types, (b) performance sets, (c) aircraft limit sets and (d) operational limit sets.
What is the perfect weather for drone operations?
The perfect weather for drone operations depends on the performance set of your specific drone type. In general, it is ideal to have calm winds, avoiding strong wind gusts as drone operations typically require stable flight conditions. The absence of shadows, which means a certain cloud ceiling, may be important for certain use cases. For monitoring solar parks, strong sunshine may be desirable.
How do I report a bug?
We greatly appreciate your feedback to improve your experience. To report a bug, simply contact us, and our team will address it promptly.
Is it possible to see the weather data in local time?
Currently, in NOVA cast the weather data are only available in UTC, whereas NOVA aware offers the possibility to change to local time zones.
How does NOVA cast and NOVA aware differ?
With NOVA cast you receive an automatic evaluation of flight windows based on highly accurate weather data up to one week in advance for your drone flight planning. NOVA Aware creates Situational Awareness for operational conditions for the current and upcoming day by combining high-resolution weather models and weather observations incl. METAR/TAF.
Do I have a guarantee that I will be able to fly at the times indicated?
We cannot guarantee that a drone flight will be possible at the times indicated in our weather forecast. The pilot must always check and decide on the flight conditions before taking off the flight.
Can I try NOVA for free?
We offer a 30-day free trial period for both of our drone flight planning software NOVA cast and NOVA aware.
Can I select any number of parameters for a mission forecast?
You can select as many parameters as you need from the list of possible parameters for your mission forecast.
Can I get weather forecasts more than a week in advance?
Sufficient accurate weather data can be predicted up to a maximum of one week in advance.
Can I buy NOVA cast and NOVA aware as a bundle?
With NOVA you can use the functions of NOVA cast and NOVA aware.
How can I add users to my organization in NOVA?
Go to the "ORGANIZATION" tab in your account. Click the button to the right of the user search bar. Enter the email address of the person you would like to add and assign a role. By pressing "SEND INVITE" an invitation will be sent to the email. By accepting the invitation, the user joins the organization.
Which roles can be assigned to a user, and what do they mean?
Pilot: Can edit, create, and delete everything (assets and missions) and manages the company account.
Guest: Can edit, create, and delete assets and missions.
Administrator: Can create missions, but only with the assets created by the Flight Ops Manager.
Flight Ops Manager: Can only view missions.
How can I create exclusively vertical flights?
When creating a route mission, you can simulate vertical flight paths by placing two or more waypoints at identical coordinates with varying altitudes. Read more about it under "Create a new mission."
How can I create return flights? Do I need to create them separately?
A separate mission must be created for return flights. When setting up the return flight, you can use the SWAP function to switch the start and end points of the outbound flight route. Read more about creating missions under "Create your mission."
Is the weather data available worldwide?
Yes, our weather data is available on a global scale. Depending on the region you are operating in, the most accurate model is automatically selected, so you do not have to worry about which weather model to choose when flying your drones in different areas of the world.
Which weather models are used for the forecasts?
We employ a mixed model approach, utilizing the most accurate weather models available for each location. Some of the models we use include ECMWF-IFS, NCEP-GFS, UKMO-EURO4, DWD-ICON-EU, MF-AROME, MM-SWISS1k, and CMC-GEM.
What makes your services more accurate than others?
We have partnered with leading weather providers that utilize high-resolution weather models combined with downscaling techniques to achieve improved forecast accuracy. This downscaling considers local weather variables, enhancing the precision of our predictions.
Why can weather observations be different from the forecast?
Weather is inherently difficult to predict with absolute accuracy due to its dynamic nature and various influencing factors. In certain situations, the forecast data may differ from what you experience, particularly when we have volatile weather situations or when operating in challenging environments, such as urban areas with tall buildings.
How accurate is the resolution of the weather data?
Our weather data can achieve resolutions down to 90 meters. However, please note that the resolution may vary depending on the region and available weather model.
Is weather data available at my aircraft's altitude?
Our services provide weather information from the ground up to 20,000 meters (65,000 ft), encompassing the altitudes relevant to drone applications.
Do you use weather data from weather stations?
In the Nowcasting section, you can access the METAR and TAF data from the three closest airports to your mission location. These data sets are evaluated by meteorologists and include weather station observations from the specific airport.
Do you use hyperlocal weather data?
We do not use hyperlocal weather data. The reason for this is that these technologies are still quite immature, which means that they may work perfectly well in one area, but not in another. As we want to provide you with reliable weather data in all areas in which you operate, we have decided not to include hyperlocal modeling in NOVA for the time being. Instead, we recommend that you use a higher threshold to ensure safety during flight operations. When this new technology is ready, we will be happy to offer it to you through our NOVA platform.
Does your weather model consider obstacles?
Our weather model considers larger-scale terrain contours, such as mountains, but does not account for smaller obstacles like buildings or vegetation.
Does a CMF simulation adjust to changed weather conditions after it has been created?
CMF does not update automatically. It will retrieve the most current weather data available at the time of the request.
Is a CMF simulation limited to the take off time given during creation? What is the difference to CMM?
CMF is designed to be triggered just before the flight as part of the preflight check. The data is valid for ±5 minutes, as it is updated during this timeframe, and it is most accurate around the specific simulation time. The response time of CMF for a single flight is under 30 seconds, so it is recommended to trigger CMF just before the flight.
CMM, on the other hand, is helpful for strategically scheduling flights up to 1-2 hours before takeoff, providing hourly granularity.
CMF does also not prevent you from requesting a check in advance, such as several days prior, giving integrators the flexibility to work with their individual timelines or potentially create their own CMM for more precise scheduling.
If you encountered any issues or need additional help, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at support@unisphere.de.
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