(Artist conception of Meteostat Third Generation satellite system. Source: EUMETSTAT.)

Previsico, a London-based InsurTech providing real-time, street-level surface water flood forecasts to mitigate flood impacts globally, has announced that it will connect with the new Meteosat Third Generation satellite system, launched by European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT),  which the vendor describes as revolutionary for its capacity for rapid detection and nowcasting of severe weather events. Previsico says this will allow it to deliver more accurate and timely flood warnings to provide insurers and property owners with more time to mitigate flood impacts.

Previsico cites the Royal Meteorological Society’s observations on the degree to which the U.K. is undergoing disruptive climate change, which the vendor says is driving an expected five-fold increase in the frequency and magnitude of flash floods by the 2080s. This means flood losses are expected to increase tenfold to $1 trillion by 2050, according to the WRI, making it increasingly challenging for insurers to provide affordable cover.

The vendor says the challenge with existing weather forecasting technologies is that every storm is different, with hourly changes in weather patterns making them difficult to predict. The new Meteosat Third Generation system will provide 50 times more data than existing Meteosat satellites, once fully operational, greatly increasing the accuracy of future nowcasts, according to Previsico.

“The cost of flooding to the global economy is significant, well-known, and forecast to increase greatly in the future due to increasingly volatile weather caused by global warming,” comments Jonathan Jackson, CEO, Previsico. “Yet many of these flood impacts are entirely avoidable with the right technology in place. The data from Meteosat will enable Previsico to take our already world-leading service to the next level.”

This first satellite of the new system, launched on 13 December, will help meteorologists meet one of their main challenges—the rapid detection and forecasting of severe weather events—so that more timely and accurate warnings can be given, according to Previsico. The system will ultimately consist of three satellites in geostationary orbit, 36,000km above the African equator. They will provide images of Europe every 2.5 minutes, including the first observations of lightning from space.

Previsico says its next generation live flood forecasting solution brings together the latest weather data from the Met Office, IoT devices on the ground, and its advanced flood modelling capabilities address the increasing global issue of surface water flooding for insurers such as Zurich, Liberty and Generali, the public sector, and major corporate clients and SMEs.

Previsico and Geosite Partner on Flood Impact Prediction and Prevention