Montreal Space Symposium

There is a need to improve energy distribution and usage to become a more sustainable civilization. Energy providers depend heavily on accurate weather forecasting in order to determine supply and demand requirements.  Understanding human interaction with power is a crucial element for analyzing demand. On the supply side, the renewable energy sector is particularly vulnerable to the inaccuracies of weathering forecasting predictions. In order to move towards a more sustainable energy sector, weather prediction must be more accurate.  
In the International Space University, a team of space professionals has analyzed the market to understand the need of more accurate weather predictions, specifically in the renewable energy sector, and how the use of weather forecasting can be optimized and improved to serve the needs of the energy sector.  Most current weather forecasting data is obtained using observations made by satellites, providing a possible solution to supply/demand problems. In weather forecasting, a large number of satellites have a sustained competitive advantage over fewer satellites, based on the current demand by energy providers for high spectral and temporal resolutions in small local areas. Therefore, using small sats to collect accurate weather parameters for specific industries heavily reliant on weather forecasts would appear to be a viable solution.