Ignitia - Worlds' First Tropical Weather Forecasting Model

Weather forecasting has advanced a lot since the past decades. The highly precise satellites and other tools deployed worldwide have made the prediction very predictable and usable. But Tropical weather is very different from the Global weather. While the weather is predictable in areas far from the equator, the tropical areas have unpredictable behavior. Instead of temperature and pressure differences, the tropical temperature is more influenced by the "convective processes," which occur quickly and on a very small scale. Due to unpredictable weather, most of the farmers across the tropical region conceive big losses. Ignitia has invested 20 years in R& D to better predict the tropical climate and bring prosperity to the people.

Global vs. Tropical Forecasts

The tropical and equatorial weather is more dependent on the convective process, which is quick to occur and in very small areas. Thus it is harder to predict. Unlike the other parts of the world, the physics involved to describe a tropical atmosphere is very different from the low and high-pressure systems we see at mid-latitudes. Instead, tropical weather often has small spatial and temporal scales, which the mid-latitude models don't cover due to the more scarce equation solving grids and time periods. Besides that, cloud and humidity physics have to be very differently treated from traditional models.

For this reason, Ignitia has developed an advanced tropical numerical weather prediction system based on high-resolution and various physics & initialization methods. More than 20 years of R&D has been devoted to the core task of predicting convection in a tropical environment.

The build-up of technical and operational know-how, experience, and pattern recognition of regional weather, constitute a corner-stone in our ability to deliver a quality service. Current technical development helps them to provide even greater accuracy, new distribution channels, faster SMS deliveries & robust + flexible scale-up.

iskaWeather from Ignitia

Ignitia aims to provide hyper-local, highly-accurate weather forecasts for the tropics. IskaWeather is Ignitia's flagship product to provide a 48-hour forecast message, delivered daily via SMS, directly to the subscribers' phone. The forecasts also provide monthly and seasonal predictions and detail the weather's likelihood, timing, and intensity. However, the prediction of even a 7-days forecast is tough in a tropical climate.

The Global models of prediction offer only 39% accuracy, while the Ignitia's weather prediction is 84% accurate. Almost every user availing the service already never leaves the service. Only 3% of the subscribers choose to unsubscribe. Ignitia's IskaWeather is a low-cost tool, a few cents per day, which farmers can pay per day. This, in turn, gives good results over a long period of time. The text-based 48-hour weather forecast messages are simple so that most farmers with low literacy levels can understand. For farmers, keywords are easier to understand instead of icons. Therefore Iska uses seven simple keywords that can be recognized by farmers, making it driven design user-centric. Each message is customized to the farmer's location using GPS and can be delivered to any basic mobile phone via SMS. Ignitia is committed to providing the service is a socially responsible and ethical manner. Its mission is to empower intelligent decision making through highly accurate and affordable tropical weather forecasts. Ignitia's weather prediction service doesn't need any smartphone to work. As it is targeted towards the African countries, where most farmers use feature phones, the predictions are delivered via SMS. Ignitia is not an app but a tool.

Farmers have long been portrayed as unintelligent, which is untrue. Ignitia believes the Farmers have been long deprived of reliable information with which they can plan their crops ahead. Providing accurate weather prediction to the farmers, Ignitia believes they can make better-informed decisions that can boost their yields and bring economic prosperity. The predictions are in easy words, which every farmer can understand, and no prior training is required. The service charges just a few cents per day, which the farmers can easily pay via their phone credit. In most African countries, the phone-based credit and banking system is widespread, which doesn't require the internet. It uses USSD commands to subscribe and pay for the service. The service offers a high comprehension level with a simple text format refined for optimal understanding, even in low-literacy areas. 

"Ignitia is the world's first and most accurate tropical weather forecasting company. With over 84% reliability, Ignitia's proprietary forecasting model predicts tropical weather patterns down to a hyperlocal range. The forecasts are delivered to West African farmers via SMS in partnership with mobile network operators."