Vaisala Corporate Responsibility Report 2011

Highlights of 2011
The global financial downturn affected our
governmental customers’ investment capabilities
in 2011. The beginning of the year was slow, but
demand increased during the second half of the year
especially in the Weather business area and resulted
in a significant increase in the order intake and
in sales. We had no new acquisitions in 2011, but
continued integrating our previous acquisitions into
the Group and also entered new markets with our
Life Science offering.
In March, Vaisala introduced a new aviation
weather system that has been developed specifically
for the needs of small airports and helipads.
Designed to be efficient yet affordable, the system
improves flight safety at smaller, unclassified
airports by providing continuous, real-time ICAOcompliant
weather observations to pilots and
airport operators.
In May, we introduced a unique online solution for
monitoring sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) insulation gas
in high voltage equipment. The instrument monitors
seven different parameters at once and removes
the need for sampling, thus ensuring that no SF6,
a powerful greenhouse gas, is released into the
atmosphere.
Vaisala's new Head Office building on the Helsinki
Campus was certified in accordance with the Golden
LEED standard, a highly regarded achievement for
green buildings. The facilities scored especially well
in energy use and HVAC optimization. The building
incorporates Vaisala’s own building automation
technology, which improves energy efficiency and
ensures comfortable indoor air. It also applies
weather measurements in order to adjust the
systems to take account of prevailing weather
conditions.
We introduced new technology for improving
early detection of explosive volcanic ash cloud
eruptions. By tracking lightning storms inside these
eruptions with Vaisala’s global lightning detection
network GLD360, scientists and aviation authorities
are able to detect explosive volcanic eruptions as
soon as they occur, improving the safety of travelers
and reducing losses from unplanned flight delays
and cancellations.
Vaisala’s RS92 radiosonde came top in the
8th World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
Intercomparison of Radiosonde Systems. The WMO
Intercomparison is organized every 4-5 years. It is a
four-week continuous sounding campaign designed
to be an objective assessment of the qualities and
performance of different radiosonde systems. The
RS92 performed very well in both temperature and
humidity measurements, being highly consistent
and maintaining its level of performance in
demanding conditions as well. The results were
announced in May.
The Vaisala WTS Wind Measurement System was
introduced to the renewable energy markets midyear.
This efficient measurement system provides
decision support for optimal locationing of wind
farms. It allows customers to accurately understand
and manage the impact that weather has on their
wind farms' operations and business, and as a result
make better decisions.
The 2011 Finnish Engineering Award was won
by Vaisala’s weather radar team. The award
was presented for developing and productizing
Vaisala’s dual polarization Doppler weather radar.
Development took place during 2002-08, and the new
radar was launched in 2007. Since then, orders have
been received from 13 different countries.
In September, we announced a new online
calculator that helps cities and counties to gauge
potential cost savings and accident reductions
in their roads network. The service asks 12
questions about road maintenance operations to
determine what the potential benefits could be of
using a decision support system for the network.
The calculator uses embedded algorithms to
produce calculated savings based on referenced
study findings. The calculator won the “Best New
Products Top Rollouts” award from Better Roads
magazine in December.
Vaisala was chosen as Finland’s Most Responsible
Summer Job Employer, together with Särkänniemi
Adventure Park and the building systems and
construction company YIT. The winners were chosen
from over 70 organizations participating in the
Responsible Summer Job 2011 campaign organized
by the Finnish Children and Youth Foundation and
Alma Media.
In October 2011, Vaisala’s two weather-related
business areas were combined into one. The former
Meteorology and Weather Critical Operations
business areas are now called Weather. The market
segments in Weather are Meteorology, Airports,
Roads and Rail, Defense, and New Weather Markets.
At the end of the year our Controlled Environment
industrial business area revised its market segments
too, and these are now Life Science, and Targeted
Industrial Applications.
10 Vaisala Oyj Corporate Responsibility Report 2011