Vaisala
Finnish manufacturer and provider of measurement instruments, systems, and data services for weather, environmental, and industrial applications.
Last updated October 27, 2026
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Overview
Vaisala is a Finnish measurement-technology company whose products and services are used to observe weather, environmental conditions, and industrial processes. Its customer base includes national meteorological and hydrological services, aviation authorities, airports, road and rail agencies, defense organizations, renewable-energy companies, life-science manufacturers, semiconductor and electronics businesses, power utilities, maritime operators, and building-automation customers. The company traces its origins to Professor Vilho Väisälä's work on radiosondes. Väisälä sent Finland's first radiosonde into the atmosphere in 1931 and continued developing the technology until commercial deliveries began in 1936. The early business was international from the outset, with most production exported. In 1944, Väisälä established Mittari Oy to manufacture radiosonde systems. The company adopted the Vaisala name in 1955. Vaisala initially concentrated on upper-air observation, but expanded into humidity, temperature, pressure, wind, carbon dioxide, dew point, oxygen, moisture-in-oil, and optical weather measurement. It also developed complete systems for surface weather observation, aviation, road transportation, hydrology, lightning detection, weather radar, wind profiling, and atmospheric research. Its industrial portfolio serves demanding environments in which measurement accuracy, calibration, reliability, and long-term instrument stability are important. The company has grown through both internal research and acquisitions. Notable areas of expansion have included aviation weather, traffic weather, lightning detection, remote sensing, renewable-energy assessment, industrial process measurement, computer vision, and weather-data services. Vaisala's technology has also been used in space-related missions, including sensors incorporated into planetary exploration hardware. Vaisala's business is organized around Weather and Environment, Industrial Measurements, and Xweather. Weather and Environment covers meteorology, aviation, ground transportation, renewable energy, and ambient-air quality. Industrial Measurements supplies instruments and systems for pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical-device, power, maritime, automotive, semiconductor, electronics, and building-automation applications. Xweather provides subscription-based weather and environmental data products, forecasts, observations, and software-oriented services for sectors such as energy, finance, insurance, and transportation. The company remains headquartered in Vantaa and operates internationally through offices, manufacturing, sales, and service organizations in Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East. Vaisala Oyj is listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. The brand is positioned as a high-end specialist in scientifically grounded measurement, combining sensors and instruments with observation networks, analytics, forecasting, and application-specific services.
History
Vaisala's history began with Vilho Väisälä's work in atmospheric sounding. After sending Finland's first radiosonde aloft in December 1931, Väisälä refined the instruments and their supporting ground equipment. Commercial deliveries began in 1936 with the RS11 radiosonde. The early products gained international attention, including recognition at the 1937 Paris World Fair, and the company exported most of its production from the beginning. In 1944, Väisälä founded Mittari Oy and established manufacturing operations for radiosonde systems. The early system combined a radiosonde receiver, calibration equipment, and a ground-check set. The company survived the disruption caused by the Winter War, the Continuation War, and the broader effects of the Second World War, then expanded during Finland's post-war industrial recovery. Its name changed from Mittari to Vaisala in 1955, and manufacturing was moved to a modern facility in the Vantaa area in the mid-1950s. During the 1950s and 1960s, Vaisala transformed its sounding equipment from largely electromechanical designs into electronic systems. It introduced automatic receiving equipment, the transistorized RS13 radiosonde, and a weather-satellite image receiver. The company also broadened its technology base beyond upper-air observation. After Väisälä died in 1969, Yrjö Toivola succeeded him as managing director. The 1970s and 1980s brought major sensor and application developments. Vaisala developed thin-film technology for HUMICAP relative-humidity sensors and launched automatic sounding, surface-weather, road-weather, and aviation-weather systems. It established international offices in markets including the United Kingdom, Japan, the United States, Germany, and Australia, and acquired a British traffic-weather business. The company built a cleanroom for in-house semiconductor work and introduced BAROCAP barometric-pressure technology. The RS80 radiosonde family, GPS-enhanced wind measurement, and ozone-research configurations strengthened its role in atmospheric science. The Professor Vilho Väisälä Award was also established with the World Meteorological Organization. In the 1990s, Vaisala continued expanding into complete observation systems and specialized measurement technologies. Pekka Ketonen became chief executive in 1992, and the company was listed on the Helsinki Exchanges in 1994. Developments during this period included GPS-based upper-air wind measurement, CARBOCAP carbon-dioxide sensors, and DRYCAP industrial dew-point technology. Acquisitions in the United States and Europe expanded the company's presence in aviation weather, surface weather, wind profiling, and related fields. Vaisala also sold its automotive-sensor subsidiary, Vaisala Technologies, in 1995. The first decade of the 2000s was marked by acquisitions in lightning detection, aviation, transportation, wind profiling, and meteorological systems. Vaisala consolidated U.S. manufacturing in Boulder, Colorado, introduced the RS92 radiosonde family, and launched a multi-parameter weather transmitter. Ketonen retired in 2006 and was succeeded by Kjell Forsén. Further acquisitions added aviation-system maintenance, traffic-weather technology, environmental monitoring, and industrial measurement capabilities. During the 2010s, Vaisala expanded into remote sensing, renewable-energy assessment, industrial monitoring, computer vision, artificial intelligence, in-line liquid measurement, and professional weather services. It acquired Veriteq Instruments, Second Wind Systems, 3TIER, Vionice, Leosphere, and K-Patents, and announced the purchase of professional business-to-business weather services from Foreca. The RS41 radiosonde, introduced in 2014, incorporated design and preparation improvements, including a simpler launch workflow and enhanced humidity calibration. Vaisala's more recent strategy has combined measurement hardware with digital data and software services. The company acquired AerisWeather in 2022 and launched Xweather as a platform for weather and environmental observations, forecasts, and subscription services. Subsequent transactions expanded its offshore-energy, climate-risk, and weather-data activities. Vaisala now operates across Weather and Environment, Industrial Measurements, and Xweather, serving scientific, public-sector, infrastructure, industrial, and data-intensive commercial customers worldwide.
- 2022
Xweather launched
[1]Vaisala introduced Xweather to provide observation, forecast, and environmental-data services to businesses and developers.
- 2014
RS41 radiosonde introduced
[1]The RS41 introduced smaller hardware, simplified launch preparation, and improved humidity-sensor calibration.
- 2003
RS92 radiosonde family introduced
[1]Vaisala launched the RS92 family as a new generation of upper-air sounding products.
- 1994
Vaisala lists on the Helsinki Exchanges
[1]Vaisala became a publicly listed company in Helsinki.
- 1981
RS80 radiosonde family introduced
[1]The RS80 family extended Vaisala's upper-air product line and used a long-storage-life wet-battery design.
- 1965
RS13 transistorized radiosonde introduced
[1]Vaisala introduced what was described as the world's first fully transistorized radiosonde.
- 1955
Company adopts the Vaisala name
[1]Mittari Oy changed its name to Vaisala.
- 1944
Mittari Oy is established
[1]Vilho Väisälä established Mittari Oy to manufacture radiosonde systems.
- 1937
Radiosonde receives Paris World Fair recognition
[1]Vaisala's radiosonde received a gold medal at the World Fair in Paris.
- 1936
Commercial radiosonde deliveries begin
[1]The RS11 became the first commercially delivered Vaisala radiosonde product.
Products and positioning
High-precision professional measurement and environmental-intelligence provider for weather-critical, regulated, scientific, and industrial applications.
Upper-air meteorological measurement · 1936
Radiosondes and sounding systems
Vaisala radiosondes are expendable sensor packages carried aloft by balloons to measure atmospheric variables such as temperature, humidity, pressure, and wind-related positioning data. The product family includes the RS11, RS13, RS80, RS92, and RS41 generations, together with receivers, calibration equipment, ground-check devices, and launch-support systems.
Humidity measurement
HUMICAP
HUMICAP is Vaisala's capacitive relative-humidity sensing technology. It is used in probes, transmitters, weather instruments, and industrial monitoring equipment where stable humidity measurement, calibration capability, and resistance to demanding operating conditions are required.
Barometric pressure measurement
BAROCAP
BAROCAP is Vaisala's barometric-pressure sensor technology. It supports pressure measurement in weather observation, aviation, environmental monitoring, and other applications that require dependable atmospheric-pressure data.
Carbon dioxide and gas measurement
CARBOCAP
CARBOCAP is a sensor technology used for carbon-dioxide and selected gas measurements. Vaisala applies it in indoor-air-quality, building-automation, environmental, and industrial instruments.
Industrial dew-point measurement
DRYCAP
DRYCAP is Vaisala's technology for industrial dew-point measurement. It is used to monitor moisture in compressed air, gases, drying processes, power equipment, and other applications where low-moisture conditions affect product quality or system reliability.
Weather observation systems
Surface, aviation, and road-weather systems
These systems combine sensors, communications, software, and data services for observing conditions at airports, roads, railways, and other infrastructure. Applications include runway visibility and present-weather monitoring, road-surface condition assessment, automated weather stations, and decision support for weather-sensitive operations.
Wind measurement
Wind and remote-sensing systems
Vaisala supplies wind profilers, lidar, and SODAR-based systems for meteorology, aviation, wind-energy assessment, and atmospheric research. These products help characterize wind conditions above the surface and support renewable-energy planning and operational forecasting.
Weather and environmental data services · 2022
Xweather
Xweather is Vaisala's digital-services platform for weather and environmental observations, forecasts, road-condition information, and related data products. It is designed for commercial users and developers that integrate environmental intelligence into operational systems, applications, and analytical workflows.
Marketing campaigns
- 1970Professor Vilho Väisälä Award
International meteorological community
Vaisala established an award in cooperation with the World Meteorological Organization to encourage research involving meteorological observation methods and instruments.
Outcome. The award became a continuing contribution to international meteorological research recognition.
- 1959Vaisala News
Global
Vaisala began publishing Vaisala News as a channel for communicating developments in meteorological observation and measurement technology.
Outcome. The publication supported technical communication with the company's international customer and research communities.
Brand decisions
2022
Launch of XweatherProduct launchBackground
Vaisala was extending from measurement hardware into recurring digital data and software services.
Action taken
The company launched Xweather to combine environmental observations, forecasts, and data products for business and developer use.
Aftermath
Xweather became one of Vaisala's main platforms for subscription-based weather and environmental services.
2014
Launch of the RS41 radiosonde generationGeneration changeBackground
Vaisala sought to improve the usability and measurement performance of its upper-air sounding equipment.
Action taken
The company introduced the RS41 with smaller hardware, simplified launch preparation, and enhanced humidity-sensor preparation and calibration.
Aftermath
RS41 became a principal current-generation radiosonde platform in Vaisala's upper-air portfolio.
1994
Public listing in HelsinkiStrategyBackground
Vaisala had expanded beyond its original radiosonde business into several measurement and weather-system categories.
Action taken
The parent company listed its shares on the Helsinki Exchanges.
Aftermath
The listing supported Vaisala's development as an internationally operating public technology company.
Recent events
Vaisala reports January–September 2026 results[3]
Reported:
Vaisala Corporation’s interim report for January–September 2026 was reported under the headline “Excellent quarter with record-high profitability and orders received.”
Vaisala raises its 2021 business outlook[4]
Reported:
Vaisala raised its 2021 net sales estimate to EUR 400–420 million and its operating result estimate to EUR 40–50 million.
Vaisala appoints Timo Leskinen as EVP of Human Resources[5]
Reported:
Vaisala announced that Timo Leskinen had been appointed Executive Vice President of Human Resources. He was scheduled to start in the role on October 1, 2021.
Vaisala announces AQT530 air quality monitoring solution[6]
Reported:
Vaisala announced the availability of its air quality sensor and monitoring solution, including the AQT530 sensor.
Sources6 sources
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