Instituto Portugues do Mar e da Atmosfera

What Instituto Portugues do Mar e da Atmosfera does

Instituto Portugues do Mar e da Atmosfera (IPMA) is Portugal's national public institute for meteorology, climatology, geophysics, and marine and fisheries affairs, operating under the Ministério da Agricultura e Mar and headquartered in Lisbon. The institute was established in 2009 through the merger of the former Instituto de Meteorologia and the fisheries research units of INIAP, consolidating national authority over weather forecasting, climate monitoring, seismic surveillance, and fisheries science. IPMA serves the Portuguese state, citizens, and a defined set of operational sectors — aviation (TAF/METAR and self-briefing), maritime (navigation and coastal forecasts), civil protection (seismic alerts), agriculture (agrometeorological bulletins), and the shellfish industry (biotoxin monitoring).

The institute's technology base comprises an integrated national observation network spanning seismic stations, weather radar, lightning detection, surface and upper-air stations, MSG satellite reception, and oceanographic measurement systems, feeding numerical weather prediction outputs, ShakeMap seismic intensity products, Fire Weather Index (FWI) calculations, and specialized marine and aviation forecasts. IPMA operates five research vessels (NI Mário Ruivo, NI Diplodus, Maris, Recife II, Cardium) and three dedicated research stations (Piscicultura de Olhão, Moluscicultura de Tavira, Oceanográfica Cascais), and distributes its services through the ipma.pt portal, native iOS and Android apps, citizen-science platforms (Observar, GelAVista), and educational programs (IPMA Escolas, IPMA Educast).

As a Portuguese public institute (I.P.), IPMA does not generate revenue through commercial pricing; services to citizens are free and the entity is funded through direct government budget allocations supplemented by EU instruments, notably the Plano de Recuperação e Resiliência (PRR) across five components and the EEA Grants programme supporting an extensive portfolio of ocean and climate research projects. Its go-to-market is therefore not commercial but institutional: outputs are mandated by statute, integrated into civil protection alerting and European meteorological cooperation (ECMWF, MSG, ICES), and consumed as public goods by both retail users and regulated industries.

Name

Instituto Portugues do Mar e da Atmosfera

Legal name

Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera

Website

https://ipma.pt

Company type

Public

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Instituto Portugues do Mar e da Atmosfera (IPMA) is Portugal's national public institute providing authoritative weather, climate, seismic, and marine and fisheries monitoring services to government, aviation, maritime, civil protection, agriculture, and the general public.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

National Meteorological and Geophysical Services

NAICS

Administration of Environmental Quality Programs (924), Space Research and Technology (92711), Geophysical Surveying and Mapping Services (54136), Administration of Air and Water Resource and Solid Waste Management Programs (924110)

akta.pro primary industry

Environmental Monitoring, Data & Reporting (Air/Water/Soil) (BPAIAMAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Satellite Imagery & Remote Sensing Geospatial Platforms (BPAMANAM), Satellite Imagery & Monitoring Platforms (AFAAAFAI), Environmental Data Management Platforms (EHS/EMS, LIMS, ELN, Compliance Data Hubs) (EUAHAKAA)

Keywords

• National meteorological services
• Weather forecasting
• Seismic monitoring
• Marine forecasting
• Climate monitoring

Headquarters

HQ city

Lisboa

HQ country

Portugal

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Operations, Supply Chain, Others

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

IPMA is Portugal's national public institute providing authoritative weather forecasting, climate monitoring, seismic activity tracking, marine and oceanographic forecasting, fisheries and aquaculture management, and specialized meteorological services for aviation, agriculture, and civil protection. It operates comprehensive observation networks including seismic stations, MSG satellite reception, weather radar, lightning detection, and oceanographic measurement systems, delivering public weather warnings, climate data series, and natural disaster risk assessment for the entire national territory including the Azores and Madeira archipelagos.

Product overview

The Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera (IPMA) is Portugal's national meteorological, geophysical, oceanographic, and fisheries authority. Its product portfolio consists of a unified national weather and climate service platform with multiple specialized modules including weather forecasting (Previsão Meteorológica), marine forecasting (Previsão Marítima), seismic monitoring (ShakeMap, Atividade Sísmica), climate monitoring (Acompanhamento do Clima, Portal do Clima), bivalve safety monitoring, aeronautical services (TAF/METAR), agricultural meteorology, health services (UV index, pollen), fisheries and aquaculture support, rural fire danger assessment, and space-based satellite services. IPMA also provides mobile applications for iOS and Android, citizen science initiatives (GelAVista), educational programs (IPMA Escolas), and specialized tools like the FishChoice Calculator. The organization operates research vessels and maintains an extensive network of monitoring stations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• IPMA Educast: Educational video platform hosting IPMA educational content and training materials.
• IPMA Escolas
• Observar
• Portal do Clima
• GelAVista
• ShakeMap
• FishChoice Calculator
• Dataclima

Products and services

• Weather Forecasting Services (Previsão Meteorológica)
• ShakeMap - Seismic Intensity Mapping System

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• ECMWF (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts)coreTechnology or IntegrationIPMA participates in and accesses ECMWF data and forecasting products as part of the European meteorological cooperation network.
• Ministério da Agricultura e MarcoreOthersParent ministry overseeing IPMA as a public institute under the Portuguese government.
• ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIPMA collaborates with ICES on fisheries science and marine resource management as part of international fisheries governance.
• MSG Satellite SystemcoreTechnology or IntegrationIPMA operates MSG (Meteosat Second Generation) satellite data reception and processing for weather monitoring.

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD): Germany's national meteorological service. Comparable in combining weather, climate, marine, and aviation services as a public-law institution under a federal ministry — directly mirrors IPMA's integrated mandate.
• Met Office (UK): United Kingdom's national meteorological service. Closest functional comparator in terms of aviation, marine, and climate services, and in operating a public-facing app and data-portal product layer similar to IPMA's.
• AEMET - Agencia Estatal de Meteorología: Spain's official national meteorological state agency. Most direct functional peer to IPMA: delivers weather forecasts, climate monitoring, aviation METAR/TAF, and operates under a similar Iberian public-institute governance model.
• Météo-France: France's national meteorological service. Comparable statutory mandate covering mainland and overseas territories, including aviation, marine, and climate services — a natural scale-up peer for IPMA.
• SMHI - Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute: Sweden's national meteorological and hydrological service. Comparable in combining atmospheric, marine, climate, and hydrology mandates as a government agency — useful like-for-like operating-cost benchmark.
• KNMI - Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute: Netherlands' national meteorological and climate institute. Comparable in size, public-institute status, and integrated weather-climate-seismology offering, though without IPMA's fisheries dimension.

Broad incumbents

• EUMETSAT: European satellite operator for meteorology. IPMA consumes MSG/Meteosat data from EUMETSAT; an enabling infrastructure peer rather than a direct forecaster.
• ECMWF - European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts: Intergovernmental organisation that IPMA already partners with. Not a direct service peer but a critical upstream provider of medium-range forecast data that powers IPMA's products.

Regional players

• MeteoGalicia / Consellería de Medio Ambiente (Xunta de Galicia): Galicia's regional meteorological and climate service. Provides overlapping weather, climate, and marine services for an adjacent Iberian Atlantic region, complementing rather than competing head-on with IPMA in Portugal.

Others

• ICES - International Council for the Exploration of the Sea: Intergovernmental marine science organisation that IPMA partners with for fisheries science. Comparable in international governance model and relevance to IPMA's fisheries and oceanographic portfolio.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ipma_pt
• YouTubeyoutube.com/ipmaPT
• Facebookfacebook.com/ipma.pt
• Instagraminstagram.com/ipma.pt

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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