Contents
1. Terms of Use
By accessing or using AerisCast ("the Service"), you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.
Use of the service
- AerisCast is provided for personal, non-commercial use on the free plan.
- Free users are subject to a daily location forecast limit and a map zoom level restriction. These limits are subject to change.
- AerisPro subscribers may use the Service for personal and professional purposes with no forecast limits and full zoom access.
- You may not reverse engineer, resell, or redistribute forecast data obtained from AerisCast.
- Automated scraping of forecast data is not permitted.
Changes to the service
AerisCast reserves the right to modify, suspend or discontinue any part of the Service at any time. Paid subscribers will be given reasonable notice of any material changes that affect their subscription.
Contact
For questions or concerns: [email protected]
2. Forecast Disclaimer
Weather forecasting is inherently uncertain. All forecasts degrade in accuracy with time and are subject to change as new model data becomes available. AerisCast makes no warranty, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of any forecast.
AerisCast and its operators accept no liability for any loss, damage, injury or decision made in reliance on forecast data provided by this service.
For safety-critical decisions, always consult your national meteorological authority.
3. Model Limitations
AerisCast uses two numerical weather prediction models — ECMWF IFS HRES 9km and NOAA GFS — sourced via Open-Meteo for location-specific forecasts and directly from ECMWF/NOAA open data for the Charts tab GRIB imagery. Upper air and pressure-level data for AerisSnow and Atmosphere tabs uses the ECMWF IFS 0.25° open dataset (coarser than the 9km HRES surface data). Both models are global with inherent physical and computational limitations users should be aware of.
Spatial resolution
ECMWF IFS HRES operates at approximately 9km horizontal resolution; GFS at approximately 0.25° (~25km). The Charts tab uses the same models at their native GRIB resolution (0.25° for both). This means the models represent grid-cell averages, not exact point conditions. Terrain features smaller than the grid size — valleys, ridgelines, coastal cliffs, urban heat islands — are not resolved. Forecasts in complex terrain (mountains, coastlines, cities) may differ significantly from actual conditions at a specific point.
Temperature inversions
Global models frequently mishandle temperature inversions — conditions where temperature increases with altitude rather than decreasing. This affects:
- Snow level calculations — the 1°C isotherm used to estimate snow level may be inaccurate when a surface inversion is present, potentially showing an unrealistically high snow level even when snow is falling at the surface.
- Surface temperature — valley frost and fog situations driven by cold air pooling are poorly captured at global model resolution.
- Fog and low cloud — radiation fog, sea fog and inversion-capped stratus are frequently underforecast or mistimed.
Convection and thunderstorms
Neither GFS nor ECMWF can resolve individual thunderstorm cells at their native resolution. Convective forecasts (storm potential, CAPE, CIN) indicate atmospheric environments favourable for convection, not precise storm timing or location. A "high storm potential" environment may produce no storms if a triggering mechanism is absent, and conversely, a marginal environment may produce intense convection in certain terrain or boundary conditions.
Precipitation phase
The rain/sleet/snow phase determination in AerisCast is based on near-surface air temperature thresholds (snow <1°C, sleet 1–3°C, rain >3°C). This is a simplified approach. Actual precipitation phase depends on the full depth of the atmospheric column and can differ from the surface temperature alone, particularly in transitional situations near the freezing level.
Snowfall accumulation
Snowfall accumulation figures are model-derived and do not account for wind redistribution (drifting), compaction, or liquid equivalent differences between snow types. Accumulations in exposed or sheltered terrain may differ substantially from model output.
Flash flood risk
See the dedicated section below.
Forecast range and reliability
- 0–48 hours: Generally reliable for temperature, wind and precipitation type
- 2–5 days: Useful for planning but significant uncertainty in timing and amounts
- 6–10 days: Broad pattern guidance only — specific values unreliable
- 10+ days (GFS): Climatological guidance only — treat with caution
4. Flash Flood & Snow Risk Warnings
The AerisFlood tab provides a simplified flash flood risk assessment based on rainfall rate, accumulation and soil moisture proxy variables. This is not a hydrological flood model. It cannot account for:
- Local catchment characteristics, drainage capacity or soil type
- Antecedent rainfall and catchment wetness beyond what Open-Meteo soil moisture provides
- Urban drainage infrastructure and stormwater capacity
- River channel geometry or floodplain extent
- Dam operations or managed water releases
For flood warnings and emergency information, always consult your national meteorological authority and local emergency services.
Similarly, AerisSnow snow accumulation and quality ratings are derived estimates and should not be used for avalanche risk assessment or backcountry travel decisions.
Aeris Storm
Aeris Storm storm potential ratings are derived from atmospheric instability parameters (CAPE, CIN, lifted index, precipitable water and freezing level height) sourced from the GFS global model at approximately 13km resolution. These ratings reflect the atmospheric environment for storm development — not a guarantee that thunderstorms, hail, damaging winds or flash flooding will occur.
Convective initiation, storm organisation and severe weather occurrence depend on local triggers, orography and boundary-layer processes that cannot be resolved at global model scale. Hail, wind and flash flood hazard flags are indicative only. Always follow official severe weather warnings from your national meteorological authority.
5. Subscriptions & Refunds
Billing
AerisPro is billed on a recurring 3-month basis via Stripe. Your subscription renews automatically until cancelled.
Cancellation
You may cancel your subscription at any time. Access to Pro features continues until the end of the current billing period. No partial refunds are issued for unused time within a billing period.
Refunds
Refunds are issued at our discretion. To request a refund, contact [email protected].
Price changes
AerisCast reserves the right to change subscription pricing. Existing subscribers will be given at least 30 days notice before any price change takes effect.
6. Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy describes how Aeris Spatial Pty Ltd (ABN 31 448 705 070) ("AerisCast", "we", "us", "our") collects, uses, discloses and stores personal information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).
By accessing or using AerisCast, you consent to the collection and use of your personal information as described in this policy.
6.1 Personal information we collect
We may collect the following categories of personal information:
- Account information — email address, display name and profile data provided during account registration via Clerk (our authentication provider). Clerk stores account metadata on our behalf, including subscription status and associated payment identifiers.
- Payment information — payment card details, billing address and transaction history are collected and processed exclusively by Stripe (our payment processor). AerisCast does not receive, access or store your full card number or payment credentials at any time.
- Location data — geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude) submitted when you request a forecast, either by searching for a location, tapping the map or using the GPS/geolocation feature. Your approximate location may also be inferred from your IP address via Cloudflare's network when you use the "My Location" feature.
- Device and usage data — IP address, browser type, operating system, referring URL, pages visited and interaction events. Aggregate, non-identifying analytics may be collected via Cloudflare Analytics Engine for the purpose of monitoring service performance and usage patterns.
- Local storage data — certain preferences and usage counters are stored locally on your device using browser localStorage, including temperature unit preference (°C/°F), selected weather model, saved favourite locations (Pro users), and daily forecast request counts. This data is not transmitted to our servers.
6.2 How we collect personal information
We collect personal information:
- Directly from you — when you create an account, subscribe to AerisPro, submit a forecast request or contact us.
- From third-party service providers — Clerk (authentication), Stripe (payment processing) and Cloudflare (hosting, analytics and network services) may provide us with information necessary to operate the service.
- Automatically — through standard web server logs and analytics tools when you access the service.
6.3 Purpose of collection
We collect and use personal information for the following purposes:
- To provide, operate and maintain the AerisCast weather forecasting service.
- To process subscription payments and manage your account.
- To retrieve forecast data from third-party weather data providers on your behalf.
- To monitor service performance, diagnose technical issues and improve the service.
- To communicate with you regarding your account, subscription or service updates.
- To comply with applicable legal obligations.
6.4 Third-party service providers
We share personal information with the following third-party providers, each of which processes data in accordance with their own privacy policies:
- Clerk (authentication) — stores your email address, account profile and authentication credentials. Clerk Privacy Policy.
- Stripe (payments) — processes payment card details, billing information and transaction records. Stripe Privacy Policy.
- Cloudflare (hosting, CDN and analytics) — processes IP addresses, request metadata and aggregated usage analytics. Your IP address is used by Cloudflare to provide the "My Location" geolocation feature but is not forwarded to third-party weather data providers. Cloudflare Privacy Policy.
- Open-Meteo (weather data) — receives geographic coordinates (latitude, longitude and altitude) to fulfil forecast requests. No personally identifying information is transmitted. Open-Meteo Terms.
- Stadia Maps (geocoding, map tiles) — receives search queries and may collect standard web analytics via direct browser requests. Stadia Maps Privacy Policy.
- LibreWXR (radar data) — no personal information is transmitted with radar data requests.
- Google Analytics (website analytics) — collects anonymised usage data including pages visited, session duration, device type and approximate location via cookies. Google Privacy Policy.
We do not sell, rent or share your personal information with third parties for marketing or advertising purposes.
6.5 Data storage and security
Personal information is stored by our third-party service providers (Clerk, Stripe and Cloudflare) on servers that may be located outside Australia, including in the United States and the European Union. We take reasonable steps to ensure that these providers comply with obligations substantially similar to the APPs regarding the handling of personal information.
We implement appropriate technical measures to protect personal information from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure, including the use of HTTPS encryption for all data in transit and secure authentication for payment processing events.
6.6 Data retention
We retain personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected:
- Account data — retained for the duration of your account and deleted upon account deletion, subject to Clerk's data retention practices.
- Payment records — retained by Stripe in accordance with applicable financial record-keeping obligations.
- Analytics data — aggregated, non-identifying analytics data may be retained indefinitely for service improvement purposes.
- Local storage data — stored on your device until you clear your browser data. Not retained by AerisCast.
6.7 Cookies and local storage
AerisCast does not use tracking cookies or third-party advertising cookies. The service uses browser localStorage to store the following non-identifying data on your device:
- Temperature unit preference (°C or °F)
- Selected weather model preference
- Daily forecast request counter (for free-tier usage limits, reset daily)
- Saved favourite locations (Pro users)
Third-party services loaded by the application (Clerk, Stadia Maps, Google Analytics) may set their own cookies in accordance with their respective privacy policies. Google Analytics uses cookies to distinguish unique visitors and track returning users; see Google Privacy Policy.
6.8 Your rights
Under the Australian Privacy Principles, you have the right to:
- Access your personal information held by us.
- Request correction of any personal information that is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete or misleading.
- Request deletion of your account and associated personal information.
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at [email protected]. We will respond to access and correction requests within 30 days.
6.9 Children's privacy
AerisCast is not directed at children under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16. If you believe we have collected information from a child under 16, please contact us immediately and we will take steps to delete such information.
6.10 Complaints
If you believe we have breached the Australian Privacy Principles, you may lodge a complaint by contacting us at [email protected]. We will investigate and respond to your complaint within 30 days.
If you are not satisfied with our response, you may lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at www.oaic.gov.au.
6.11 Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Material changes will be communicated by updating the "Last updated" date below. Continued use of the service following any changes constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.
Last updated: June 2026.
7. Data Attribution
AerisCast relies on the following third-party data sources:
- ECMWF IFS HRES surface forecast data — provided by Open-Meteo (ECMWF IFS HRES 9km) under CC BY 4.0
- ECMWF IFS 0.25° upper air / pressure-level data — provided by Open-Meteo (ECMWF IFS open data, 0.25° resolution). Used for snow level calculations, atmospheric sounding, and temperature profiles in AerisSnow and Atmosphere tabs.
- GFS surface forecast and upper air data — provided by Open-Meteo (NOAA GFS Seamless, 0.25° resolution)
- ECMWF IFS GRIB chart data — sourced from ECMWF Open Data.
- ECMWF AIFS GRIB chart data — sourced from ECMWF Open Data (AIFS machine-learning model, 0.25° resolution).
- GFS GRIB chart data — sourced from NOAA GFS.
- Elevation data — Copernicus DEM via Open-Meteo
- Geocoding and map tiles — Stadia Maps (Alidade Smooth Dark basemap, Pelias geocoding)
- Radar reflectivity data — LibreWXR under CC BY 4.0
- Authentication — Clerk
- Payments — Stripe
Last updated: June 2026