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A field campaign online from the first day.

Field campaigns put many instruments in a remote place for weeks or months: weather masts, lidars, drones, soil and water sensors. A deployable network with satellite backhaul and an edge node brings every instrument online, keeps teams safe and turns raw data into documented datasets others can reuse.

Industry

Research

Measurements

4

Sources cited

4

1. Research · Field research campaigns

   Weeks in a remote place

   Field campaigns put many instruments in a remote place for weeks or months. Instruments fail unnoticed, data sit on cards, teams lose contact, and years later nobody can reuse the results. Funders now expect data to be findable and reusable from the start.

2. What is measured

   Masts, lidars and drones

   Weather masts and lidars across the campaign area measure the boundary layer from second to minute, drones survey the terrain and surfaces, and every instrument reports its own health and data flow, so the campaign knows at once if something stops.

   Instruments

   Weather masts · Lidars · Drones · Instrument health

3. The base node

   Backed up and described

   The node collects data from every instrument, backs them up from the first minute, attaches metadata, and processes quick-look products so scientists can adapt the next day’s plan, while the record of every site and change builds itself. Every value is signed at the node before it leaves.

4. Radio and links

   Mesh across the terrain

   Instruments spread across valleys and ridges are linked by a mesh that reroutes around terrain. Base camp reaches home institutions by satellite, and cellular adds capacity where coverage exists. Teams in the field stay in contact on the same network.

   Links

   Mesh · Satellite · Public cellular

5. How it works

   From a quick look to a changed plan

   On day five, quick looks show a cold pool forming in the valley each night. The scientists move a lidar and two masts to the valley floor that afternoon; the next nights capture the process the campaign came for, and every move is in the record.

6. From order to operation · Order

   Scope the campaign

   The scope reads the science plan, instruments, area, season, team and the funder’s data requirements. Nexus Observatory Inc. returns the network and power design, data practice, safety communications and a price per campaign. The scope is agreed before any site work begins.

   Plan a deployment

7. From order to operation · Survey

   Survey the area

   Crews survey the campaign area from maps and a visit where possible: instrument sites, mesh paths across terrain, base camp, sky view for satellite and access. Findings are recorded with coordinates and photographs. Findings shape the kit for each site before anything is built.

8. From order to operation · Permits

   Permits and flights

   Land and research permits are obtained, drone flights are approved under aviation rules, radio use is licensed, and every permit is kept with the campaign record. No crew goes to site before its approvals are in place. Approvals are tracked site by site, so nothing waits unseen.

9. From order to operation · Build

   Build and rehearse

   Kits are configured with every instrument’s interface, nodes enrolled with their identities, metadata templates prepared and the whole network rehearsed on a test field before shipping. Nothing ships until the whole kit has passed its tests together. Test results travel with the kit to the site.

   Open the Station Builder

10. From order to operation · Install

    Deploy in days

    Crews and scientists raise masts and lidars, place mesh radios on ridges, set up base camp with the node, satellite terminal and power, and bring every instrument online. Every site is photographed and recorded. Crews follow the site safety plan throughout the work.

11. From order to operation · Commission

    Commission with first data

    Each node proves its identity. Every instrument’s data reach the node, are backed up and described, quick looks are checked by scientists, and safety communications are tested with every team. Acceptance is recorded with the owner before handover. Results are signed and kept with the site record.

12. From order to operation · Operate

    Run the campaign

    Scientists see every instrument and quick-look products daily and adapt the plan; teams in the field stay in contact; data are backed up and described as they arrive, ready for release. Every alert and action is kept on the record.

13. From order to operation · Maintain

    Release and redeploy

    At the end, instruments are recovered, datasets are released with identifiers and metadata, and kits are refurbished for the next campaign. The campaign record keeps every site, change and dataset. Maintenance history stays with each site for its whole life.

    Book field services

14. Data products

    For scientists and repositories

    Campaign scientists receive quick-look products; technicians receive instrument health; researchers and repositories receive documented datasets with persistent identifiers; campaign safety officers receive team location and contact, each tied to site and time. Every product can be traced back to its readings.

    See the data products

15. Evidence

    Reusable from the first day

    Data follow the FAIR principles, datasets carry identifiers under the persistent identifier metadata schema and geographic metadata under the international standard, and weather instruments follow the WMO guide. Every dataset can be traced to its instruments, sites and changes. The record is kept for as long as the duty lasts.

    Drawn against

    FAIR Principles · DataCite Metadata Schema · ISO 19115-1 · WMO-No. 8

16. What you get

    Research site and instrument services

    Site power, connectivity, timing and operations for telescopes, flux towers and research stations. Delivered as managed service and professional services, for universities, research infrastructures, space agencies. Scale: Global research sites. Service levels are written as numbers you can measure on your own dashboard.

    Talk to sales

17. Next step

    Plan field research campaigns with us

    Tell us the site, the measurements and the rules it answers to. We reply with a survey proposal, a design and a scope for field research campaigns. An engineer replies with a survey proposal and a scope, and the plan grows from one site to the network you need, at your pace.

    Plan a deploymentOpen the Station BuilderOpen the Studio

01The place and its hazards

Where it runs, and what can go wrong.

Operating contextResearch funders increasingly require data to be findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable, with persistent identifiers and rich metadata. Geographic metadata follows the international standard, datasets are registered with a persistent identifier schema, and weather instruments follow the WMO instrument guide so campaign data can be compared with networks.

Hazards

• Instruments that fail unnoticed for days
• Data lost on cards and laptops
• Teams out of contact in remote terrain
• Campaign data that cannot be reused later
• Too little power for everything at once

02What must be measured

What, where, how often, and under which rules.

Each measurement names where it is taken, how often, and the public standard or regulation behind it. Numbers in the sources column open the cited source below.

03The observation stack

From one base unit to a network.

The same blocks at every scale: instruments and a base node, a site with its radio, a fleet run as one, and a network federated on the open protocol.

1. 01

   Base unit

   A kit: a mesh radio, an edge node, a satellite terminal and power in rugged cases.

   Build a station →
2. 02

   Site

   A campaign: instruments across the area linked by mesh, the node at base camp and satellite backhaul.

   Plan a site →
3. 03

   Fleet

   A research group’s campaigns run with the same kits and data practice year after year.

   Managed offers →
4. 04

   Network

   Datasets are published to repositories with persistent identifiers and standard metadata.

   The open protocol →

• 01Compact weather station
• 02Lidar scanner
• 03Drone (UAS)
• 04Deployable mesh comms kit
• 05Edge node (Wedge)
• 06LEO flat-panel terminal
• 07Cellular modem/router
• 08Battery case
• 09Solar array
• 10Telescopic mast

Radio and links

Mesh network

Instruments spread across valleys and ridges are linked by a mesh that reroutes around terrain.

Radio and links

Satellite

Base camp reaches home institutions by satellite.

Radio and links

Public cellular

Where coverage exists, cellular adds capacity and a second path.

Edge computeThe node collects data from every instrument, watches their health, backs data up from the first minute, attaches metadata and processes quick-look products so scientists can adapt the campaign day by day.

PowerSolar panels, batteries and a small generator at base camp; instruments carry their own power and report its state.

04How it works

From the instrument to the product.

One observation’s path, tier by tier, with the interface on every link and a bill of materials below; then how the one node grows to a site, a fleet and federated networks.

05From order to operation

Every step, from the first call to a running site.

The same crew and the same record carry the work from scope to maintenance.

1. 01 Order

   Scope the campaign

   The scope reads the science plan, instruments, area, season, team and the funder’s data requirements. Nexus Observatory Inc. returns the network and power design, data practice, safety communications and a price per campaign. The scope is agreed before any site work begins. 2

2. 02 Survey

   Survey the area

   Crews survey the campaign area from maps and a visit where possible: instrument sites, mesh paths across terrain, base camp, sky view for satellite and access. Findings are recorded with coordinates and photographs. Findings shape the kit for each site before anything is built.

3. 03 Permits

   Permits and flights

   Land and research permits are obtained, drone flights are approved under aviation rules, radio use is licensed, and every permit is kept with the campaign record. No crew goes to site before its approvals are in place. Approvals are tracked site by site, so nothing waits unseen.

4. 04 Build

   Build and rehearse

   Kits are configured with every instrument’s interface, nodes enrolled with their identities, metadata templates prepared and the whole network rehearsed on a test field before shipping. Nothing ships until the whole kit has passed its tests together. Test results travel with the kit to the site.

5. 05 Install

   Deploy in days

   Crews and scientists raise masts and lidars, place mesh radios on ridges, set up base camp with the node, satellite terminal and power, and bring every instrument online. Every site is photographed and recorded. Crews follow the site safety plan throughout the work.

6. 06 Commission

   Commission with first data

   Each node proves its identity. Every instrument’s data reach the node, are backed up and described, quick looks are checked by scientists, and safety communications are tested with every team. Acceptance is recorded with the owner before handover. Results are signed and kept with the site record. 1

7. 07 Operate

   Run the campaign

   Scientists see every instrument and quick-look products daily and adapt the plan; teams in the field stay in contact; data are backed up and described as they arrive, ready for release. Every alert and action is kept on the record. 2

8. 08 Maintain

   Release and redeploy

   At the end, instruments are recovered, datasets are released with identifiers and metadata, and kits are refurbished for the next campaign. The campaign record keeps every site, change and dataset. Maintenance history stays with each site for its whole life. 43

06Data products and integration

What it delivers, to whom, and into which systems.

Data products

• Quick-look productsCampaign scientists
• Instrument healthTechnicians
• Documented datasets with identifiersResearchers and repositories
• Team location and contactCampaign safety officers

Integration

• Home institutionsData reach institution storage over the satellite link.
• RepositoriesDatasets are released with persistent identifiers.
• SafetyTeam contact reaches the campaign safety plan.

Exchanged through netCDF-CF, DataCite, ISO 19115.

07Questions buyers ask

Before you scope it.

Can our own instruments join?

Yes, through their interfaces into the mesh and node.

Will data be FAIR?

Metadata and identifiers are attached from the first day.

What about power?

Base camp has solar, batteries and a small generator.

Can kits be reused?

Yes. They are refurbished between campaigns.

08Resources

The sources behind this page.

Public standards, regulations and guidance, cited where they apply. Each applies only where its jurisdiction or scope does.

1. 1WMO-No. 8: Guide to Instruments and Methods of ObservationWorld Meteorological Organization
2. 2FAIR Principles for scientific data management and stewardshipGO FAIR · 2016
3. 3ISO 19115-1: Geographic information, metadataInternational Organization for Standardization
4. 4DataCite Metadata SchemaDataCite

09Related

Use cases and solutions.

10Research: specialized fields

Other fields of this industry.

Bring us the site.

Plan a deployment, configure a station, model it in the Studio or talk to sales. The form names who receives your details.