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A national network, run to the WMO rule book.

A national meteorological and hydrological service needs stations where the gaps are, observations every hour, metadata that tells users how each was made, and an exchange that neighbours and ministries can read. The network is planned, built, calibrated and run as one programme.

Industry

Government

Measurements

5

Sources cited

5

1. Government · National weather and hydrology networks

   A country’s eyes on the weather

   Forecasts, flood warnings, water allocation and the climate record all start from surface stations. Where stations are missing, warnings are late and records are short. Countries have committed to share a basic set of surface observations, and a national network built as one programme meets that duty and serves every ministry.

2. What is measured

   Weather, rain and rivers

   Reference sensors measure air temperature, humidity, pressure, wind and solar radiation at standard exposures. Gauges measure rainfall away from obstructions, and river stations measure level at rated sections so discharge can be computed. Every instrument has its calibration and siting recorded with the station.

   Instruments

   Reference weather sensors · Rain gauges · River level · Station metadata

3. The base node

   Checked at the station

   The station node checks every value against physical limits and its neighbours, flags gaps and suspect readings, stores a month of data and attaches the metadata each report needs. Forecasters receive data they can trust, and the station tells the service when it needs a visit.

4. Radio and links

   Reports from anywhere

   Most stations report hourly over public cellular networks. Mountain, border and island stations without coverage report by satellite, and clusters of rain gauges reach a hub station over a local low-power network. Each report reaches the national system and the WMO exchange in the same way.

   Links

   Public cellular · Satellite · LoRaWAN

5. How it works

   From a rain gauge to a warning

   A storm stalls over a mountain basin. Rain gauges report rising totals, the river station shows the level climbing, and both reach the national system within minutes. Hydrologists run the flood model on checked data, the warning goes out, and neighbours downstream see the same observations through the exchange.

6. From order to operation · Order

   Scope the gaps against national duties

   The scope reads the existing network, its gaps against the national and regional commitments, the hazards each basin faces and the service budget. Nexus Observatory Inc. returns a station plan by type and place, the exchange design, a calibration plan and a price per station and per year, with the staff the service will need.

   Plan a deployment

7. From order to operation · Survey

   Survey every candidate site

   Crews and service staff visit each candidate site: exposure and obstructions, ground and access, flood marks, land ownership, coverage of the backhaul options and the safety of the place. Each candidate is scored against the siting classes and the best is recorded with photographs and coordinates.

8. From order to operation · Permits

   Land, licences and agreements

   Land agreements with owners and communities, radio licences where needed, environmental approvals for river works and permissions for border or protected areas are gathered. Every approval is kept with the station record so the service can show its legal basis.

9. From order to operation · Build

   Build and calibrate in the shop

   Station kits are built, every sensor is calibrated against references traceable to national standards, nodes are enrolled with their identities and the complete station runs together for days before it ships. Each kit is labelled with its station identifier. Test results travel with the kit to the site.

   Open the Station Builder

10. From order to operation · Install

    Install to the siting classes

    Crews set masts and gauges at the surveyed positions, mount sensors at standard heights and exposures, fit solar power and backhaul, and photograph each part. River stations get their staff gauges and benchmarks surveyed to the national datum. The site record is updated before the crew leaves.

11. From order to operation · Commission

    Commission against references

    Each station proves its identity, readings are compared with a travelling reference, reports reach the national system and the WMO exchange, and the metadata record is completed. The station enters service only when its first week of data passes the checks.

12. From order to operation · Operate

    Run the national network

    The service sees every station live: data completeness, flags, power and the next calibration due. Forecasters, hydrologists and climate staff receive the same checked data, neighbours receive it through the WMO exchange, and gaps are visible before they matter. Reports for owners and funders come from the same record.

13. From order to operation · Maintain

    Calibrate, repair and train

    Sensors rotate through the calibration laboratory on the agreed plan, crews repair stations after storms and floods, software updates roll out in rings, and service staff are trained to run every task themselves. The register records each change. Spares and procedures travel with the crews.

    Book field services

14. Data products

    For forecasters, hydrologists and neighbours

    Forecasters and warning services receive hourly observations; hydrologists receive river levels and discharge; climate services receive long homogeneous records; managers and funders receive completeness reports; neighbouring services and global centres receive the national observations through the WMO exchange, each with its station metadata.

    See the data products

15. Evidence

    Built to the WMO rule book

    Stations are sited and calibrated to the WMO instrument guide, rivers are gauged to the hydrological practice guide, the network meets the global observing commitments and data move through the WMO Information System under the unified data policy. Every reading keeps its calibration and metadata.

    Drawn against

    WMO-No. 1160 · WMO-No. 8 · WMO-No. 168 · WMO-No. 1060 · WMO Unified Data Policy, Resolution 1 (Cg-Ext(2021))

16. What you get

    National observing network programmes

    Build-operate-transfer of national observing infrastructure as digital public infrastructure, with transfer of skills and records. Delivered as build-operate-transfer and professional services, for governments, development lenders financing them. Scale: National. Service levels are written as numbers you can measure on your own dashboard.

    Talk to sales

17. Next step

    Plan national weather and hydrology networks 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 national weather and hydrology networks. 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 contextNational meteorological and hydrological services run surface stations that feed forecasts, warnings, water allocation and climate records. Countries commit to share a basic set of surface observations through the Global Basic Observing Network, station siting and instruments follow the WMO guide, and data move through the WMO Information System to every user.

Hazards

• Coverage gaps in mountains, borders and remote basins
• Stations that stop reporting for weeks before anyone visits
• Sensors drifting out of calibration between visits
• Missing metadata that makes long records unusable
• Floods and storms that destroy the stations needed most

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 station: reference weather sensors or a river gauge on a sensor hub with a small node, logging locally and reporting each hour.

   Build a station →
2. 02

   Site

   A site: the station, its mast or stilling well, solar power, a fence and the backhaul chosen for the place.

   Plan a site →
3. 03

   Fleet

   The national fleet: hundreds of stations with one register, one calibration plan and one console at the service.

   Managed offers →
4. 04

   Network

   Neighbouring services, ministries and WMO centres exchange observations through the WMO Information System and open standards.

   The open protocol →

• 01Automatic weather station (WMO class)
• 02Compact weather station
• 03Water level gauge
• 04Sensor and instrument gateway
• 05Micro node (Nano)
• 06Cellular modem/router
• 07LEO flat-panel terminal
• 08Solar array
• 09Pole

Radio and links

Public cellular

Most stations sit within coverage; cellular carries hourly reports at low cost.

Radio and links

Satellite

Mountain, border and island stations without coverage report by satellite.

Radio and links

LoRaWAN

Clusters of rain gauges around a hub station reach it over a local low-power network.

Edge computeEach station node checks values against physical limits and neighbours, flags gaps, stores a month of data locally and adds the metadata each report needs before it is sent.

PowerSolar panels and batteries sized for the darkest month keep stations running off grid; the node reports its own power so crews visit before a station fails.

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 gaps against national duties

   The scope reads the existing network, its gaps against the national and regional commitments, the hazards each basin faces and the service budget. Nexus Observatory Inc. returns a station plan by type and place, the exchange design, a calibration plan and a price per station and per year, with the staff the service will need. 2

2. 02 Survey

   Survey every candidate site

   Crews and service staff visit each candidate site: exposure and obstructions, ground and access, flood marks, land ownership, coverage of the backhaul options and the safety of the place. Each candidate is scored against the siting classes and the best is recorded with photographs and coordinates. 1

3. 03 Permits

   Land, licences and agreements

   Land agreements with owners and communities, radio licences where needed, environmental approvals for river works and permissions for border or protected areas are gathered. Every approval is kept with the station record so the service can show its legal basis.

4. 04 Build

   Build and calibrate in the shop

   Station kits are built, every sensor is calibrated against references traceable to national standards, nodes are enrolled with their identities and the complete station runs together for days before it ships. Each kit is labelled with its station identifier. Test results travel with the kit to the site.

5. 05 Install

   Install to the siting classes

   Crews set masts and gauges at the surveyed positions, mount sensors at standard heights and exposures, fit solar power and backhaul, and photograph each part. River stations get their staff gauges and benchmarks surveyed to the national datum. The site record is updated before the crew leaves. 13

6. 06 Commission

   Commission against references

   Each station proves its identity, readings are compared with a travelling reference, reports reach the national system and the WMO exchange, and the metadata record is completed. The station enters service only when its first week of data passes the checks. 4

7. 07 Operate

   Run the national network

   The service sees every station live: data completeness, flags, power and the next calibration due. Forecasters, hydrologists and climate staff receive the same checked data, neighbours receive it through the WMO exchange, and gaps are visible before they matter. Reports for owners and funders come from the same record. 2

8. 08 Maintain

   Calibrate, repair and train

   Sensors rotate through the calibration laboratory on the agreed plan, crews repair stations after storms and floods, software updates roll out in rings, and service staff are trained to run every task themselves. The register records each change. Spares and procedures travel with the crews.

06Data products and integration

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

Data products

• Hourly surface observationsForecasters and warning services
• River levels and dischargeHydrologists and water ministries
• Long homogeneous station recordsClimate services
• Network completeness and uptime reportsService management and funders
• Observations exchanged with WMO membersNeighbouring services and global centres

Integration

• National data systemReports arrive in the service’s own database and forecasting systems in the formats it uses.
• WMO Information SystemObservations are published through the national node of WIS 2.0 for exchange.
• Station registerMetadata are kept in the national register and shared with the WMO station catalogue.

Exchanged through WMO WIS 2.0, OGC SensorThings API, SDI-12.

07Questions buyers ask

Before you scope it.

Can our own staff run it?

Yes. Training and procedures are part of the programme and the service owns the network.

Do the stations meet WMO guidance?

They are sited, built and calibrated to the WMO instrument guide.

Will the data reach WMO?

Yes, through the national node of the WMO Information System.

What happens after a flood?

Damaged stations are found from their last reports and repaired in planned visits.

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. 2WMO-No. 1160: Manual on the WMO Integrated Global Observing SystemWorld Meteorological Organization
3. 3WMO-No. 168: Guide to Hydrological PracticesWorld Meteorological Organization
4. 4WMO-No. 1060: Manual on the WMO Information SystemWorld Meteorological Organization
5. 5WMO Unified Data Policy, Resolution 1 (Cg-Ext(2021))World Meteorological Organization · 2021

09Related

Use cases and solutions.

10Government: 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.