Data, software and interoperability
API descriptions
Machine-readable HTTP API contracts from which docs, tests and clients are generated.
We design, integrate and operate.
OpenAPI Specification 3.1
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Data & licensing/
APIOne interface for every product.
API, inside Data & licensing: API descriptions, OGC API building blocks, authorisation, error reporting and more. Every item is traced to its specification, from OpenAPI Specification 3.1 to OGC API – Common Part 1 (Core), and runs on the open Observatory Protocol.
Plan with usArchitectureThe protocol- Technologies
- 9
- At the frontier
- 0
- Protocol functions
- 3 of 8
- Industries served
- 19
Reference design, drawn to scale · drag to turn · hover a part
01What it is
APIs and SDKs.
How observations move from the edge into stores, catalogues and APIs with their provenance, licence and residency attached, and how they interoperate through open standards and the open Observatory Protocol. Each technology below carries what it is, what we do with it, and the standard it is drawn against.
Data, software and interoperability
OGC API building blocks
Common patterns for landing pages, conformance, collections and paging.
We design and integrate.
OGC API – Common Part 1 (Core)
Data, software and interoperability
Authorisation
Delegated, scoped access for applications and machine clients.
We design, integrate and operate.
IETF RFC 6749 (OAuth 2.0) · IETF RFC 9700 (OAuth 2.0 security best current practice) · OpenID Connect Core 1.0
Data, software and interoperability
Error reporting
Consistent, machine-readable error responses across services.
We design.
IETF RFC 9457 (problem details)
Data, software and interoperability
Quotas, metering and usage records
Rate limits and usage accounting tied to licence tier.
We design and operate.
IETF RateLimit header fields (Internet-Draft)
Data, software and interoperability
SDKs and client libraries
Typed clients in common languages generated from and tested against the API contracts.
We design, operate and support.
OpenAPI Specification 3.1
Data, software and interoperability
Webhooks and subscriptions
Push notifications when data, products or states change.
We design and integrate.
CloudEvents 1.0 (HTTP binding)
Data, software and interoperability
OGC SensorThings API
Open API for things, sensors, datastreams and observations, plus tasking.
We design, integrate and operate.
OGC SensorThings API Part 1 (Sensing) 1.1 · OGC SensorThings API Part 2 (Tasking Core)
Data, software and interoperability
OGC API – Connected Systems
System, deployment, procedure and datastream resources with commands, built on OGC API – Features.
We design, integrate and operate.
OGC API – Connected Systems Part 1 (Feature Resources) · Part 2 (Dynamic Data)
02Architecture
Where it sits, and what it speaks.
API draws on 1 domain and 8 layers of the spectrum; the highlighted layers carry this area. It speaks 3 of the protocol’s 8 core functions.
Ingest and streaming
8
Storage and data lakes
6
Metadata, provenance and catalogues
8
Open standards and interoperability
7
APIs and SDKs
7
Licensing, residency and governance
8
Digital twins and observability
7
Open protocol interfaces and federation
8
01JoinIdentity, attestation quote, signed policy.
02AdmitAdmitted for a stated scope, nothing wider.
03DescribeWhat, where, how and by whom, with calibration.
04TimeOne clock across the grid, with its error bound.
05ObserveEvery value with quality and provenance.
06QualifyTested against the specification, state on record.
07FederateSigned exchange across grids and trust domains.
08OrchestrateSoftware and configuration by signed plan.
03On the grid
Every site joins one observing grid.
The open networks on the grid today, over real relief and the geodesic cells we count them into. A site built here enrols into the same grid.
04In the field
Where this runs, sector by sector.
5 deployment scenarios from the sector research that rely on api.
Government and public safetyUrban street-flood sensor network
Open-hardware depth sensors with open data and alerts to emergency management.Communities and ruralIndigenous-owned community cellular
Unused 800 MHz and 1900 MHz spectrum through an access-licensing framework with a priority window for Indigenous applicants.ScientificCitizen seismology and school seismographs
Compact seismographs feeding open data networks.Environment and climateBiodiversity measurement with acoustics and camera traps
Acoustic baselines as a biodiversity data source; no registry methodology accepting acoustic data was found.EnergyBankable solar and wind measurement campaigns
Accepted standards, traceable calibration and transparent data handling.05Open and enterprise
Open by default. Enterprise by contract.
The open counterpart lives on the main site for anyone to read and run. The enterprise service is designed, deployed and operated with you, under contract.
Open, on the main site
- Open tier
- Dataset cards
Enterprise, on this site
- Paid tiers
- Residency by contract
06The rest of the line
Data & licensing, area by area.
Data & licensingProducts
Observations, derived layers and evidence.Data & licensingTiers
Research, commercial, enterprise, government.Data & licensingPublication
Routes from licensed to open release.Data & licensingResidency
Where data lives, fixed by contract.Bring us the site.
Survey, design, deployment and operation for api. The form names who receives your details.
Talk to uscontact@observatory.global