--- title: "Climate reference stations monitoring | Nexus Observatory" description: "Climate trends are small against weather noise, so the stations that record them must be stable for decades: the same site…" url: https://observatory.global/industries/climate/climate-reference/ publisher: Nexus Observatory Inc. updated: 2026-11-02 --- [Nexus Observatory](https://observatory.global/) / [Climate](https://observatory.global/industries/climate/) / [Specialized fields](https://observatory.global/industries/climate/fields/) / **Climate reference stations** # Records built to last a century. Climate trends are small against weather noise, so the stations that record them must be stable for decades: the same site, redundant reference sensors, traceable calibration and every change recorded. Reference stations anchor national climate records and the global reference network. [Plan a deployment](https://observatory.global/contact/deployment/) How it works [Station Builder](https://observatory.global/studio/builder/) **Industry**: Climate **Measurements**: 4 **Sources cited**: 4 1. Climate · Climate reference stations Small trends, long records Climate trends are small against the noise of weather, so the stations that record them must stay the same for decades: the same site, stable sensors, traceable calibration and every change written down. The global climate observing plan calls for a reference network of such stations in every country. 2. What is measured Everything twice Redundant reference sensors measure air temperature in standard screens and precipitation in shielded gauges, alongside humidity, pressure, wind and radiation at standard exposures. Photographs of the surroundings in all directions are taken each year, so changes around the station are on record too. InstrumentsRedundant temperature sensors · Shielded gauges · Humidity · Pressure · Wind · Radiation 3. The base node Sensors that check each other The node compares the redundant sensors every minute and flags any that disagree, computes daily values to climatological practice and keeps a full local archive, so a failed link or a failed sensor never leaves a gap in the record. 4. Radio and links A record without gaps Cellular carries minute data and diagnostics where coverage reaches the site. A satellite path keeps the record complete when terrestrial networks fail during the extremes the station exists to record. Data join the national archive and the global reference network. LinksPublic cellular · Satellite 5. How it works From a heatwave to an attribution study A record heatwave strikes. Both reference sensors agree on a new maximum, the node files it with its metadata, and the value enters the national record that day. Months later, attribution scientists use the station's long homogeneous series to show how much climate change made the event more likely. 6. From order to operation · Order Scope the record The scope reads the national climate record, long stations at risk, gaps in the reference network and the service's archive. Nexus Observatory Inc. returns the reference station plan, calibration traceability, metadata practice and a price per station and per year. [Plan a deployment](https://observatory.global/contact/deployment/) 7. From order to operation · Survey Survey for a century Crews survey candidate sites with the service for land that will stay representative for decades: ownership, planned development nearby, exposure, flood and fire risk, and power. Photographs in all directions are taken for the record. Every finding is kept with the site record for the crews who follow. 8. From order to operation · Permits Secure the land Long-term land agreements protect the site and its surroundings, planning authorities are told of the station so development nearby is considered, and every agreement is kept with the station record, because a moved station breaks its record. Approvals are tracked site by site, so nothing waits unseen. 9. From order to operation · Build Build with traceable sensors Redundant sensors are calibrated against references traceable to national standards, stations are assembled, nodes configured to compare sensors, enrolled with their identities and run together for weeks before shipping. Test results travel with the kit to the site. Nothing ships until the whole kit has passed its tests together. [Open the Station Builder](https://observatory.global/studio/builder/) 10. From order to operation · Install Install to the reference standard Crews set the enclosure, screens, gauges and mast at standard exposures, install redundant sensors, power and two backhaul paths, and record every height and position. Where a station replaces an older one, both run side by side. The site record is updated before the crew leaves. 11. From order to operation · Commission Overlap and commission Each node proves its identity. Redundant sensors are compared with a travelling reference, and where a station replaces another they run in parallel for long enough to measure the difference, so the record stays homogeneous. Results are signed and kept with the site record. 12. From order to operation · Operate Keep the record The service sees every reference station, sensor agreement, gaps and metadata. Daily values enter the national climate record and the global reference network, and every change is recorded so future users understand each value. Reports for owners and funders come from the same record. 13. From order to operation · Maintain Change nothing without a record Sensors rotate through calibration on the agreed plan with overlaps, surroundings are photographed each year, software updates roll out in rings and every change is written to the metadata. The record stays trusted for decades. Spares and procedures travel with the crews. [Book field services](https://observatory.global/contact/field-service/) 14. Data products For climate services and scientists Climate services and scientists receive long homogeneous records; attribution and adaptation teams receive extreme event records; network managers receive reference values for quality control; archive and data users receive full station metadata, each value tied to its sensors and calibration. [See the data products](https://observatory.global/data-products/) 15. Evidence A record that lasts Sensors and exposures follow the WMO instrument guide, records are kept and homogenised to climatological practice, metadata meet the global observing manual, and the stations answer the call for a surface reference network in the global climate observing plan. Every change is on record. Drawn againstWMO-No. 8 · WMO-No. 100 · WMO-No. 1160 · GCOS-244 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](https://observatory.global/contact/sales-enquiry/) 17. Next step Plan climate reference stations 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 climate reference stations. 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 deployment](https://observatory.global/contact/deployment/) [Open the Station Builder](https://observatory.global/studio/builder/) [Open the Studio](https://observatory.global/studio/) **01** The place and its hazards ## Where it runs, and what can go wrong. Operating contextClimatological practice sets how long records are kept, homogenised and archived; the global observing manual sets station duties and metadata; and the global climate observing plan calls for a reference network of surface stations with redundant, traceable measurements. National services hold the records that adaptation and attribution rely on. Hazards - Changes of site, sensor or surroundings that break the record - Single sensors that fail or drift unnoticed - Missing metadata about past changes - Urban growth creeping around the station - Data gaps in extreme events, when they matter most **02** What 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. | Measurement | Where | Cadence | Sources | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Air temperature | Redundant reference sensors in standard screens | Every minute, daily extremes | 12 | | Precipitation | Redundant gauges with wind shields | Every minute, daily totals | 1 | | Humidity, pressure, wind and radiation | Standard exposures | Every minute | 1 | | Station metadata and surroundings | Every station, with photographs in all directions | On every change and each year | 34 | **03** The 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: redundant reference sensors on a sensor hub with a node that compares them. [Build a station →](https://observatory.global/studio/builder/) 2. **02** Site A site: the enclosure on stable, representative land, a mast, power and two backhaul paths. [Plan a site →](https://observatory.global/contact/deployment/) 3. **03** Fleet A national reference network run to one calibration and metadata plan. [Managed offers →](https://observatory.global/industries/climate/solutions/) 4. **04** Network Reference stations join the national climate record and the global reference network through WMO. [The open protocol →](https://observatory.global/protocol/) - **01** Automatic weather station (WMO class) - **02** Compact weather station - **03** Sensor and instrument gateway - **04** Micro node (Nano) - **05** Cellular modem/router - **06** LEO flat-panel terminal - **07** Solar array - **08** Pole Radio and links ### Public cellular Cellular carries minute data and diagnostics where coverage reaches the site. Radio and links ### Satellite A satellite path keeps the record complete when terrestrial networks fail in extremes. Edge computeThe node compares redundant sensors every minute, flags any that disagree, computes daily values to climatological practice and keeps a full local archive so the record has no gaps. PowerMains with a long battery backup, or solar sized for the worst season; the station must not stop in the extremes it records. **04** How 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. Climate reference stations: data path – of 07 01 Instruments Measurement with sensor identity andcalibration 02 Gateway 03 Node – Wrap in an observation envelope with timequality– Measure quality and uncertainty, attachquality flags– Buffer locally (store-and-forward when thelink drops) 04 Backhaul Commit with transactional outbox andpublish, delivered at least once 05 Site Consumer inbox deduplicates and applieseach record once into governed data 06 Data store Governed product through API, map orexport, correction-aware 07 Products WMO WIS 2.0WIGOS metadataOGC SensorThings API 08 Power and structure Supplies 12 V DC, 48 V DC to the fieldequipment 01 Automatic weather station (WMOclass) SDI-12 · RS-485 · Ethernet 02 Compact weather station SDI-12 · RS-485 · Ethernet 03 Sensor and instrument gateway SDI-12 · RS-485 · Analogue I/O ·Ethernet · USB 04 Micro node (Nano) Ethernet · USB · Analogue I/O ·RS-485 · CAN 05 Cellular modem/router Ethernet · USB · RS-232 06 LEO flat-panel terminal Ethernet Site MQTT 5 with Sparkplug B Governed data store Versioned, correction-aware Long homogeneous climate records Extreme event records Reference values for other networks Station metadata 07 Solar array RS-485 08 Pole SDI-12 · SDI-12 SDI-12 · SDI-12 Ethernet · MQTT 5 Ethernet Ethernet LTE/NR Satellite IP From the instrument to the published product: each band is a tier, each connector names its interface, and the numbers match the bill of materials. Hover or focus a block to trace its path; scroll or step to follow one observation. | Item | Equipment | Data ports | Protocols | Power in | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 01 | **Automatic weather station (WMO class)** Automatic weather station built and sited to WMO-No. 8 instrument and siting classes, reporting WIGOS metadata. | SDI-12RS-485Ethernet | SDI-12, Modbus, MQTT 5, OGC SensorThings API | 12 V DC | | 02 | **Compact weather station** All-in-one or compact station for temperature, humidity, pressure, wind and rain at a site. | SDI-12RS-485Ethernet | SDI-12, Modbus, MQTT 5, OGC SensorThings API | 12 V DC | | 03 | **Sensor and instrument gateway** Data logger and gateway that reads instruments on SDI-12, RS-485, analogue and Ethernet ports and publishes observations with calibration and time. | SDI-12RS-485Analogue I/OEthernetUSB | SDI-12, Modbus, MQTT 5, OGC SensorThings API, OGC API Connected Systems, OMA LwM2M | 12 V DC, PoE | | 04 | **Micro node (Nano)** Single-board or module-class node for sensor sites, gateways and low-power deployments. | EthernetUSBAnalogue I/ORS-485CAN | MQTT 5, OMA LwM2M, CoAP | PoE, 12 V DC, USB PD | | 05 | **Cellular modem/router** LTE or NR modem or router that uses a public carrier or private network as backhaul. | EthernetUSBRS-232 | 3GPP E-UTRA air interface, 3GPP NR air interface, OMA LwM2M | 12 V DC, PoE | | 06 | **LEO flat-panel terminal** Electronically steered flat-panel user terminal for low-Earth-orbit broadband constellations. | Ethernet | — | PoE, 48 V DC, AC mains | | 07 | **Solar array** PV modules with charge controller sized to the site's load and climate. | RS-485 | Modbus | — | | 08 | **Pole** Utility, street or dedicated pole with clamp positions. | — | — | — | How it scales 01 Instruments Arbitrary qualified sensors and instruments whosemeasurements are ingested with calibration, units,geometry, time, custody and uncertainty. ×n 02 Node The minimum useful deployable unit: server, ruggedappliance, radio node, sensor gateway, satelliteterminal, AI, scientific, vehicle or virtual node. Node Node agent 03 Site The minimum independently operable localgovernance and failure domain: one or more nodesplus local network, identity, policy, evidence,storage, products and operator surfaces. SITE Node Node Node ×n 04 Cluster An optional scale or specialisation domain forscheduling, shared storage, accelerators or datalocality. CLUSTER ×n 05 Fleet Coordinates plans, acknowledgements,convergence evidence, update campaigns andcorrection propagation across nodes and sites. FLEET Fleet controller ×n 06 Federation An exchange of products, capabilities, events orwork across approved, independently administeredtrust domains, using explicit trust, policy,data-locality, version and correction contracts. TRUST DOMAIN TRUST DOMAIN TRUST DOMAIN ×n Verifier Applications Data in the field Telemetry Control Data upstream Control Data upstream Control Exchange Evidence Events Exchange The smallest deployable unit is one node; the same unit is replicated to meet the demand. Nodes form a site, sites may form a cluster, sites and clusters are coordinated as a fleet, and fleets exchange across independently administered trust domains. Each plane is a separate channel with its own open binding. **Data in the field**: MQTT 5 with Sparkplug B; connectors for LoRaWAN, OPC UA and instrument buses. **Telemetry**: OpenTelemetry OTLP. **Control**: TLS 1.3 with mutual authentication; protobuf messages over gRPC or HTTP/2. **Data upstream**: At-least-once publication with repeat-safe keys over the control channel or NATS JetStream; QUIC MAY be used on lossy links. **Evidence**: DSSE-signed in-toto statements; SLSA provenance; SCITT transparency receipts. **Events**: Event envelopes mapped to CloudEvents 1.0; channels described in AsyncAPI 3. **Exchange**: OpenAPI 3.1; the OGC API family; SensorThings; STAC; WIS 2.0. **05** From 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 record The scope reads the national climate record, long stations at risk, gaps in the reference network and the service's archive. Nexus Observatory Inc. returns the reference station plan, calibration traceability, metadata practice and a price per station and per year. 2 2. 02 Survey Survey for a century Crews survey candidate sites with the service for land that will stay representative for decades: ownership, planned development nearby, exposure, flood and fire risk, and power. Photographs in all directions are taken for the record. Every finding is kept with the site record for the crews who follow. 1 3. 03 Permits Secure the land Long-term land agreements protect the site and its surroundings, planning authorities are told of the station so development nearby is considered, and every agreement is kept with the station record, because a moved station breaks its record. Approvals are tracked site by site, so nothing waits unseen. 4. 04 Build Build with traceable sensors Redundant sensors are calibrated against references traceable to national standards, stations are assembled, nodes configured to compare sensors, enrolled with their identities and run together for weeks before shipping. Test results travel with the kit to the site. Nothing ships until the whole kit has passed its tests together. 1 5. 05 Install Install to the reference standard Crews set the enclosure, screens, gauges and mast at standard exposures, install redundant sensors, power and two backhaul paths, and record every height and position. Where a station replaces an older one, both run side by side. The site record is updated before the crew leaves. 1 6. 06 Commission Overlap and commission Each node proves its identity. Redundant sensors are compared with a travelling reference, and where a station replaces another they run in parallel for long enough to measure the difference, so the record stays homogeneous. Results are signed and kept with the site record. 4 7. 07 Operate Keep the record The service sees every reference station, sensor agreement, gaps and metadata. Daily values enter the national climate record and the global reference network, and every change is recorded so future users understand each value. Reports for owners and funders come from the same record. 3 8. 08 Maintain Change nothing without a record Sensors rotate through calibration on the agreed plan with overlaps, surroundings are photographed each year, software updates roll out in rings and every change is written to the metadata. The record stays trusted for decades. Spares and procedures travel with the crews. 4 **06** Data products and integration ## What it delivers, to whom, and into which systems. Data products - **Long homogeneous climate records** Climate services and scientists - **Extreme event records** Attribution and adaptation teams - **Reference values for other networks** Network managers - **Station metadata** Archive and data users Integration - **National climate archive** Daily and minute data enter the service's archive. - **Global reference network** Data and metadata are shared through WMO. - **Other networks** Reference values support the quality control of nearby stations. Exchanged through WMO WIS 2.0, WIGOS metadata, OGC SensorThings API. **07** Questions buyers ask ## Before you scope it. Why redundant sensors? So a failing or drifting sensor never breaks the record. What if a site must move? Old and new stations run in parallel to measure the difference. How long will it last? It is designed and sited to run for decades. Who keeps the metadata? The service, with every change recorded automatically. **08** Resources ## The sources behind this page. Public standards, regulations and guidance, cited where they apply. Each applies only where its jurisdiction or scope does. 1. **1** [WMO-No. 8: Guide to Instruments and Methods of Observation](https://library.wmo.int/) World Meteorological Organization 2. **2** [GCOS-244: The 2022 GCOS Implementation Plan](https://gcos.wmo.int/) Global Climate Observing System · 2022 3. **3** [WMO-No. 1160: Manual on the WMO Integrated Global Observing System](https://library.wmo.int/) World Meteorological Organization 4. **4** [WMO-No. 100: Guide to Climatological Practices](https://library.wmo.int/) World Meteorological Organization · 2018 **09** Related ## Use cases and solutions. [Use case GBON gap-filler stationA WMO-grade surface station, optional upper-air ground station and a WIS 2.0 node, built to report reliably where the global basic observing network has gaps.The full use case →](https://observatory.global/use-cases/gbon-gap-filler/) [Use case State or provincial mesonet siteA full weather station on a solar-powered tower with soil sensors, one of a dense network run by a university.The full use case →](https://observatory.global/use-cases/mesonet-site/) [Solution National observing network programmesBuild-operate-transfer of national observing infrastructure as digital public infrastructure, with transfer of skills and records.Solutions for climate →](https://observatory.global/industries/climate/solutions/#national-networks) [Solution Observation data products and evidence bundlesLicensed feeds and archives with metadata, quality flags and provenance on every value; evidence bundles for audits and claims processes.Solutions for climate →](https://observatory.global/industries/climate/solutions/#observation-data) [Solution Device and software qualification against the protocolTest programmes that show a device or release meets the protocol for a stated scope, with published results.Solutions for climate →](https://observatory.global/industries/climate/solutions/#qualification-lab) **10** Climate: specialized fields ## Other fields of this industry. [Specialized field Greenhouse gas monitoringTall-tower and urban stations that measure carbon dioxide and methane to the global calibration scales, so emissions estimates and policies can be checked against the atmosphere.The full field →](https://observatory.global/industries/climate/greenhouse-gases/) [Specialized field Ecosystem carbon and water fluxesEddy covariance towers that measure how much carbon, water and energy forests, crops and wetlands exchange with the air, for climate science, carbon accounting and land management.The full field →](https://observatory.global/industries/climate/ecosystem-fluxes/) [Specialized field Glaciers, snow and mountain waterGlacier, snow and runoff stations in high mountains, measuring the ice and snow that store water for the valleys below and change fastest in a warming climate.The full field →](https://observatory.global/industries/climate/mountain-cryosphere/) ### Bring us the site. 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