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School observatoriesA real observatory on the school roof.
Students learn science best with real data they collected themselves. A school observatory of weather, air quality and seismic sensors gives every class a live record of its own place, with protocols that make the data good enough for science networks and lessons that use it.
Plan a deploymentHow it worksStation Builder- Industry
- Education
- Measurements
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- Sources cited
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Education · School observatories
Science with their own data
Students learn science best with data they collected themselves about their own place. A real observatory at school turns weather, air and earthquakes from textbook pages into live questions, and protocols make the data good enough to share with science networks.
What is measured
Weather, air and ground
A weather station on the roof measures temperature, humidity, wind and rain; an air quality sensor at the gate measures particles; a small seismometer in a quiet room records ground motion from passing trucks to distant earthquakes. Classes add their own protocol observations.
- Instruments
- Weather station · Air quality sensor · Seismometer
The base node
Clean data for classes
The node checks every value, flags faults so teachers know when to call for help, and publishes clean data to class dashboards and the network, so lessons start from data students can trust. Nothing is lost when a link drops; the node keeps it.
Radio and links
On the school network
Stations join the school network, so data reach classrooms without new links; schools without a reliable network use a cellular modem. Dashboards embed in the school’s learning platform. Each link is chosen for the place, not from a catalogue. When one path fails, the other carries the data.
- Links
- Wi-Fi · Public cellular
How it works
From a tremor to a lesson
A distant earthquake shakes the school seismometer during a maths lesson. The next science class finds the trace, compares it with three other schools, and works out how far away the earthquake was from the arrival times. Every step is kept on the record.
From order to operation · Order
Scope with the district
The scope reads the district’s schools, curriculum goals, teacher capacity and network rules. Nexus Observatory Inc. returns the station kit, lessons, teacher training, support and a price per school and per year. Every assumption in the scope is written down and priced.
Plan a deploymentFrom order to operation · Survey
Survey each school
Crews visit each school with a teacher: roof or ground for weather exposure, the gate for air quality, a quiet room for the seismometer, network access and safety. Findings are recorded with photographs. Every finding is kept with the site record for the crews who follow.
From order to operation · Permits
School and family consent
The school and district approve installation, building rules for roof work are followed, and data and privacy rules for students are agreed with families. Every approval is kept with the school record. Approvals are tracked site by site, so nothing waits unseen.
From order to operation · Build
Build and test
Stations are assembled, calibrated, nodes enrolled with their identities and configured for the school network, and dashboards prepared for classes. Each kit runs before it ships. Test results travel with the kit to the site. Nothing ships until the whole kit has passed its tests together.
Open the Station BuilderFrom order to operation · Install
Install with students
Crews install the station with a class watching, explaining each instrument and why it sits where it does. Every part is photographed, and the teacher learns the simple checks. The site record is updated before the crew leaves. Crews follow the site safety plan throughout the work.
From order to operation · Commission
Commission with a lesson
Each node proves its identity. Readings are compared with a reference and the nearest official station, and the first lesson uses the school’s own data to check them. Results are signed and kept with the site record. Acceptance is recorded with the owner before handover.
From order to operation · Operate
Learn with live data
Classes see their own weather, air and ground motion in lessons; students compare schools, record protocol observations and share data with networks. Teachers receive alerts only when something needs fixing. Reports for owners and funders come from the same record.
From order to operation · Maintain
Remote support
Faults are diagnosed remotely, parts are swapped by post or on a visit, sensors are recalibrated on the agreed plan and software updated in rings. Teachers are never left maintaining equipment alone. Spares and procedures travel with the crews. Maintenance history stays with each site for its whole life.
Book field servicesData products
For classes and networks
Teachers and students receive live class dashboards; teachers receive lesson plans built on local data; science networks receive quality-checked data; support teams receive fault alerts, each tied to school and time. Each product carries its site, time and quality flags.
See the data productsEvidence
Protocols that make it science
Measurements follow the school science protocols and the WMO instrument guide, air quality is set against the health guidelines and ambient air rules, and every value keeps its calibration, so student data can stand beside official records. Records are open to the people who must check them.
- Drawn against
- GLOBE Program protocols · WMO-No. 8 · WHO global air quality guidelines · Directive (EU) 2024/2881
What you get
Sensing as a Service
Observation networks designed, installed, operated and maintained for a monthly fee: weather, hydromet, air, seismic and environmental stations, with data delivered under a licence. Delivered as managed service and data licence, for agencies, utilities, municipalities, insurers, agribusiness. Scale: Global, multi-site, per-site pricing.
Talk to salesNext step
Plan school observatories 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 school observatories. 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 contextSchool science programmes have published protocols for students to measure the environment, weather instruments have siting and exposure guidance, and air quality is set against health guidelines and ambient air rules. Data that follow these protocols can join citizen science and research networks.
Hazards
- Stations sited where data are useless
- Sensors that fail and are never fixed
- Data that stay on a classroom computer
- Teachers without time to maintain equipment
- Student privacy in shared data
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.
| Measurement | Where | Cadence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weather | A station on the roof or school ground | Every few minutes | 12 |
| Air quality | A sensor at the school gate or playground | Every few minutes | 34 |
| Ground motion | A small seismometer in a quiet room | Continuous | 2 |
| Student observations | Protocol measurements by classes | During lessons | 2 |
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.
- 01
Base unit
A station: weather, air quality and seismic sensors on a sensor hub with a small node.
Build a station → - 02
Site
A school: the station on the school network, with dashboards for classes.
Plan a site → - 03
Fleet
Many schools of a district or country as one network, with shared lessons.
Managed offers → - 04
Network
Schools share data with science networks and each other through open standards.
The open protocol →
- 01Compact weather station
- 02Air quality monitor
- 03Seismometer / strong-motion accelerometer
- 04Sensor and instrument gateway
- 05Micro node (Nano)
Radio and links
Wi-Fi
Stations join the school network, so data reach classrooms without new links.
Radio and links
Public cellular
Schools without a reliable network use a cellular modem.
Edge computeThe node checks values, flags faults so teachers know when to call for help, and publishes clean data to class dashboards and the network.
PowerMains from the school with a small battery; roof stations can run on solar.
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.
School observatories: 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 OGC SensorThings APIMQTTCSV 01 Compact weather station SDI-12 · RS-485 · Ethernet 02 Air quality monitor SDI-12 · RS-485 · Ethernet 03 Seismometer / strong-motionaccelerometer SDI-12 · RS-485 · Ethernet 04 Sensor and instrument gateway SDI-12 · RS-485 · Analogue I/O ·Ethernet · USB 05 Micro node (Nano) Ethernet · USB · Analogue I/O ·RS-485 · CAN IP backhaul Not in the reference kit Site MQTT 5 with Sparkplug B Governed data store Versioned, correction-aware Live class dashboards Lesson plans with local data Quality-checked data Fault alerts SDI-12 · SDI-12 SDI-12 · SDI-12 Ethernet · MQTT 5 Ethernet · MQTT 5 Ethernet IP| Item | Equipment | Data ports | Protocols | Power in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Compact weather stationAll-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 |
| 02 | Air quality monitorParticulate and gas monitor (PM, NO2, O3, CO, SO2) for outdoor or indoor air. | SDI-12RS-485Ethernet | SDI-12, Modbus, MQTT 5, OGC SensorThings API | 12 V DC |
| 03 | Seismometer / strong-motion accelerometerShort-period seismometer or strong-motion accelerometer for local earthquake and structural shaking. | SDI-12RS-485Ethernet | SEED / miniSEED streams, MQTT 5, OGC SensorThings API | 12 V DC |
| 04 | Sensor and instrument gatewayData 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 |
| 05 | 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 |
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- 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.
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.
- 01 Order
Scope with the district
The scope reads the district’s schools, curriculum goals, teacher capacity and network rules. Nexus Observatory Inc. returns the station kit, lessons, teacher training, support and a price per school and per year. Every assumption in the scope is written down and priced. 2
- 02 Survey
Survey each school
Crews visit each school with a teacher: roof or ground for weather exposure, the gate for air quality, a quiet room for the seismometer, network access and safety. Findings are recorded with photographs. Every finding is kept with the site record for the crews who follow. 1
- 03 Permits
School and family consent
The school and district approve installation, building rules for roof work are followed, and data and privacy rules for students are agreed with families. Every approval is kept with the school record. Approvals are tracked site by site, so nothing waits unseen.
- 04 Build
Build and test
Stations are assembled, calibrated, nodes enrolled with their identities and configured for the school network, and dashboards prepared for classes. Each kit runs before it ships. Test results travel with the kit to the site. Nothing ships until the whole kit has passed its tests together.
- 05 Install
Install with students
Crews install the station with a class watching, explaining each instrument and why it sits where it does. Every part is photographed, and the teacher learns the simple checks. The site record is updated before the crew leaves. Crews follow the site safety plan throughout the work. 1
- 06 Commission
Commission with a lesson
Each node proves its identity. Readings are compared with a reference and the nearest official station, and the first lesson uses the school’s own data to check them. Results are signed and kept with the site record. Acceptance is recorded with the owner before handover. 2
- 07 Operate
Learn with live data
Classes see their own weather, air and ground motion in lessons; students compare schools, record protocol observations and share data with networks. Teachers receive alerts only when something needs fixing. Reports for owners and funders come from the same record. 23
- 08 Maintain
Remote support
Faults are diagnosed remotely, parts are swapped by post or on a visit, sensors are recalibrated on the agreed plan and software updated in rings. Teachers are never left maintaining equipment alone. Spares and procedures travel with the crews. Maintenance history stays with each site for its whole life.
06Data products and integration
What it delivers, to whom, and into which systems.
Data products
- Live class dashboardsTeachers and students
- Lesson plans with local dataTeachers
- Quality-checked dataScience networks
- Fault alertsSupport teams
Integration
- Learning platformsDashboards and lessons embed in the school’s learning platform.
- Science networksData are shared with citizen science networks.
- Air quality networksAir data are shared with local monitoring.
Exchanged through OGC SensorThings API, MQTT, CSV.
07Questions buyers ask
Before you scope it.
Do teachers need to maintain it?
No. Faults are handled remotely or by our crews.
Is student data private?
Stations measure the environment, not students.
Can data be used in research?
Yes, when they follow the protocols.
Does it fit the curriculum?
Lessons are written for it.
08Resources
The sources behind this page.
Public standards, regulations and guidance, cited where they apply. Each applies only where its jurisdiction or scope does.
- 1WMO-No. 8: Guide to Instruments and Methods of ObservationWorld Meteorological Organization
- 2GLOBE Program protocols (Teacher’s Guide)The GLOBE Program
- 3WHO global air quality guidelinesWorld Health Organization · 2021
- 4Directive (EU) 2024/2881 on ambient air quality and cleaner air for EuropeEuropean Union · 2024
09Related
Use cases and solutions.
Use caseSchool connectivity observatory
A connected school as an observatory node: backhaul, Wi-Fi, a connectivity probe and an optional weather and air-quality station.The full use case →Use caseCitizen seismology node
A compact seismograph on a network connection, registered in an open seismic data network.The full use case →SolutionSensing as a Service
Observation networks designed, installed, operated and maintained for a monthly fee: weather, hydromet, air, seismic and environmental stations, with data delivered under a licence.Solutions for education →SolutionOperator and technician training on delivered systems
Hands-on courses for customer staff on the systems they run; no public credentials are issued by the group.Solutions for education →SolutionHybrid air-quality networks
Reference analysers plus calibrated low-cost nodes, with co-location calibration and an open-data interface.Solutions for education →10Education: specialized fields
Other fields of this industry.
Specialized fieldClassroom air and ventilation
Carbon dioxide, temperature, humidity and particle sensing in every classroom, so schools ventilate when needed, keep rooms comfortable and show parents the air is good.The full field →Specialized fieldTechnician training and qualification
Training labs with real stations, calibration benches and network equipment, where technicians learn to install, calibrate and repair observing systems and earn recognised qualifications.The full field →Specialized fieldSafe schools
Earthquake, flood and heat sensing at schools, linked to warnings and drills, so schools protect students, stay open and recover quickly after hazards.The full field →Bring us the site.
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