--- title: "Heat and health monitoring | Nexus Observatory" description: "Heat kills more people than most other weather hazards, mostly the old, the ill and those in hot homes. Heat measured where vulnerable people live…" url: https://observatory.global/industries/health/heat-health/ publisher: Nexus Observatory Inc. updated: 2026-11-02 --- [Nexus Observatory](https://observatory.global/) / [Health](https://observatory.global/industries/health/) / [Specialized fields](https://observatory.global/industries/health/fields/) / **Heat and health** # Heatwaves met before they harm. Heat kills more people than most other weather hazards, mostly the old, the ill and those in hot homes. Heat measured where vulnerable people live, in streets, homes and care homes, and joined with forecasts, lets health services warn, check on people and open cool spaces before the peak. [Plan a deployment](https://observatory.global/contact/deployment/) How it works [Station Builder](https://observatory.global/studio/builder/) **Industry**: Health **Measurements**: 4 **Sources cited**: 4 1. Health · Heat and health A silent killer Heat kills more people than most other weather hazards, mostly the old, the ill and those living in hot homes, and most deaths happen indoors. Official stations sit at airports and parks, far from the hottest streets and rooms. Health services need heat measured where people at risk live. 2. What is measured Streets, homes and care homes Stations in hot streets and squares measure temperature, humidity, wind and radiant heat for the heat stress index. With consent, sensors in care homes and the homes of people at risk measure indoor temperature, and a reference station anchors the network to official records. InstrumentsStreet heat stations · Indoor sensors · Reference station 3. The base node Where to act first The node computes the heat stress index for each street, tracks indoor temperatures against the action plan's thresholds, combines both with the forecast and tells health services which streets and care homes need them first. Nothing is lost when a link drops; the node keeps it. 4. Radio and links Across the city Street and indoor sensors reach gateways on rooftops across the city over a low-power link, without wiring homes or streets. Gateways and the node send data over cellular to health services, the city and the weather service. Each link is chosen for the place, not from a catalogue. LinksLoRaWAN · Public cellular 5. How it works From a hot night to a cooled care home During a heatwave a care home's bedrooms stay hot through the night. The node alerts the community health team at dawn; staff move residents to a cooled room, increase fluids and call the doctor for the most frail, and the action is recorded for the summer review. 6. From order to operation · Order Scope with the action plan The scope reads the heat-health action plan, the populations at risk, care homes, existing stations and the warning arrangements. Nexus Observatory Inc. returns the sensor plan, warning integration, privacy design and a price per city and per year. Every assumption in the scope is written down and priced. [Plan a deployment](https://observatory.global/contact/deployment/) 7. From order to operation · Survey Survey hot streets and homes Crews and health staff map hot streets, squares and housing, choose sites for street stations and agree with care homes and residents where indoor sensors go. Findings are recorded with photographs. Every finding is kept with the site record for the crews who follow. 8. From order to operation · Permits Consent and privacy Indoor sensors are installed only with the consent of residents or care homes, data protection is agreed with the health service, and street stations are approved by the city. Every consent is kept with the record. Approvals are tracked site by site, so nothing waits unseen. 9. From order to operation · Build Build and calibrate Street stations and indoor sensors are calibrated against references, radios paired, gateways and the node configured with the action plan thresholds and enrolled with their identities. 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 before summer Crews install street stations on poles, indoor sensors in agreed rooms, gateways on rooftops and the node, all before the heat season. Every point is photographed and recorded. The site record is updated before the crew leaves. Crews follow the site safety plan throughout the work. 11. From order to operation · Commission Commission with an exercise Each node proves its identity. Readings are compared with the reference station, thresholds are tested with a heat-health exercise, and alerts reach health services and care homes. Results are signed and kept with the site record. Acceptance is recorded with the owner before handover. 12. From order to operation · Operate Act before the peak Health services see heat stress by street and indoor temperatures by care home. Warnings trigger calls to people at risk, cooling in care homes and open cool spaces, and every action is recorded. Reports for owners and funders come from the same record. 13. From order to operation · Maintain Review every summer After each summer, thresholds and actions are reviewed with health outcomes, sensors are checked and recalibrated, batteries replaced and software updated in rings. Every change is kept with the record. Spares and procedures travel with the crews. Maintenance history stays with each site for its whole life. [Book field services](https://observatory.global/contact/field-service/) 14. Data products For health services and cities City and health planners receive heat stress by street; care homes and community health teams receive indoor temperature alerts; health services receive heat-health warnings with local detail; public health authorities receive summer reviews, each tied to place and time. Each product carries its site, time and quality flags. [See the data products](https://observatory.global/data-products/) 15. Evidence Warnings built on guidance Warnings follow the joint WMO and WHO guidance on heat-health warning systems, actions follow the heat-health action plan, heat stress uses the international index and the reference station follows the WMO guide. Every alert and action is kept for the summer review. Drawn againstWMO-No. 1142 · Heat-Health Action Plans · ISO 7243 · WMO-No. 8 16. What you get Environmental exposure monitoring for health programmes Heat, air and water exposure measurements around facilities and communities; no diagnosis or treatment. Delivered as managed service and data licence, for health authorities, hospital networks, employers. Scale: City to 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 heat and health 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 heat and health. 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 contextHeat-health warning systems are designed with the joint WMO and WHO guidance, cities and health services prepare heat-health action plans, and heat stress is assessed with the international index. Official stations sit at airports and parks, not in the hot streets and rooms where people suffer. Hazards - Heatwaves that kill older and ill people at home - Urban heat islands far hotter than official stations - Care homes overheating at night - Warnings that do not reach the people at risk - No local evidence of where heat is worst **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 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Street heat and heat stress index | Stations in hot streets and squares | Every few minutes | 12 | | Indoor temperature | Sensors in care homes and homes of people at risk, with consent | Every fifteen minutes | 3 | | Reference weather | A reference station in the city | Every minute | 4 | | Warning triggers and actions | Each warning and the actions taken | Each event | 13 | **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 sensor: a street heat station or an indoor sensor on a low-power radio. [Build a station →](https://observatory.global/studio/builder/) 2. **02** Site A city: street stations, indoor sensors, gateways and a node, with a reference station. [Plan a site →](https://observatory.global/contact/deployment/) 3. **03** Fleet Many cities of a region on one heat-health view, joined with the weather service. [Managed offers →](https://observatory.global/industries/health/solutions/) 4. **04** Network Health services, cities and weather services share heat records through open standards. [The open protocol →](https://observatory.global/protocol/) - **01** Compact weather station - **02** Automatic weather station (WMO class) - **03** LPWAN endpoint - **04** LoRaWAN gateway - **05** Micro node (Nano) - **06** Cellular modem/router - **07** Pole Radio and links ### LoRaWAN Street and indoor sensors reach gateways across the city over a low-power link. Radio and links ### Public cellular Gateways and the node send data over cellular. Edge computeThe node computes the heat stress index for each street, tracks indoor temperatures against thresholds in the action plan, combines them with the forecast and tells health services where to act first. PowerStreet stations run on small solar panels; indoor sensors run on batteries for years. **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. Heat and health: data path – of 08 01 Instruments Measurement with sensor identity andcalibration 02 Field radio 03 Gateway 04 Node – Wrap in an observation envelope with timequality– Measure quality and uncertainty, attachquality flags– Buffer locally (store-and-forward when thelink drops) 05 Backhaul Commit with transactional outbox andpublish, delivered at least once 06 Site Consumer inbox deduplicates and applieseach record once into governed data 07 Data store Governed product through API, map orexport, correction-aware 08 Products OGC SensorThings APICAP 1.2MQTT 09 Power and structure 01 Compact weather station SDI-12 · RS-485 · Ethernet 02 Automatic weather station (WMOclass) SDI-12 · RS-485 · Ethernet Indoor temperature sensors withLoRaWAN radios Not in the reference kit 03 LPWAN endpoint Analogue I/O · SDI-12 · RS-485 04 LoRaWAN gateway Ethernet · RF · GNSS antenna 05 Micro node (Nano) Ethernet · USB · Analogue I/O ·RS-485 · CAN 06 Cellular modem/router Ethernet · USB · RS-232 Site MQTT 5 with Sparkplug B Governed data store Versioned, correction-aware Heat stress by street Indoor temperature alerts Heat-health warnings with local detail Summer reviews 07 Pole SDI-12 LoRaWAN Ethernet · MQTT 5 LoRaWAN Ethernet Ethernet LTE/NR 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 | **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 | | 02 | **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 | | 03 | **LPWAN endpoint** Battery-powered endpoint on LoRaWAN, NB-IoT or LTE-M that carries one or more sensors. | Analogue I/OSDI-12RS-485 | LoRaWAN, OMA LwM2M, CoAP | Internal battery, Energy harvesting | | 04 | **LoRaWAN gateway** Multi-channel LoRaWAN gateway that forwards uplinks to a network server and schedules downlinks within duty limits. | EthernetRFGNSS antenna | LoRaWAN, MQTT 5 | PoE, 12 V DC | | 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 | | 06 | **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 | | 07 | **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 with the action plan The scope reads the heat-health action plan, the populations at risk, care homes, existing stations and the warning arrangements. Nexus Observatory Inc. returns the sensor plan, warning integration, privacy design and a price per city and per year. Every assumption in the scope is written down and priced. 3 2. 02 Survey Survey hot streets and homes Crews and health staff map hot streets, squares and housing, choose sites for street stations and agree with care homes and residents where indoor sensors go. Findings are recorded with photographs. Every finding is kept with the site record for the crews who follow. 4 3. 03 Permits Consent and privacy Indoor sensors are installed only with the consent of residents or care homes, data protection is agreed with the health service, and street stations are approved by the city. Every consent is kept with the record. Approvals are tracked site by site, so nothing waits unseen. 4. 04 Build Build and calibrate Street stations and indoor sensors are calibrated against references, radios paired, gateways and the node configured with the action plan thresholds and enrolled with their identities. Test results travel with the kit to the site. Nothing ships until the whole kit has passed its tests together. 5. 05 Install Install before summer Crews install street stations on poles, indoor sensors in agreed rooms, gateways on rooftops and the node, all before the heat season. Every point is photographed and recorded. The site record is updated before the crew leaves. Crews follow the site safety plan throughout the work. 6. 06 Commission Commission with an exercise Each node proves its identity. Readings are compared with the reference station, thresholds are tested with a heat-health exercise, and alerts reach health services and care homes. Results are signed and kept with the site record. Acceptance is recorded with the owner before handover. 1 7. 07 Operate Act before the peak Health services see heat stress by street and indoor temperatures by care home. Warnings trigger calls to people at risk, cooling in care homes and open cool spaces, and every action is recorded. Reports for owners and funders come from the same record. 3 8. 08 Maintain Review every summer After each summer, thresholds and actions are reviewed with health outcomes, sensors are checked and recalibrated, batteries replaced and software updated in rings. Every change is kept with the record. Spares and procedures travel with the crews. Maintenance history stays with each site for its whole life. **06** Data products and integration ## What it delivers, to whom, and into which systems. Data products - **Heat stress by street** City and health planners - **Indoor temperature alerts** Care homes and community health teams - **Heat-health warnings with local detail** Health services - **Summer reviews** Public health authorities Integration - **Weather service** Local heat data join the heat-health warning system. - **Health services** Alerts reach community health teams. - **City planning** Heat maps support cooling and greening plans. Exchanged through OGC SensorThings API, CAP 1.2, MQTT. **07** Questions buyers ask ## Before you scope it. Do you monitor people? No. Indoor sensors measure rooms, with consent. Why not use official stations? They sit in cooler places than where people suffer. Who acts on alerts? Health services and care homes, under their action plan. Can it guide tree planting? Yes, street heat maps show where cooling matters most. **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. 1142: Heatwaves and Health: Guidance on Warning-System Development](https://library.wmo.int/) World Meteorological Organization and World Health Organization · 2015 2. **2** [ISO 7243: Ergonomics of the thermal environment, assessment of heat stress using the WBGT index](https://www.iso.org/) International Organization for Standardization · 2017 3. **3** [Heat-Health Action Plans: guidance](https://www.who.int/) World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe · 2008 4. **4** [WMO-No. 8: Guide to Instruments and Methods of Observation](https://library.wmo.int/) World Meteorological Organization **09** Related ## Use cases and solutions. [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 Environmental exposure monitoring for health programmesHeat, air and water exposure measurements around facilities and communities; no diagnosis or treatment.Solutions for health →](https://observatory.global/industries/health/solutions/#exposure-monitoring) [Solution Sensing as a ServiceObservation 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 health →](https://observatory.global/industries/health/solutions/#sensing-service) [Solution Hydrometeorological and flood observing networksStream gauges, rain gauges, weather radar and automatic weather stations built to WMO practice, reporting through WIS 2.0 where the agency requires it.Solutions for health →](https://observatory.global/industries/health/solutions/#hydromet-networks) **10** Health: specialized fields ## Other fields of this industry. [Specialized field Hospital environmentsVentilation, pressure, temperature, medical gases and pharmacy storage in hospitals, watched continuously so critical rooms stay within their limits and every excursion is on record.The full field →](https://observatory.global/industries/health/hospital-environments/) [Specialized field Mosquito and vector surveillanceCounting traps, weather and standing-water sensing that track mosquitoes and the conditions they breed in, so health authorities target control before outbreaks.The full field →](https://observatory.global/industries/health/vector-surveillance/) [Specialized field Wastewater surveillanceFlow-proportional sampling, flow and water quality at treatment plants and in sewers, giving public health early, anonymous signals of infections in a community.The full field →](https://observatory.global/industries/health/wastewater-surveillance/) ### Bring us the site. 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