In situ sensors and instruments
Calibration laboratories and traceability
Calibrations tied to SI standards through accredited laboratories with stated uncertainty.
We design, operate and maintain.
ISO/IEC 17025:2017 · CIPM MRA (BIPM)
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Sensors & instruments/
CalibrationTraceable to reference, recorded, repeated.
Calibration, inside Sensors & instruments: calibration laboratories and traceability, measurement uncertainty, field calibration and intercomparison, WIGOS metadata and more. Every item is traced to its specification, from ISO/IEC 17025:2017 to CIPM MRA (BIPM), and runs on the open Observatory Protocol.
Plan with usArchitectureThe protocol- Technologies
- 9
- At the frontier
- 0
- Protocol functions
- 3 of 8
- Industries served
- 21
Reference design, drawn to scale · drag to turn · hover a part
01What it is
Calibration, metadata and quality control.
Instruments placed in the air, water, ground and spectrum, from weather stations to seismometers, radars and cameras, with the calibration, metadata and quality control that make their readings evidence. Each technology below carries what it is, what we do with it, and the standard it is drawn against.
In situ sensors and instruments
Measurement uncertainty
Uncertainty budgets that travel with every reading.
We design and operate.
JCGM 100:2008 (GUM) · JCGM 200:2012 (VIM)
In situ sensors and instruments
Field calibration and intercomparison
Travelling standards, field checks and intercomparisons between instruments.
We deploy, operate and maintain.
WMO Regional Instrument Centres · WMO instrument intercomparisons
In situ sensors and instruments
WIGOS metadata
Station and instrument metadata to the WMO standard so others can interpret observations.
We design and operate.
WMO-No. 1192 (WIGOS Metadata Standard) · WMO-No. 1160 (Manual on WIGOS, station identifiers) · OSCAR/Surface
In situ sensors and instruments
Sensor and procedure descriptions
Machine-readable descriptions of sensors, processes and sampling.
We design and operate.
OGC SensorML 2.1 · ISO 19156:2023 · W3C/OGC SOSA/SSN
In situ sensors and instruments
Automated quality control
Range, rate, flat-line, spike and neighbour tests with flags on every value.
We design, integrate and operate.
IOOS QARTOD manuals · WMO WIGOS Data Quality Monitoring System (WDQMS)
In situ sensors and instruments
Instrument lifecycle records
Install, swap, calibration and fault history for each serial number.
We deploy, operate and maintain.
WMO-No. 1192 (instrument and maintenance categories)
In situ sensors and instruments
Reference gas analysers
Continuous analysers for nitrogen oxides, ozone, carbon monoxide and sulphur dioxide by reference methods.
We design, integrate, deploy, operate and maintain.
EN 14211 (NOx) · EN 14625 (O3) · EN 14626 (CO)
In situ sensors and instruments
Particulate matter monitors
Gravimetric and automated PM10 and PM2.5 measurement.
We design, integrate, deploy, operate and maintain.
EN 12341 (gravimetric PM) · EN 16450 (automated PM monitors) · US EPA 40 CFR Part 53 (reference and equivalent methods)
02Architecture
Where it sits, and what it speaks.
Calibration 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.
Meteorology (WMO No. 8 classes)
10
Air quality and atmospheric composition
7
Hydrology and water
7
Ocean and coastal
7
Seismic, geodetic, geomagnetic and radiation
8
RF, acoustics, cameras and radar
9
Calibration, metadata and quality control
7
Frontier and research
6
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, filtered to the atmosphere domain this area serves. A site built here enrols into the same grid.
04In the field
Where this runs, sector by sector.
6 deployment scenarios from the sector research that rely on calibration.
EnergyBankable solar and wind measurement campaigns
Accepted standards, traceable calibration and transparent data handling.Government and public safetyNational GBON surface and upper-air network
WMO-grade stations reporting through WIS 2.0, funded through the systematic-observations financing pathway.Government and public safetyWildfire camera network and fire-weather stations
Camera towers with edge inference and co-located fire-weather stations, utility- or agency-funded.Government and public safetyUrban street-flood sensor network
Open-hardware depth sensors with open data and alerts to emergency management.Government and public safetyAlerting integration with the Common Alerting Protocol and cell broadcast
Software-heavy: sensor triggers feed an alert origination tool; the alert authority keeps every decision.CitiesHybrid air-quality network
Reference analysers plus calibrated low-cost nodes; low-cost sensors alone do not meet regulatory requirements.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
- Metadata and quality rules
- Open networks on the grid
Enterprise, on this site
- Sensing as a Service
- Calibration programmes
- Qualification
06The rest of the line
Sensors & instruments, area by area.
Sensors & instrumentsInstruments
Atmosphere, water, ground and sky.Sensors & instrumentsWeather and environment
WMO siting practice, WIGOS metadata.Sensors & instrumentsRF sensing
Occupancy and interference, measured in the band.Sensors & instrumentsSensing as a Service
You take the observations; we run the hardware.Bring us the site.
Survey, design, deployment and operation for calibration. The form names who receives your details.
Talk to uscontact@observatory.global