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Sensors & instruments

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Technologies
The technologies behind sensors & instruments.

Every technology this platform builds with, layer by layer, from the open taxonomy. Marked in red: what is moving now, each traced to its source.

Plan with usArchitecture

Areas · 5 Technologies · 61 Industries · 21

01The layered map

Layer by layer, from the open taxonomy.

Each domain this platform draws on, with its layers and the technologies in each. Open a layer for what each technology does and the standard behind it.

In situ sensors and instruments

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.

The full directory →

Meteorology (WMO No. 8 classes)

Technologies · 10

  • Air temperature and humidity
  • Atmospheric pressure
  • Surface wind
  • Precipitation
  • Radiation and sunshine
  • Visibility, cloud and present weather
  • Siting classification
  • Automatic weather stations
  • Cryosphere: snow, ice and permafrost
  • Upper-air and boundary-layer profiling

Air quality and atmospheric composition

Technologies · 7

  • Reference gas analysers
  • Particulate matter monitors
  • Low-cost sensor systems
  • Ambient air quality frameworks
  • Greenhouse gas and reactive gas monitoring
  • Aerosol optics and sun photometry
  • Volatile organic compounds and odour

Hydrology and water

Technologies · 7

  • Water level
  • Discharge by velocity-area and rating curves
  • Acoustic Doppler current profilers (river)
  • Water quality sondes
  • Groundwater monitoring
  • Soil moisture and soil temperature
  • Hydrological data exchange

Ocean and coastal

Technologies · 7

  • CTD profilers
  • Acoustic Doppler current profilers (ocean)
  • Moored and drifting buoys
  • Argo-class profiling floats
  • Tide gauges and sea level
  • Gliders and uncrewed surface vehicles
  • Hydrophones and ocean acoustics

Seismic, geodetic, geomagnetic and radiation

Technologies · 8

  • Broadband and strong-motion seismometers
  • Infrasound arrays
  • Continuous GNSS geodetic stations
  • Tiltmeters, strainmeters and extensometers
  • Geomagnetic observatories and variometers
  • Ionospheric and space weather monitors
  • Ambient dose rate monitors
  • Gravimeters

RF, acoustics, cameras and radar

Technologies · 9 · Frontier · 1

  • Spectrum monitoring receivers
  • Direction finding and emitter geolocation
  • Acoustic and noise monitoring
  • EO/IR cameras
  • PTZ and networked video systems
  • Weather radar
  • Ground surveillance and perimeter radar
  • Lightning detection
  • Event-based and neuromorphic cameras

Calibration, metadata and quality control

Technologies · 7

  • Calibration laboratories and traceability
  • Measurement uncertainty
  • Field calibration and intercomparison
  • WIGOS metadata
  • Sensor and procedure descriptions
  • Automated quality control
  • Instrument lifecycle records

Frontier and research

Technologies · 6 · Frontier · 6

  • Quantum magnetometers and gravimeters
  • Distributed fibre-optic sensing
  • Machine-learning calibration of sensor networks
  • Environmental DNA autosamplers
  • Cosmic-ray neutron soil moisture
  • Smart instruments with onboard diagnostics

02Across the network

The whole spectrum, on the main site.

Main site

Every technology domain

All domains, layers and items, with their sources.Open →
Main site

The spectrum

The technologies of observation on one map.Open →
Observatory Protocol

Standards

The open standards the protocol is composed from.Open →

03On this site

Where to go next.

Sensors & instruments

Areas

Every area, with its systems and standards.Open →
Sensors & instruments

Architecture

Layers, functions and evidence.Open →
Sensors & instruments

Industries

The industry sites built on this platform.Open →
Sensors & instruments

Resources

Explainer, stories, specification and forms.Open →

Bring us the site.

We bring the survey, the design and the crew. The form names who receives your details.

Plan a deploymentContact

The technologies behind sensors & instruments.

Bring us the site.

We bring the survey, the design and the crew. The form names who receives your details.