--- title: "An observation grid, end to end | Nexus Observatory" description: "An observation is not a reading. It is a reading with a place, a time, a calibration and a path that anyone can follow back." url: https://observatory.global/stories/observation-grid/ publisher: Nexus Observatory Inc. updated: 2026-10-31 --- [Stories](https://observatory.global/stories/)System: End to end # An observation grid, end to end An observation is not a reading. It is a reading with a place, a time, a calibration and a path that anyone can follow back. An observing grid is the machinery that keeps those attached from the sensor to the archive, the idea behind the World Meteorological Organization’s integrated observing system1. **Systems**: Sensors, Access networks, Edge admission, Federation **Toward 2030**: Interoperable national and global networks **Figures**: 4, field scene, systems diagram, simulator, layer stack Go to the references **01** Field scene ## One site, every layer of the grid. On a real valley, a cell site, a weather station, a radar and a seismic vault report to an edge node that admits each reading: it checks the sender, stamps the time and records the calibration in force. From there the observation is published, not just stored. Figure as text: A valley site with four instrument types and an edge node An alpine valley from elevation data with a cell site, weather station, radar, seismic vault and edge node, joined by dashed red links. - Edge admission - Cell site - Weather - Radar - Seismic **02** Systems diagram ## Four tiers, one path. Sensors reach the grid through whatever access fits the site: a low-power network for probes, a private cell for cameras, a satellite where nothing else reaches. The edge admits and times; federation shares across agencies through open interfaces23. Fail a part to see how the paths reroute and what is lost. Figure as text: The observing grid from sensor to federation A four-tier diagram: sensors, access networks, edge nodes and federated services, with red routes from every sensor to the archive and the alerting service. - **Sensors** : Weather, Gauge, Camera, Seismic, Soil probe - **Access** : LPWAN, Private 5G, Satellite - **Edge** : Edge A, Edge B - **Federation** : Archive, Alerting 15 links. Scenarios: Normal operation; Edge A lost; LPWAN gateway lost. **03** Simulator ## Sizing a grid. How many sites does an area need, and how much data does it make? With hexagonal cells the arithmetic is simple, and it opens the conversation with any agency planning a network. Set the area, the cell radius, the sensor density and the reporting interval. Figure as text: Sites and data volume for an observing grid A hexagonal grid of cells with the centre cell in red and the computed site count. | Area to cover | 400 km² | | --- | --- | | Cell radius | 3 km | | Sensors per km² | 20 | | Report interval | 300 s | | Sites (hexagonal layout) | 18 | | Sensors | 8,000 | | Data per day at 64 bytes a report | 147.5 MB | **04** Layer stack ## What the grid publishes. A grid publishes layers that register with each other: terrain, imagery, infrastructure, the stations and an analysis grid on which observations are aggregated. Catalogues describe them so they can be found4. Figure as text: The published layers of an observing grid An exploded stack of terrain, imagery, infrastructure, stations, an analysis grid and a raster field. 1. **Terrain** 2. **Imagery** 3. **Infrastructure** 4. **Stations** : Red: reporting now. 5. **Analysis grid** 6. **Analysed field** Figure 1 Field scene Figure 1. A valley site with four instrument types and an edge node. An alpine valley from elevation data with a cell site, weather station, radar, seismic vault and edge node, joined by dashed red links. ## References 1. Manual on the WMO Integrated Global Observing System (WMO-No. 1160). World Meteorological Organization, 2023. 2. [OGC API – Features – Part 1: Core](https://www.ogc.org/standards/ogcapi-features/) . Open Geospatial Consortium, 2019. 3. [WMO Information System 2.0 (WIS2)](https://community.wmo.int/en/activity-areas/wis) . World Meteorological Organization, 2025. 4. [SpatioTemporal Asset Catalog specification 1.0.0](https://stacspec.org) . STAC community, 2021. ## Related stories [System: Data provenance chain **From sensor to record** A published observation should carry its own history: which instrument made it, when, under which calibration, and every step since. The web already has a…](https://observatory.global/stories/provenance/) [System: Federation across agencies **Many agencies, one picture** No single agency observes everything it needs. Federation lets each keep its own systems and still share: common interfaces, common catalogues and common…](https://observatory.global/stories/federation/) [System: Timing and PNT **Time as infrastructure** A 5G cell must hold its phase within 3 µs of its neighbours, ±1.5 µs of a common reference; a synchrophasor’s one per cent vector error leaves room for only…](https://observatory.global/stories/timing-pnt/) ## Where this applies [Observatory Protocol](https://observatory.global/earth-observation/)[Sensors & instruments](https://observatory.global/sensors/)[Connectivity](https://observatory.global/connectivity/)[Edge compute & AI](https://observatory.global/edge-ai/)[Data & licensing](https://observatory.global/data-products/)[Training and enablement](https://observatory.global/#lines)[Climate](https://observatory.global/industries/climate/)[Public safety](https://observatory.global/industries/public-safety/)[Research](https://observatory.global/industries/research/)[Government](https://observatory.global/industries/government/)[Education](https://observatory.global/industries/education/)[Field tour: mountain valley](https://observatory.global/environments/mountain-valley/)[Field tour: river basin](https://observatory.global/environments/river-basin/) © 2026 Nexus Observatory Inc. **Legal** [Privacy notice](https://observatory.global/legal/privacy/) · [Terms of use](https://observatory.global/legal/terms/) · [Cookie policy](https://observatory.global/legal/cookies/) · [Accessibility](https://observatory.global/legal/accessibility/) · [Official languages](https://observatory.global/official-languages/) · [Notices](https://observatory.global/notices/) **Company** [About](https://observatory.global/about/) · [Open governance](https://observatory.global/consortium/) · [Contact](https://observatory.global/contact/)