Connecting weather stations, corporate IT and professional meteorology through an open architecture.
Weather infrastructure should work as part of the organisation that owns it. A council, infrastructure operator or energy company should be able to use its observations across its own systems, decide who maintains its equipment and choose the companies that provide its weather services. At OpenWeather, we build integrated weather solutions around these principles: ownership, transparency, integration and the freedom to develop a network as requirements change.
A complete operational system with three connected parts
Our integrated solution brings together three connected parts:
- Weather stations and sensors measure local conditions. These can include an existing fleet, OpenWeather stations and sensors, or a combination of both.
- Hydra, the control and management software, manages the connected infrastructure, its observations and access permissions.
- The meteorological bureau combines professional meteorologists with forecasts, alerts, dashboards and specialist applications. OpenWeather’s high resolution forecasting technology, OWHM™, underpins these services, connecting local observations with the wider weather picture and the decisions customers need to make.
OpenWeather can supply the complete system, integrate an existing fleet of weather stations and sensors, or combine new equipment with compatible stations already in service. For a highways team, this brings station observations, road weather forecasts, treatment planning, salt management and meteorological advice into one coordinated service. For energy and agriculture, the same architecture supports services suited to their specific assets and operations.
Connecting existing weather stations
We begin by assessing the stations already in place, including their condition, controllers, software, interfaces and connectivity, together with the access available to their owner. Supported stations connect to Hydra through the appropriate interfaces and adapters, with communications configured around the customer’s IT requirements. For each installation, we establish which observations, historical records, camera views and operational functions are available. Useful equipment can remain in service while its information becomes accessible within the customer’s wider systems.
Making weather infrastructure part of corporate IT
Hydra brings compatible stations from different manufacturers into one management environment. Engineers can view the network on a map, inspect individual installations, examine measurements and review available technical information. Connectivity monitoring, equipment records and SIM management help them understand how the network is operating and where attention is needed. Specialists can work with current observations and archives, compare measurements in charts and download records for analysis.
The same observations can also reach the organisation’s other applications. A highways team might use them within an intelligent transport system, an operations team within an incident management application, and analysts within their reporting tools.
Ownership expressed through clear permissions
In Hydra, each station has one owning organisation. That owner retains administrative control and decides which organisations may maintain the equipment or use its information. The appointed maintenance company receives Operation access to the relevant station information and supported operational functions. A meteorological bureau, equipment manufacturer, neighbouring authority or other authorised organisation can receive Viewer access to the observations, archives, diagnostics or camera views made available to it. Access is defined by the owner and can be changed or withdrawn as responsibilities change.
This creates clear relationships between the customer and its providers. A manufacturer can help diagnose a problem with its equipment. A maintenance company can inspect and service the installation. A meteorological bureau can use authorised observations to support forecasts and advice. Each works within the access granted for its role, while the customer retains control of the network and its records.
Growing the network
The network can expand in stages by adding compatible stations and sensors at priority locations, extending coverage or introducing new measurements. Hydra brings these additions into the same monitoring and analysis environment, helping teams manage a growing network as one system. This allows investment to follow operational needs and available budgets.
Freedom of choice
Customers can compare suppliers across all three parts of the solution on technical capability, suitability and overall cost, selecting the combination that best meets their needs. They can choose compatible equipment from different manufacturers, appoint their preferred maintenance company, select the management software that best supports their work and engage their chosen meteorological bureau. As technology advances, individual components can be upgraded or replaced where newer solutions offer a clear benefit, keeping the network up to date. Data portability allows owners to change management platforms while retaining and continuing to use their observation history.
We believe this is how the weather market should work. Manufacturers should compete through the quality of their equipment, software companies through the usefulness of their platforms, and meteorological bureaux through the quality of their forecasts and advice. Customers should be able to bring these strengths together around their own responsibilities. OpenWeather’s integrated approach gives that principle a practical structure: connected infrastructure, professional weather services and an owner who decides how the system develops.
To discuss connecting your existing weather stations or developing an integrated weather solution, contact OpenWeather info@openweathermap.org