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You are invited to test the new web interface Query Builder for our Vane platform.
You can use this simple tool to create your own map in just a few minutes, and with just one click receive a completed link for display on your site or app using a web map library like Leaflet, Open Layer, Mapbox and Google Map.

This version is an improvement over the previous one in terms of simplicity of use and layout. The user can select either one of the available data sources and the required combination of spectral bands or one of the derivative index products such as NDVI, EVI, etc. You can also set up display parameters, including clarity, contrast and gamma correction, or use one of the available schemes provided. After that, all you need is to get an API key and insert it in the prepared link, and you can use it in your programming product.
We are ready to answer your questions and will be glad to hear any proposals you might have.

A large amount of water is needed for normal plant development.The primary source of soil moisture is atmospheric precipitation.

Along with rain, solid precipitation in the form of snow that falls in the winter season exercises a significant influence on the agricultural cycle. Snow creates a snow cover that protects winter crops, perennial grasses and the root systems of fruit trees and small fruit plants against injury from frost. Furthermore, the snow cover provides a moisture reserve used by the plants in the spring and the first half of summer.

These moisture reserves accumulated in the soil before sowing contribute significantly to the development of all plants. Agricultural practice worldwide attests to the fact that the moisture accumulated during autumn and winter is a major factor limiting possibilities for un-irrigated agriculture. For example, deciding which areas to seed for wheat in arid districts often depends on the soil moisture content in the spring. If insufficient, fields designated for sowing wheat are used for crops that require less depth of moisture, or else are left fallow.

The role played by soil moisture in successful sowing varies considerably depending on the meteorological conditions during the growing season.

Very little dissipates in rainy seasons with lower air temperatures. On the other hand, plants survive largely at the expense of water in the soil during arid years, which normally dries up along the entire length of root development. In these situations, the autumn and winter water reserve from frozen precipitation is a primary source for providing plants with moisture, and field crops use up all these reserves completely in producing the harvest.

Given this situation, it’s difficult to overestimate a factor like precipitation accumulated over the winter. It’s possible to plan for field use for the upcoming season, decide which crops to plant and plan for the size of the harvest when you have data available on accumulated precipitation.

Accumulated precipitation data is calculated as the total precipitation for a given period, based on historical data.

Fields and gardens are complicated ecosystems in fact, and they are the perfect habitat for pests. Additionally to direct harm caused to plants by pests, many pest species can transmit viruses from one plant to another and hence spread diseases.  
Biology of living creatures is closely connected with weather. Organisms are dependent on seasonal cycles as well as on temporary fluctuations. Weather influences all living things primarily due to changes in temperature and humidity. Weather conditions can provoke a sharp increase in pest amount. For example, hot and dry weather gives rise to aphid, while slugs and snails thrive in relatively warm and wet conditions. Pest behavior is especially closely bound to temperature. Aftermath of non-seasonal changes in temperature (such as later than usual frosts or warmer summers) and its impact on pests is notorious for many centuries.  

Accumulated temperature is a weather parameter which directly influences productivity of agricultural plants. All biological and chemical processes taking place in the soil are connected with air temperature. Heat supply of crops is characterized by a sum of average daily air temperatures that are higher than a biological minimum during a vegetation period. Both too high and too low temperatures spoil a course of biochemical processes in cells, and irreversible changes can be caused that lead to a stop of growth and death of plants.

We are happy to announce our new APIs based on historical data and focused primarily on users from the agro-sector. API for accumulated temperature data and API for accumulated precipitation data.
Accumulated temperature data is an index that denotes an amount of warm. This index is determined as a sum of average daily air and soil temperatures which exceeds a definite threshold of 0, 5, 10 degrees or a biological minimum of temperature level which is crucial for some specific plant.
Accumulated precipitation data is calculated as a sum of all parameters for a peculiar period.

One of the strongest reasons to check the weather forecast is road traffic safety. Unfortunately, any weather change leads to an increasing number of road traffic crashes. However contrary to popular belief, one of the main reasons behind traffic collisions is neither sudden snow fall nor unexpected rain, but driver’s lack of knowledge about the weather influence on road traffic safety on the whole. And consequently, a significant part of drivers do not pay proper attention to a current weather forecast and they choose an inappropriate for the present weather way of driving. For example, many drivers comply with road speed limits only when the weather is really nasty, and such measures as usage of fog lights and reduction of cases when a driver changes a lane are rarely used. Nevertheless, even a light rain or haze can lead to increasing braking distance of a vehicle and trigger an accident.  

And what is particularly bad, the aggravating weather conditions enlarge an amount of cases when pedestrians are involved in traffic collisions. A driver does not plan to be a killer, but sadly such accidents happen often nowadays. Statistics say that in town areas every tenth crash is a collision of a vehicle with pedestrian.

Precipitation, mostly rains, has a huge impact on agriculture. For the growing all the plants need a smallest amount of water at least, and rain is still one of the most effective ways of watering despite the development of modern technologies. Too much or otherwise too little precipitation is bad and even harmful for agricultural plants. Drought can destroy the harvest and can increase erosion as well as the overly humid weather is able to trigger a growth of unfavorable fungi. Moreover, various kinds of plants demand different amounts of precipitation. For example, some succulent species require little water while tropical plants need hundreds of inches of rain a year just to maintain their living.
A fluctuation of precipitation amounts is quite substantial in continental climates. A fluctuation of month amounts is bigger than those of year. A considerable precipitation variation leads to situations when there is a precipitation lack during some years, and drought takes place thus forming the areas of unstable hydration. With a long absence of rains and at high temperatures the reserves of moisture in the soil dry out due to evaporation. A previous arid season brings a shortage of a crop yield even in a humid season as the harvest lacks time to ripen. Thus disadvantageous conditions for an ordinary plant development are established, and a crop yield of agricultural plants decreases or perishes.  
Along with precipitation amounts, the number of days with precipitation a month or a year is also a significant climatic index. Plants are sensitive about a matter whether a given precipitation amount falls at once during only several days or it rains often and a precipitation amount is distributed comparatively evenly throughout a month. For instance, even one great downpour in a prairie area in summer has a little ability to improve an arid situation.
Employing a data set of a precipitation amount and a number of days one can calculate an accumulated precipitation amount for any region during a specific period of time.

Temperature, and especially accumulated temperature, is an important factor and it plays a fundamental role in agricultural productivity. Plants and insects develop in accordance with temperature. The warmer weather, the faster they grow and reproduce, and otherwise, the colder, the slower the processes go.

All species have a biological minimum of a temperature level, and the development does not take place at all below this level. When temperature of environment begins to exceed this minimum level, it gives a start to growth and reproduction. The value of this basic temperature (or a development threshold) has a crucial significance, and it differs for a definite species of plants and insects.

Accumulated temperature (AT) represents an integrated excess or lack of temperature regarding a fixed starting point. This index is calculated as a sum of average daily temperature of air and soil, which exceeds a certain threshold of zero, 5, 10 degrees or a biological minimum of a temperature level.

Basically speaking, this is a way to include temperature and time into one dimension for quantitative evaluation of growth speed of plants and insects. Usually the index of accumulated temperature data is used to create models of crop growth.  
In the near future we will introduce our new API for the accumulated temperature data. API will be based on historical data and will be focused primarily on users from the agricultural sector.  

With Ready Set Holiday application and weather data by OpenWeatherMap you can perfectly plan your weekend holidays. 

Everyone travels not like others. 

One is suddenly struck by an idea, he grabs a backpack, some clothes, gadgets, buys a ticket  not of great importance where or  gets a bike or a car and sets out for adventures despite a burning sun or heavy rain outside. 

However the most people prefer to plan their trips thoroughly in advance. And often this planning brings as much pleasure as the trip itself.
One wishes that everything in a trip is greatly planned and goes smoothly. Actually it’s a nice occupation to learn an area by map and photos, to check forecasts for all the future locations, to choose and book tours scrupulously considering the experience of former travelers. And weather here is a quite crucial factor. A trip which is planned without regard to forecast has a risk not to be ruined completely, but it can frustrate you. Choosing holiday time with attention to forecasts from OpenWeatherMap, you avoid disappointment. Application Ready Set Holiday turns trip preparation to an easy and interesting thing. And our forecasts and current weather let get maximum pleasure from a trip and prevent a bad cold and overheating.        

Generally speaking, humidity is the amount of water contained in the air. And relative humidity is the ratio of the mass fraction of water vapor in the air to the maximum possible value of this quantity at a given temperature.

Usually the notion “climate” includes temperature and precipitation. Often such factor as relative humidity is forgotten. It’s necessary to mention that basically one pays little attention to that parameter. Temperature, wind speed, pressure – in this range air humidity is an outsider and improperly deprived of attention. However relative humidity is not only one of the most important articles in weather forecasts, but also one of the defining factors of well-being.