{
 "about": "Nodes of the meteorology lineage graph, type \"observing-system\": what measures the atmosphere. Ids are stable (incident.entities@ may adopt them); meaning is in the edges (meteorology/edges/), not here.",
 "by": "incident.meteorology@web-summit.dinis",
 "updated": "2026-11-11T02:30Z",
 "type": "observing-system",
 "nodes": [
  {
   "id": "obs-surface-stations",
   "name": "Surface weather stations (SYNOP)",
   "summary": "Staffed and automatic stations on land reporting pressure, wind, temperature, humidity and rain at fixed hours; exchanged between countries through the WMO Global Observing System.",
   "url": "https://community.wmo.int/en/programmes/global-observing-system"
  },
  {
   "id": "obs-ipma-stations",
   "name": "IPMA's surface stations",
   "summary": "Portugal's network of automatic stations; hourly observations are in IPMA's open data (the feed our data room reads for Lisbon and Madeira).",
   "url": "https://api.ipma.pt/",
   "country": "PT"
  },
  {
   "id": "obs-airport-metar",
   "name": "Airport observations (METAR)",
   "summary": "Routine aerodrome reports for aviation: wind with gusts, visibility, cloud, pressure. Lisbon airport (LPPT) is the only gust series our data room holds.",
   "url": "https://aviationweather.gov/data/api/"
  },
  {
   "id": "obs-radiosondes",
   "name": "Radiosondes (weather balloons)",
   "summary": "Balloon-borne instruments giving a vertical profile of temperature, humidity and wind, usually twice a day (00 and 12 UTC).",
   "url": "https://www.weather.gov/upperair/radiosonde"
  },
  {
   "id": "obs-aircraft",
   "name": "Aircraft reports (AMDAR)",
   "summary": "Automated wind and temperature reports from commercial aircraft during climb, cruise and descent.",
   "url": "https://community.wmo.int/en/activity-areas/aircraft-based-observations"
  },
  {
   "id": "obs-buoys-ships",
   "name": "Buoys and ships",
   "summary": "Drifting and moored buoys and voluntary observing ships: pressure, wind, waves and sea temperature over the ocean, where a storm like Charles forms.",
   "url": "https://www.eumetnet.eu/activities/observations-programme/current-activities/e-surfmar/"
  },
  {
   "id": "obs-radar-ipma",
   "name": "IPMA's weather radars",
   "summary": "Portugal's Doppler radars (mainland and islands): rain intensity every few minutes.",
   "url": "https://www.ipma.pt/pt/otempo/obs.radar/",
   "country": "PT",
   "page": "research/weather-sites/sites/ipma-obs.md"
  },
  {
   "id": "obs-radar-opera",
   "name": "OPERA (the European radar composite)",
   "summary": "EUMETNET's programme that exchanges and composites the national weather radars of its members.",
   "url": "https://www.eumetnet.eu/activities/observations-programme/current-activities/opera/"
  },
  {
   "id": "obs-meteosat",
   "name": "Meteosat (geostationary)",
   "summary": "EUMETSAT's geostationary satellites over Europe, Africa and the Atlantic: an image of the whole disc every few minutes (second and third generation).",
   "url": "https://www.eumetsat.int/our-satellites/meteosat-series"
  },
  {
   "id": "obs-metop",
   "name": "Metop (polar orbiters)",
   "summary": "EUMETSAT's polar-orbiting satellites: soundings of temperature and humidity and scatterometer winds over the sea, the largest single satellite contribution to forecast skill in many studies.",
   "url": "https://www.eumetsat.int/our-satellites/metop-series"
  },
  {
   "id": "obs-jpss",
   "name": "JPSS and NOAA polar orbiters",
   "summary": "The United States' polar-orbiting weather satellites (NOAA-20, NOAA-21, Suomi NPP).",
   "url": "https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/our-satellites/currently-flying/joint-polar-satellite-system"
  },
  {
   "id": "obs-goes",
   "name": "GOES (geostationary, Americas)",
   "summary": "NOAA's geostationary satellites over the Americas and the western Atlantic; GOES-East sees the mid-Atlantic where storms bound for Iberia deepen.",
   "url": "https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/our-satellites/currently-flying/geostationary-satellites"
  },
  {
   "id": "obs-lightning-blitzortung",
   "name": "Blitzortung (community lightning network)",
   "summary": "A volunteer network of lightning receivers; data is for the contributing station owners.",
   "url": "https://www.blitzortung.org/",
   "page": "research/weather-sites/sites/blitzortung.md"
  },
  {
   "id": "obs-personal-stations",
   "name": "Personal weather stations (Weather Underground network)",
   "summary": "Home weather stations whose owners upload to Weather Underground: dense in cities, of uneven quality, not part of the official exchange.",
   "url": "https://www.wunderground.com/pws/overview"
  },
  {
   "id": "obs-ih-buoys",
   "name": "Instituto Hidrográfico's wave buoys",
   "summary": "Moored buoys off the Portuguese coast measuring wave height, period and direction: what a rough-sea warning is checked against.",
   "url": "https://www.hidrografico.pt/",
   "country": "PT"
  }
 ]
}