Observation Schema

WOW defines observations as a dictionary of string keys and object values. Its properties are the keys, which its schema can be dynamically changed by WOW administrators. Users can send choose which values they want to report and include them in their observation report.

Each observation can have as many parameters as it can. These parameters go through a strict validation check at the time of creation, so any parameter with mismatching type or range is discarded. You can check the "Observation Parameters" section below to find out which parameters are required and needs to be sent and which are optional.

Apart from endpoints like GeoJson and other specific data format endpoints, this observation schema is used everywhere in WOW. You can use this format to parse incoming observation information or post a new one.

Each observation parameter is stored based on its base unit but the original unit value is also kept. For example, if a site is sending temperature data in Celsius, only the Celsius value is kept because it's the base unit. If the site is sending in Fahrenheit, both Celsius and Fahrenheit is kept because Celsius is the base unit and the Fahrenheit is the original one.

Here is a sample observation with value comments:

{  
  "siteId": "957966001", // Site Id that contains this observation
  "reportStartDateTime": "2016-12-19T13:45:00+00:00", // Observation start time
  "reportEndDateTime": "2016-12-19T13:45:00+00:00", // Observation end time
  "observationType": 1, // Type of the observation
  "collectionName": 1, // Collection name
  "softwareType": "Cumulus v3.0.0", // Software used to submit this observation
  "windDirection": 10, // Wind Direction value in degrees. Check "Observation Parameters" section for details.
  "windGust_MilePerHour": 4, // Wind gust in mph. Check "Observation Parameters" section for details.
  "windGust_MetrePerSecond": 1.7881570359508971, // Wind gust in metres per second. Check "Observation Parameters" section for details.
  "windSpeed_MilePerHour": 2, // Wind speed in mph. Check "Observation Parameters" section for details.
  "windSpeed_MetrePerSecond": 0.8940785179754486, // Wind speed in metres per second. Check "Observation Parameters" section for details.
  "relativeHumidity": 96, // Relative humidity in percentage. Check "Observation Parameters" section for details.
  "dewPointTemperature_Fahrenheit": 43.3, // Dew point temperature in fahrenheit. Check "Observation Parameters" section for details.
  "dewPointTemperature_Celsius": 6.277777777777776, // Dew point temperature in celsius. Check "Observation Parameters" section for details.
  "rainfallAmount_Inch": 0.02, // Rainfall amount in inches. Check "Observation Parameters" section for details.
  "rainfallAmount_Millimetre": 0.508, // Rainfall amount in mm. Check "Observation Parameters" section for details.
  "dryBulbTemperature_Fahrenheit": 44.4, // Dry bulb temperature in fahrenheit. Check "Observation Parameters" section for details.
  "dryBulbTemperature_Celsius": 6.8888888888888875, // Dry bulb temperature in celsius. Check "Observation Parameters" section for details.
  "airPressure_InchOfMercury": 30.264, // Station level pressure in inches of mercury. Check "Observation Parameters" section for details. 
  "airPressure_Hectopascal": 1024.85676696, // Station level pressure in hpa. Check "Observation Parameters" section for details.
  "rainfallRate_InchPerHour": 0.02, // Rainfall rate in inches per hour. Check "Observation Parameters" section for details.
  "rainfallRate_MillimetrePerHour": 0.508, // Rainfall rate in mm/hr. Check "Observation Parameters" section for details.
  "isPublic": true, // If the observation is public
  "isOfficial": false, // If the observation is official
  "longitude": -0.529982308459466, // Longitude of the coordinate
  "latitude": 51.5066988925248, // Latitude of the coordinate
  "height": 27, // Height / Elevation of the coordinate
  "id": "20161219ksfryx6f6re6pfyyyyb96sc87w", // Id of the observation
  "externalSiteId": 957966001, // External system id of the site
  "version": 1, // Revision number (starts from 1)
  "isLatestVersion": true, // Check if this is the latest version
  "externalId": 10091179520 // External system id of the observation
}

Observation Parameters

You can also access this list dynamically via /observationparameters endpoint.