Today is one of the most important days in the history of pressureNET. We’ve launched version 3 of our Android-powered, open source and global barometer network. This update is critical to the success of the project as it includes sharing and privacy options for our users. Previously, we haven’t been able to share our data with atmospheric science researchers, forecasters, or anyone else because we had not asked our users for permission.
This new update enables us to provide a live stream of our raw data to scientists and forecasters. Our first live stream is going to Cliff Mass, who, with the help of his students, will be analyzing the data and looking to calibrate it. Many others have already contacted us asking to access our live data, so we are building our pressureNET API right now. For the moment, if you’re interested in the livestream data, please email us at livestream@cumulonimbus.ca. We will add a form on pressurenet.cumulonimbus.ca to sign up and get API keys as soon as we’re ready – hopefully later this week.
We’ve added another important feature to pressureNET this release: better visualization for everyone. We’re quite aware that the main map view is inadequate and we’re sorry about that. We haven’t replaced it with a heat map or isobars just yet (we will in a future update), but we’ve included the pressureNET Data Visualization website inside the app. When you open it (even if you don’t have a barometer in your device!) you will see the last few days of data in your region plotted on a graph. This will make it much easier for you to view the trends in your area – or anywhere else.
We’re dedicated to improving the pressureNET experience and to continue our quest to improve weather forecasting for everyone. Our primary goal is to grow the network, as this most directly increases the utility and importance of the project. We’re currently working on a simple pressureNET SDK that will allow app developers to include pressureNET data submission inside their own apps. If you’re interested in joining this effort, email us (software@cumulonimbus.ca) and we’ll work with you to build the right SDK.
To everyone who submits data to pressureNET, thank you! This project is not possible without you. If you do not run pressureNET but have a new Android device, please consider downloading it from Google Play.
