Säädatat

Weather data, or säädatat in Finnish, are measurements and derived information describing the state of the atmosphere at a given time and place. They include variables such as temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, atmospheric pressure, precipitation, cloud cover, visibility, and solar radiation. Säädatat also encompass forecast products and reanalysis fields that provide historical and modeled representations of the atmosphere.

Sources and collection: Data come from national meteorological services, weather stations, ocean buoys, weather radar, satellites, radiosondes, aircraft, ships, and forecast models. In Finland, the Finnish Meteorological Institute operates a national observation network; globally, data are coordinated through the World Meteorological Organization and partner agencies.

Formats and standards: Observational data are stored as time series or gridded fields in formats such as NetCDF, GRIB, BUFR, or CSV. Data exchange follows international standards set by WMO and CF conventions, ensuring interoperability across systems.

Usage and applications: Säädatat support weather forecasting, climate monitoring, agriculture and forestry, aviation and maritime operations, and environmental research. Data quality and uncertainty are addressed through quality control, calibration, bias correction, and ensemble forecasts.

Accessibility and licensing: Many meteorological agencies publish open data with varying licensing. Open data initiatives and APIs enable researchers, developers, and the public to access weather observations and model outputs.

Challenges and trends: Ongoing efforts focus on improving data coverage, especially in remote regions; harmonizing historical records; enhancing data interoperability; and leveraging big data, machine learning, and real-time dissemination to support decision-making.