Collecting weather, climate, ocean and water data
Our extensive observation network collects data from sea, land, sky and space. This data is vital to our public weather information, including forecasts and warnings.
Some observations become part of our climate data, tracking climate variability and change.
In this section, explore:
- weather radars, including Doppler radars
- weather balloons and radiosondes, and what to do if you find one
- flood, river and rain gauges, including snow gauges and how to take your own observations
- manual and automatic weather stations
- meteorological satellites, including geostationary and polar-orbiting satellites
- our ocean network, including wave buoys, drifting buoys, Argo floats and more.