[HN Gopher] Show HN: Meteosource Weather API: current, forecast ...
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Show HN: Meteosource Weather API: current, forecast and historical
data using ML
As Dark Sky's API will stop working soon I thought I'd suggest a
possible replacement. It is well known that most weather APIs just
download data from NOAA and "repackage" them to JSON format. This
means you will get data only for the nearest grid point which might
be a few kilometers away and at a different altitude than your
actual location. Meteosource combines more models (GFS, ECMW,
UKMO, GEM,...). It compares individual models' performance to
historical data and uses machine learning to create a single
output. This approach minimises inaccuracies of individual models
and feeds a proprietary hyper-local model that computes weather
exactly for the specified location. The historical data API is
based on actual measurements (not forecasts as usual) and there is
a free developer plan available. I greatly appreciate any feedback
and thoughts!
Author : Luka78
Score : 14 points
Date : 2023-03-30 16:19 UTC (6 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.meteosource.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.meteosource.com)
| [deleted]
| anotheryou wrote:
| Is there still weather services not using ML?
|
| Is it all huge modeling still?
| Luka78 wrote:
| Well, most available weather APIs just download data from NOAA
| and "repackage" them to JSON format and do not add much value.
| anotheryou wrote:
| And this one differs? Is it better than NOAA?
| Luka78 wrote:
| Meteosource learns from historical data and forecasts from
| many different models (including those from NOAA), compares
| the data from different places and meteorological
| situations, and based on this machine learning creates a
| single output that minimises individual models' biases and
| local inaccuracies. This is where it should add value.
| anotheryou wrote:
| Interesting the ML corrects and averages the models
| instead of predicting itself.
| sosodev wrote:
| I find your website kinda sketchy. Your FAQ claims that the
| company was founded in 2007 but that's not true. meteocentrum.cz
| was founded in 2007 but this company didn't appear until 2021.
|
| meteosource.com also appears to be a rebrand of forecasts.cloud.
| Why?
|
| The multiple rebrandings and false claims make me hesitant to
| trust you.
| Luka78 wrote:
| It is originally a European-based company founded in 2007 and
| started as a website, mobile app, and data provider serving
| mainly corporate clients. Meteosource as a service (low-cost
| weather API) started at the end of 2020 and this is just a new
| service operated by the same company, not rebranded company or
| anything else... I don't think there is anything sketchy in
| this.
| sosodev wrote:
| That's a fine answer. Maybe that should be the answer in the
| FAQ. The website just felt a bit scam-like to me so I did
| some more research. Finding out stuff like that, when it
| isn't clear on the website, only furthers the gut feeling of
| "this might be a scam".
|
| Your answer ignores why you didn't pursue forecasts.cloud as
| this new venture instead of meteosource though.
| Luka78 wrote:
| Thank you for your suggestion - is it mainly the FAQ answer
| which you find a bit puzzling or anything else we should
| improve on the website?
|
| Regarding forecasts.cloud - this website will focus on our
| applied modelling (renewable generation etc.) and will
| serve as an offer of models for specialised industries, not
| weather API. It is not fully operational yet (the English
| version will be launched later this year) - I am impressed
| you have been able to find it :)
| sosodev wrote:
| I think the red flags are:
|
| * vague testimonials
|
| * scrolling list of companies (with no evidence)
|
| * lack of specificity around payments (who's the
| processor?)
|
| * the random face shown above the "contact us" button
|
| * the lack of details around how the systems actually
| work (the "how we create our AI weather forecasts" link
| in your FAQ is just a 404)
|
| * the lack of evidence that your system actually works
| better the alternatives
|
| * the nearly-pointless blog spam
|
| * the hand-wavy claims of "nearly 100% API uptime"
|
| It's not that I think your API won't work and that you're
| just trying to steal my money. Instead it seems like this
| is a marketing effort to sell a low quality service using
| the magic buzzword "AI".
| sosodev wrote:
| How does the "hyper-local" computation work if all the sources
| are very generalized? Does that mean when your service says
| there's an 89% chance of rain at my location that's an actual,
| local probability?
| Luka78 wrote:
| The machine learning model combines more weather models as
| mentioned and this feeds proprietary local models that compute
| the weather exactly for your location. If you request a
| specific GPS, the chance of rain will be computed for the exact
| point based on the orography and nearby grid points.
| probablypower wrote:
| Interesting service, this post comes at a convenient time, as I'm
| looking at different weather data services to bring into my
| company.
|
| I note that you state 8 years of historical data is available for
| one of the priced plans, and then on another page there is
| mention of larger bulk historical data services for custom plans.
| How much further back can your historical data go? Is it the sort
| of thing that we could pay once for, for a few thousand GPS
| points?
|
| The use case is to get historical weather data at each power pole
| on an electrical transmission system. Obviously the observational
| and forecast data is of interest to us, but we can't make much
| value of the observations if we don't have the historical context
| with which to build real-time models on.
| Luka78 wrote:
| Thank you for your comment! We are going to extend the
| historical weather to 20 years soon. At the moment it is
| possible to prepare a customised dataset based on your needs -
| please get in touch at support(at)meteosource.com and we will
| be happy to help with your specific case.
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