Open Access Program

Empowering educational institutes and weather enthusiasts with weather and environmental data for learning and research.

Program Description

Synoptic Data’s Synoptic Data’s Open Access program is designed for educational institute research purposes, and for weather enthusiasts. As a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC), it is a part of our mission to provide academic institutes, weather enthusiasts, or any non-commercial user with easy access to publicly available weather and environmental data to facilitate learning and enhance their research.

The data is not intended to be used for commercial purposes or sold to third parties. Please review the features available to Open Access Program users to find out if this program is the all-in-one solution to your weather data needs. If the Open Access Program does not meet your needs, please review our commercial page or get started with a 14-Day Free Trial to experience the difference.

Please use a .edu account for ease of verification.

Features
* Click on the feature to see description
Number of Simultaneous Responses *
Number of Simultaneous Responses Also known as concurrency, this is the number of allowed requests that can be active in the system at the same time for a given user.
Server Resource *
Server Resource In the community server resource, API response time varies greatly based on the number of active users and the volume of requests. In the enterprise server resource, API response time is generally much faster than the community server resource and will remain consistent over time regardless of user demand.
API Uptime Guarantee
Data Explore Tool *
Data Explore Tool Webpage data viewer that allows users to explore metadata and current conditions for all public stations.
CSV Data Download Tool *
CSV Data Download Tool A tool where customers can easily download historical data for a station.
Data Availability Dashboard *
Data Availability Dashboard High-level view of network station and observation counts and short-term historical trends.
Basic Quality Control *
Basic Quality Control Performs checks for physically implausible values, rates of change, and persistence. Learn more
Advanced Quality Control *
Advanced Quality Control Performs all Basic Quality Control plus percentile and spatial value checks. Learn more
Basic Precipitation Service *
Basic Precipitation Service Includes precipitation intervals and/or accumulations returned at the reporting frequency of the station. Learn more
Advanced Precipitation Service *
Advanced Precipitation Service Includes precipitation totals and/or intervals over a large range of customer-defined periods. Learn more
Service Level Agreement Available
Push Streaming Service *
Push Streaming Service Receive a real-time feed of data pushed to the user automatically. Learn more
International Datasets *
International Datasets Observational data outside of the United States
Personal API Demo Training
Custom Data Solutions *
Custom Data Solutions Beyond the data outputs available via our API, we offer most industry standard data formats and multiple delivery mechanisms.
Commercial Service Extension Licence *
Commercial Service Extension Licence Licensing to extend Synoptic Data Services to third parties through an online page, tool, or other application (B2B2B and B2B2C).
Real-Time Observations ArcGIS Layer Licence *
Real-Time Observations ArcGIS Layer Licence Real-Time observation Feature Layer within ArcGIS built by Synoptic to easily integrate into your ESRI integrations for situational awareness.
Historical Data Access
Email Support Response Time *
Email Support Response Time Applies to common business hours Monday through Friday, excluding federally observed holidays.
Open Access
Get Started
Number of Simultaneous Responses 1
Server Resource Community
API Uptime Guarantee
Data Explore Tool
CSV Data Download Tool
Data Availability Dashboard
Basic Quality Control
Advanced Quality Control
Basic Precipitation Service
Advanced Precipitation Service
Service Level Agreement Available
Push Streaming Service
International Datasets
Personal API Demo Training
Custom Data Solutions
Commercial Service Extension Licence
Real-Time Observations ArcGIS Layer Licence
Historical Data Access 1 Year
Email Support Response Time Email Support Response Time As Availability Allows

Academic/Non-Profit Use

  • University-funded research
  • Graduate/undergraduate projects
  • On-campus situational awareness
  • Embed data viewer/custom dashboards in your institutions webpage for quick student/faculty access

Weather Enthusiasm Use

  • Fast hyper-local weather awareness
  • Personal research projects
  • Custom dashboard and data viewer embedding on personal devices
https://synopticdata.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/use-background-3.jpg

Customer Testimonials

“I chose Synoptic Data API due to its ease of use. I can request EXACTLY the stations and fields I want to use. No need to request superfluous data just to sift through it for what I want. Also I appreciate the uptime. I don’t remember the last outage.
I would highly recommend Synoptic Data, especially given its support for non-profit ventures like mine. I particularly value Synoptic’s timely communication.”

John Wrights

Marquette Weather

“There are many reasons we like Synoptic’s API, but the two at the top of the list are accuracy and reliability. We’ve been using the API for years and have been very satisfied with it.
It was easy to integrate into our WordPress website with minimal coding, thanks to the top-notch documentation.
As a small 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization we have found Synoptic’s Open Access program to be helpful to us in achieving our mission, and we recommend it to other educational and nonprofit organizations that need access to accurate and reliable weather data.”

Steve Roti

Meissner Nordic Ski Club

“1. Synoptic’s API is incredibly easy to get started with. Whether you’re new to using APIs or have plenty of experience, Synoptic makes it trivially easy to integrate real-time weather into your product.
2. Querying empirical data from physical stations around the country allows me to show near- real time precipitation information, not just predictions that users have to vet accuracy on.
3. The folks at Synoptic have been extremely helpful in ensuring I can have continual access to precipitation data for wetrockpolice.com, I’d recommend Synoptic to anyone because of their high-quality support and ease of use.
4. Rock climbing on porous rock can be dangerous after rainfall, and since 2018 Synoptic’s data has helped over 100,000 visiting rock climbers across California and Nevada make safe and smart decisions through wetrockpolice.com.”

Grant Mercer

Wet Rock Police

Ready to make smarter weather decisions?

Contact Us Today