Collecting Weather Data
We offer weather data collected at the time that a survey is begun by a participant. We use the OpenWeather API. Weather is collected with GPS coordinates and has an accuracy of up to 4 decimal points, or down to the street.
Important note: Due to Android's background location gathering rules, weather data collection on Android is inconsistent. At this time more reliable weather data is gathered on iOS devices.
Prerequisites
- Group settings
- The participant must be in a group which collects weather. To enable weather data collection settings, open a new Helpdesk support ticket and provide us with a list of weather data which you would like collected. The options are listed below. Participant can only belong to one group.
- Survey assignment
- Weather data queued for collection when the participant uploads a survey assignment. All of a participant's survey assignments initiate weather collection.
- Location
- Weather data is collected in association with a survey instance when "Record Location At Time of Assessment" in User Settings is enabled, and Location permissions are granted on the participant's device. Weather data cannot be collected if location is not enabled or granted, as the weather is data is specific to the latitude and longitude of the participant.
Weather Data Options
| Label | Data Type, or Description | Unit Option: Standard | Unit Option: Imperial | Unit Option: Metric | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunrise | Unix, UTC | ||||
| Sunset | Unix, UTC | ||||
| Temperature | Kelvin | Celsius | Fahrenheit | ||
| Feels Like | Human perception of weather | Kelvin | Celsius | Fahrenheit | |
| Pressure | Atmospheric pressure on the sea level, hPa | ||||
| Humidity | % | ||||
| Dew Point | Atmospheric temperature (varying according to pressure and humidity) below which water droplets begin to condense and dew can form. | Kelvin | Celsius | Fahrenheit | |
| Cloudiness | % | ||||
| UVI | UV index | Historical UV index data is only available for 5 days back. If a participant uploads a survey instance more than 5 days after taking the survey, this will not be collected. | |||
| Average visibility | Metres | Maximum value of visibility is 10km | |||
| Wind speed | Metre/sec | Metre/sec | Miles/hour | ||
| Wind gust | Metre/sec | Metre/sec | Miles/hour | Where available, defaults to 0 if no wind gust | |
| Wind direction | Degrees (meteorological) | ||||
| Weather condition ID | OpenWeather's ID for descriptive weather conditions | ||||
| Main | Group of weather parameters | Ex: Rain, Snow, Extreme, etc. | |||
| Description | Weather condition within the main group | ||||
| Weather icon ID | OpenWeather's icons for weather conditions | ||||
| Rain | 1h precipitation, mm/h | Where available, defaults to 0 if no rain. Please note that only mm/h as units of measurement is available for this parameter. | |||
| Snow | 1hr precipitation, mm/h | Where available, defaults to 0 if no snow. Please note that only mm/h as units of measurement is available for this parameter. | |||
| Language | Language of the weather conditions | Default is English. Link to options | |||
| Units | Units of measurement, when available | Default is Standard. Link to option details |
Accessing Weather Data
Weather data is accessed from the Selective Reports page. The Selective Reports page is found under menu 'My mEMA > Selective Reports'.
Prerequisites
- Professional account must belong to a weather permit group
- When your license includes weather data, this is done by default for new professional accounts under your license. If an account is unable to view weather data on the Selective Reports page, please create a new Helpdesk support ticket.
- Professional account must be an editor on surveys in order to select a survey and participants for Weather data download.
Weather data is downloaded by selecting a group or groups of participants, the survey or surveys assigned to those participants, and any number of those participants. You may select all possible options to download all possible data, or select only some groups, surveys, or participants. 
Once you have selected your download options, scroll to the bottom of the page to the Reports box for the Weather Data download options. You may preview the data on the Selective Reports page, or download a CSV file.
Here is an example of some weather data displayed on the Selective Reports page.
