Surface weather observation

Reverend John Campanius Holm is credited with taking the first systematic weather observations in Colonial America.

[7] In the United States, the FAA mandates the taking of weather observations at larger airports for safety reasons.

Data collected by land locations coding in METAR are conveyed worldwide via phone lines or wireless technology.

[29] Maps filled with dense station-model plots can be difficult to read, but they allow meteorologists, pilots, and mariners to see important weather patterns.

Weather maps are used to display information quickly showing the analysis of various meteorological quantities at various levels of the atmosphere, in this case the surface layer.

[30] Maps containing station models aid in the drawing of isotherms, which more readily identifies temperature gradients,[31] and can help in the location of weather fronts.

For over a century, reports from the world's oceans have been received real-time for safety reasons and to help with general weather forecasting.

"[37] Over historic time spans there are a number of static variables that determine climate, including: latitude, altitude, proportion of land to water, and proximity to oceans and mountains.

Degree of vegetation coverage affects solar heat absorption, water retention, and rainfall on a regional level.