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Add Exeter and Portsmouth Met Office demo points
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‎docs/research/new-publisher-source-planning/Met_Office_Exeter_Portsmouth_Demo_Site_Check_2026-05-26.md‎

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# Met Office Exeter and Portsmouth Demo Site Check
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Date: 2026-05-26
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## Purpose
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Determine whether Met Office Weather DataHub Land Observations has useful live locations in or near Exeter and Portsmouth for the CSAPI demo publisher set.
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## Method
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Used the existing Oracle host-local Met Office Land Observations key through `/etc/os4csapi/publisher-secrets.env` and its configured key file. The key was not printed, changed, rotated, or committed.
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Queried the access-gated Land Observations `nearest` endpoint for:
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- Exeter city
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- Exeter Airport
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- Portsmouth city
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- Lee-on-Solent
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- Southampton Airport
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Then queried each returned geohash observation endpoint to confirm data availability.
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## Findings
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### Exeter
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Recommended demo location: `Exeter Airport Area`
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- Query points: Exeter city and Exeter Airport
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- Returned Met Office geohash: `gcj8ds`
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- Decoded geohash center: approximately `50.73761, -3.40027`
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- Distance from Exeter city query: about `9.6 km`
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- Distance from Exeter Airport query: about `1.0 km`
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- Observation endpoint returned `48` records
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- Sample fields: `datetime`, `humidity`, `mslp`, `pressure_tendency`, `temperature`, `visibility`, `weather_code`, `wind_direction`, `wind_gust`, `wind_speed`
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Assessment: strong demo candidate. The resolved point is very close to Exeter Airport and gives the demo a southwest England weather reference.
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### Portsmouth / East Solent
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Recommended demo location: `Portsmouth / Thorney Island Area`
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- Query points: Portsmouth city and Lee-on-Solent
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- Returned Met Office geohash: `gcp34f`
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- Decoded geohash center: approximately `50.81451, -0.92834`
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- Distance from Portsmouth city query: about `11.2 km`
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- Distance from Lee-on-Solent query: about `19.6 km`
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- Observation endpoint returned `48` records
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- Sample fields: `datetime`, `humidity`, `mslp`, `pressure_tendency`, `temperature`, `visibility`, `weather_code`, `wind_direction`, `wind_gust`, `wind_speed`
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Assessment: useful south coast candidate, but it should not be labeled as a Portsmouth city-centre station. Use Portsmouth-adjacent or Thorney Island / east Solent language.
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### Southampton Airport
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- Query point: Southampton Airport
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- Returned Met Office geohash: `gcnfur`
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- Decoded geohash center: approximately `51.14960, -1.56555`
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- Distance from Southampton Airport query: about `26.5 km`
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- Observation endpoint returned `48` records
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Assessment: valid data, but less compelling for this request than Exeter Airport and Portsmouth / Thorney Island.
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## Changes Made
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Added both recommended locations to:
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- `publishers/met_office_datahub/stations.json`
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- `publishers/met_office_global_spot/forecast_points.json`
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For Land Observations, the resolved geohashes are stored in config to avoid repeated nearest lookups:
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- `exeter-airport-area` -> `gcj8ds`
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- `portsmouth-thorney-island-area` -> `gcp34f`
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For Global Spot, the same curated point labels and coordinates are added as virtual forecast points so the future forecast card work can align observed and forecast demos without implying the forecast point is a physical sensor.
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## Operational Notes
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Adding two Land Observations locations increases the default Met Office Land Observations cycle from 3 to 5 locations. With geohashes cached in config, the publisher should make one observation endpoint request per location per cycle, still far below the documented 360 calls/day free-plan limit at hourly cadence.
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The Global Spot default set also increases from 3 to 5 locations. At one hourly forecast API request per location per hour, the default operational cadence is about 120 calls/day, still below the documented 360 calls/day free-plan allowance.

‎docs/research/new-publisher-source-planning/Met_Office_Global_Spot_Forecast_Publisher_Status_2026-05-26.md‎

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Forecast points:
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- London Heathrow Area
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- Exeter Airport Area
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- Portsmouth / Thorney Island Area
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- Stornoway Coastal Area
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- Cairngorm Upland Area
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- Forecast Precipitation Probability
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- Forecast Weather Code
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With three locations at one request per location per hour, the default operational cadence is about 72 requests/day, comfortably below the documented 360 calls/day free-plan allowance.
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With five locations at one request per location per hour, the default operational cadence is about 120 requests/day, comfortably below the documented 360 calls/day free-plan allowance.
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## Validation Completed
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‎publishers/met_office_datahub/stations.json‎

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"geohash": null,
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"selectionReason": "Urban and airport-adjacent weather context that complements UK-AIR Camden and aviation demo layers."
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},
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{
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"id": "exeter-airport-area",
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"name": "Exeter Airport Area",
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"description": "Curated Met Office Land Observations lookup point for the Exeter Airport area.",
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"lat": 50.7344,
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"lon": -3.4139,
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"geohash": "gcj8ds",
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"selectionReason": "Live nearest lookup resolved a Met Office observation geohash about 1 km from Exeter Airport, adding a strong southwest England weather reference for demos."
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},
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{
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"id": "portsmouth-thorney-island-area",
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"name": "Portsmouth / Thorney Island Area",
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"description": "Curated Met Office Land Observations lookup point for the Portsmouth-adjacent east Solent / Thorney Island area.",
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"lat": 50.8198,
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"lon": -1.0880,
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"geohash": "gcp34f",
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"selectionReason": "Live nearest lookup from Portsmouth resolved an observation geohash east of the city, about 11 km from Portsmouth, providing a south coast weather reference with honest Portsmouth-adjacent labeling."
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},
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{
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"id": "stornoway-coastal-area",
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"name": "Stornoway Coastal Area",

‎publishers/met_office_global_spot/README.md‎

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## Implementation Notes
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The initial curated points mirror the Met Office Land Observations demo geography: London Heathrow, Stornoway, and Cairngorm. At one hourly API request per point per cycle, a one-hour cadence uses 72 calls/day, comfortably below the 360 calls/day free-plan allowance.
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The initial curated points mirror the Met Office Land Observations demo geography: London Heathrow, Exeter Airport, Portsmouth / Thorney Island, Stornoway, and Cairngorm. At one hourly API request per point per cycle, a one-hour cadence uses 120 calls/day, comfortably below the 360 calls/day free-plan allowance.
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The runtime client has a configurable endpoint path because public DataHub pages confirm the Site-Specific Forecast / Global Spot product and `/sitespecific/v0` context, but the exact hourly endpoint path should be validated with the live subscribed API before production service installation.

‎publishers/met_office_global_spot/forecast_points.json‎

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"lon": -0.4543,
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"selectionReason": "Urban and airport-adjacent forecast context that complements the London Met Office land observation location and UK-AIR Camden."
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},
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{
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"id": "exeter-airport-area",
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"name": "Exeter Airport Area",
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"description": "Curated Met Office Global Spot forecast point for the Exeter Airport area.",
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"lat": 50.7344,
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"lon": -3.4139,
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"selectionReason": "Southwest England forecast point paired with the live-validated Met Office Land Observations geohash near Exeter Airport."
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},
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{
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"id": "portsmouth-thorney-island-area",
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"name": "Portsmouth / Thorney Island Area",
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"description": "Curated Met Office Global Spot forecast point for the Portsmouth-adjacent east Solent / Thorney Island area.",
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"lat": 50.8198,
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"lon": -1.0880,
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"selectionReason": "South coast forecast point paired with the live-validated Portsmouth-adjacent Met Office Land Observations geohash; label avoids implying a city-centre station."
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},
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{
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"id": "stornoway-coastal-area",
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"name": "Stornoway Coastal Area",

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