Using the HK Open Data API for Weather Reports

In this Community Highlight, let’s take a look at the Weather Report API on OpenAPIHub. What is it, and how do you you use it?

What is the HK Observatory?

The Hong Kong Observatory is a national astronomical observatory in Hong Kong. It is the only observatory in the world that has both optical and radio telescopes.

One of the main functions of the HK Observatory is to provide forecasts for weather conditions. This is done by using a variety of different methods, including satellite data, ground-based observations, and computer models.

The Weather Report API

The Weather Report API is a part of the World Clock Lab API Portal, providing various utilities. The motivation behind the Weather Report API is to provide public access to live weather data in Hong Kong. The data is sourced from the Hong Kong Observatory and graciously provided by the public database DATA.GOV.HK.

The diversity of data provided through this API is rich, with detailed information about weather warnings, fire alerts, storm tracking and wind speed measurements among other things. For a full documentation of the data available, click here. The data is updated on an hourly basis, allowing detailed and valued live information.

Potential Use-cases

This Weather Report API may be of use in order to:

Improve supply-chain management
Travel planning
Improve demand forecasting

or to assist in other areas of your business.

Improve Demand Forecasting with Weather API

Demand forecasting is a technique that is used to predict the amount of demand that will be placed on a product or service in the future. It is done by estimating how much people will want to use a product or service in the future, and then predicting how much of that product or service will be available.

Weather can impact demand in a few ways. For example, if it is raining, people may be less likely to go out and buy things. This is because they may not want to get wet and have to carry their purchases with them. Additionally, if it is cold outside, people may be less likely to go outside and buy things.

Therefore, by providing detailed weather forecasts, it can help your business improve demand forecasting to lower operation costs and generate additional revenue.

How to use?

Why should you choose this Weather API?

The Weather Report API is supported by OpenAPIHub, an All-in-one API Platform that supports API Needs and it is certified as “AWS Qualified Software” since 2022. You can register for an API portal for free, share and monetise APIs easily on the trustable platform certified by ISO27001.

Prerequisites

You will need a suitable API provider. Using the Weather Report API, you can proceed easily as follows:

1. OpenAPIHub Developer Account

You need to sign up for an OpenAPIHub developer account in order to subscribe and access this API. For more information, please refer to “Register as a Developer“.

2. Active API Subscription

You need to subscribe to this API before consuming it. Many APIs come with a free trial plan so that you can experience the API functions provided free of charge. For more information, please refer to “Subscribe to APIs“.

3. API Credential

An API Key is required to access the API. It can be obtained in the Developer Admin Portal once you have completed the signup to OpenAPIHub. For more information, please refer to “Create API Key“.

You may check out the full API documentation here in the OpenAPIHub.

Interface with the API

Using the online endpoints interface, you may try the API in a no-code environment.

Input a dataType and language in the parameters field.
Select your API Key.
Click on “Try it out”.
You should see a result similar to the example below:

{
  "swt": [
    {
      "desc": "string",
      "updateTime": "2019-08-24T14:15:22Z"
    }
  ]
}

It is as simple as that! Now use the URL on the endpoints page in order to make use of this service in your project.

Conclusion

Today we learnt how to use the Weather Report API. The HK Observatory measures detailed weather data, and you can make use of it to improve your business through this API.

Next Steps?

The Weather Report API is available on OpenAPIHub. Get started with OpenAPIHub by reading the starter missions here. The Weather Report API is available for free here. So what are you waiting for? Try out our API Now in OpenAPIHub and see how easy it is to facilitate your business, projects or work now!

OpenAPIHub is an API Platform that help you define API subscription and enable API Monetization with ease. Check the following 2-min What is OpenAPIHub video for more and try OpenAPIHub for Free!

The Weather Report API is available on OpenAPIHub. Get started with OpenAPIHub by reading the tutorial here. The Weather Report API is available for free here.