A weather API is a useful way to hook directly into a service provider’s data and make use of it on your website. That could be product information and pricing from Amazon.com, a Twitter feed or upcoming storm information from a weather API.
By using an API, it skips the step of having to start from zero to code up a new way for a website to gather data from a provider. Instead, the provider delivers a standard solution for any website to access their data, once they’re approved to do so, using their supplied API.
In this article, we specifically look at weather APIs to see how they can provide pertinent information to different industries.
Finance
The financial industry can benefit from weather APIs to make their economic models more accurate. When trying to predict price movements for traded commodities and other financial instruments where regional weather conditions matter enormously, using predictive weather data provides a noticeable advantage for traders who must stay ahead of the pack.
Also, for private traders, it allows them to build a personal model incorporating weather data when they don’t have access to huge mainframes to compute every possibility ahead of making their next trade.
Property Management
A commercial real estate investment trust (REIT) will have a dedicated team taking care of their individual properties. By using a suitable weather API for business, like the one available from Aeris Weather, they can get location-specific weather forecasts for today or an upcoming day. The Aeris API supports the saving of multiple GPS waypoints for where the REIT has each of their properties located. This makes it very easy to keep track of the weather nearest to each property location.
When planning work tasks for property management staff, there are always some tasks to complete outdoors, others in common areas indoors, and a few inside unoccupied apartments or houses. Being able to know the local weather, managers can direct staff to outdoor tasks on fair weather days and set aside indoor tasks for when a storm is brewing.
Smart Building Technologies
The growth in smart home and smart building technologies has been rapid over the last few years. Many products and systems have been upgraded to either run the home or office. They usually integrate into a central system via the Internet of Things.
Using a weather API, it’s possible to incorporate weather data to optimize the use of HVAC systems in a commercial building. Controlling heating and cooling partially based on outside weather conditions along with adjusting computerized shades/blinds allows a smart building to respond proactively to new information as it’s received.
Alerts about the weather can also inform property managers to remove any outdoor equipment and furniture. Doing so protects property and addresses important safety concerns too.
There’re many different ways to use weather data via an API. It all depends on what industry you work in and how to best use the real-time information to your advantage. See how you can use weather data as a useful tool in your business.
