DMI performs a wide array of point measurements at its observing stations in Denmark and Greenland. This is an automated process in which wind, precipitation, temperature, humidity, visibility, pressure, cloud cover, weather and global radiation are measured, and data is transmitted to DMI.

Meteorological observation data are so-called raw data, which means that data is neither quality controlled nor processed in any way. Errors in these measurements may therefore sometimes occur. Errors are typically due to malfunction of instruments caused by wear and tear or exposure to weather and on rare occasions from vandalism. Wear and tear of the instruments are handled proactively by performing service checks at the stations on a regular basis and changing the instruments within a given period. Due to this, you have to be aware of the risk of erroneous measurements when using DMI’s meteorological observation data. Quality controlled observation data are called Climate Data.

When DMI performs meteorological observation measurements, they follow the recommendations of the WMO. These recommendations dictate amongst other things that:

A temperature measurement is performed by measuring the air temperature 2 meters above ground level.
A wind observation is performed at a height of 10 meters above open, flat terrain.

DMI continuously works on quality assurance and the maintenance of its measuring instruments in regards to following the recommendations of the WMO. You read more about the guidelines from the WMO here.

Meteorological observation data play a key part in the development and verification of national and international weather forecasts as well as weather- and climate models hereby providing sufficient foundation for DMI to fulfil its mission. Meteorological observation data also shape the foundation of the national climate surveillance, research, as well as the advisory on the present weather and the creation of commercial products.

Parameters

The parameters available for download are listed below along with a description and the unit of the parameter.

Name	Unit	Description	Data update frequency**	Available for Denmark	Available for Greenland
temp_dry	°C	Present air temperature measured 2 m over terrain	10 min	X	X
temp_dew	°C	Present dew point temperature measured 2 m over terrain	10 min	X	X
temp_mean_past1h	°C	Latest hour's mean air temperature measured 2 m over terrain	Hourly	X	X
temp_max_past1h	°C	Latest hour's maximum air temperature measured 2 m over terrain	Hourly	X	X
temp_min_past1h	°C	Latest hour's minimum air temperature measured 2 m over terrain	Hourly	X	X
temp_max_past12h	°C	Last 12 hours maximum air temperature measured 2 m above ground. Measured at 0600 and 1800 UTC.	Twice a day	X	X
temp_min_past12h	°C	Last 12 hours minimum air temperature measured 2 m above ground. Measured at 0600 and 1800 UTC.	Twice a day	X	X
temp_grass	°C	Present air temperature measured at grass height (5-20 cm over terrain)	10 min	X
temp_grass_max_past1h	°C	Latest hour's maximum air temperature measured at grass height (5-20 cm over terrain)	Hourly	X
temp_grass_mean_past1h	°C	Latest hour's mean air temperature measured at grass height (5-20 cm over terrain)	Hourly	X
temp_grass_min_past1h	°C	Latest hour's minimum air temperature measured at grass height (5-20 cm over terrain)	Hourly	X
temp_soil	°C	Present temperature measured at a depth of 10 cm	10 min	X
temp_soil_max_past1h	°C	Latest hour's maximum temperature measured at a depth of 10 cm	Hourly	X
temp_soil_mean_past1h	°C	Latest hour's mean temperature measured at a depth of 10 cm	Hourly	X
temp_soil_min_past1h	°C	Latest hour's minimum temperature measured at a depth of 10 cm	Hourly	X
humidity	%	Present relative humidity measured 2 m over terrain	10 min	X	X
humidity_past1h	%	Latest hour's mean for relative humidity measured 2 m over terrain	Hourly	X	X
pressure	hPa	Atmospheric pressure at station level	10 min	X	X
pressure_at_sea	hPa	Atmospheric pressure reduced to mean sea level	10 min	X	X
wind_dir	degree	Latest 10 minutes' mean wind direction measured 10 m over terrain. 0 means calm (see Codes)	10 min	X	X
wind_dir_past1h	degree	Latest hour's mean wind direction measured 10 m over terrain	Hourly	X	X
wind_speed	m/s	Latest 10 minutes' mean wind speed measured 10 m over terrain	10 min	X	X
wind_speed_past1h	m/s	Latest hour's mean wind speed measured 10 m over terrain	Hourly	X	X
wind_gust_always_past1h	m/s	Latest hour's highest 3 seconds mean wind speed measured 10 m over terrain	Hourly	X	X
wind_max	m/s	Latest 10 minutes' highest 3 seconds mean wind speed measured 10 m over terrain	10 min	X	X
wind_min_past1h	m/s	Latest hours lowest 3 second mean wind speed measured 10 m over terrain	Hourly	X	X
wind_min	m/s	Latest 10 minutes' lowest 3 seconds mean wind speed measured 10 m over terrain	10 min	X	X
wind_max_per10min_past1h	m/s	Maximum 10-minute average wind speed in the one hour period preceding the time of observation	Hourly	X	X
precip_past1h	kg/m²	Accumulated precipitation in the latest hour or the code -0,1, which means "traces of precipitation, less than 0.1 kg/m²". kg/m² is equivalent to mm. (see Codes)	Hourly	X	X
precip_past10min	kg/m²	Accumulated precipitation in the latest 10 minutes. kg/m² is equivalent to mm.	10 min	X	X
precip_past1min	kg/m²	Accumulated precipitation in the latest minute. kg/m² is equivalent to mm. Data is sent to from the rain gauge to the DMI every 10 minutes, if it has rained within the 10 minute period. No data is sent, if it hasn't rained within the 10 minute period. Therefore, data will be null, if it hasn't rained within the 10 minute period. If, however, it has rained within the 10 minute period, the minutes, where it has rained, will show, how much it has rained during each of the minutes in question, whereas the minutes, where it didn't rain will be shown as '0'.	10 min	X
precip_past24h*	kg/m²	Accumulated precipitation in the latest 24 hours or the code -0,1, which means "traces of precipitation, less than 0.1 kg/m²". kg/m² is equivalent to mm. (see Codes)	Daily		X
precip_dur_past10min	minutes	Number of minutes with precipitation in the latest 10 minutes	10 min	X
precip_dur_past1h	minutes	Number of minutes with precipitation in the latest hour	Hourly	X
snow_depth_man	cm	Snow depth (measured manually) or the code -1, which means "less than 0.5 cm" (see Codes)	Daily	X
snow_cover_man	enum	Snow cover (measured manually), specified as quarters of the earth covered	Daily	X
visibility	m	Present visibility	10 min	X	X
visib_mean_last10min	m	Latest 10 minutes' mean visibility	10 min	X	X
cloud_cover	%	The fraction of the sky covered by cloud of any type or height above the ground (see also Codes)	10 min	X	X
cloud_height	m	Height to the lowest clouds. No value returned under cloud free conditions.	10 min	X	X
weather	enum	Present weather (see Codes)	10 min	X	X
radia_glob	W/m²	Latest 10 minutes global radiation mean intensity	10 min	X	X
radia_glob_past1h	W/m²	Mean intensity of global radiation in the latest hour	10 min	X	X
sun_last10min_glob	minutes	Number of minutes with sunshine the latest 10 minutes	10 min	X
sun_last1h_glob	minutes	Number of minutes with sunshine the latest hour	Hourly	X
leav_hum_dur_past10min	minutes	Number of minutes with leaf moisture the latest 10 minutes	10 min	X
leav_hum_dur_past1h	minutes	Number of minutes with leaf moisture the latest hour	Hourly	X

*In Greenland the precipitation is at some locations measured manually once a day. Once a month DMI receives the data, whereafter the data will be available through our API-services. There can be some instances where precipitation has not been measured daily for different reasons. There can therefore be instances, where a measurement can cover the accumulated precipitation of more than a day. A way to detect whether a measurement covers more than one day's accumulated precipitation, if there are not any data for the previous day(s).

**Some stations in Greenland only send data on an hourly basis.

Codes

Some of the parameters use codes instead of values. The codes currently in the system are listed below.

Precip_past1h & precip_past24h

The parameters precip_past1h and precip_past24h returns the amount of precipitation within the given period in kg/m² with the exception of the codes listed below.

Code	Value
-0.1	traces of precipitation, less than 0.1 kg/m²

Snow_depth_man

The parameter snow_depth_manual returns the snow depth in cm with the exception of the codes listed below.

Code	Value
-1	<0.5 cm

Wind_dir

The parameter wind_dir returns the direction from which the wind blows in degrees, where north is given as 360.

Code	Value
0	calm

Cloud_cover

The parameter cloud_cover is reported in oktas (eights) and is the fraction of the sky covered by cloud of any type or height above the ground.

Code	Value
0	0 oktas - no clouds
10	1 okta or less, but not zero
25	2 oktas
40	3 oktas
50	4 oktas
60	5 oktas
75	6 oktas
90	7 oktas or more, but not 8 oktas
100	8 oktas - full cloud cover with no breaks
112	Sky obscured by fog and/or other meteorological phenomena

Weather

Codes 00-99: From manual observation stations

Codes 0-49 No precipitation at the station at the time of observation
Codes 0-19 No precipitation, fog, ice fog (except for 11 and 12), duststorm, sandstorm, drifting or blowing snow at the station at the time of observation or, except for 9 and 17, during the preceding hour.

Codes	Value
0	Cloud development not observed or not observable	Characteristic change of the state of sky during the past hour
1	Clouds generally dissolving or becoming less developed
2	State of sky on the whole unchanged
3	Clouds generally forming or developing
4	Visibility reduced by smoke, e.g. veldt or forest fires, industrial smoke or volcanic ashes
5	Haze
6	Widespread dust in suspension in the air, not raised by wind at or near the station at the time of observation
7	Dust or sand raised by wind at or near the station at the time of observation, but no well developed dust whirl(s) or sand whirl(s), and no duststorm or sandstorm seen
8	Well developed dust whirl(s) or sand whirl(s) seen at or near the station during the preceding hour or at the time ot observation, but no duststorm or sandstorm
9	Duststorm or sandstorm within sight at the time of observation, or at the station during the preceding hour
10	Mist
11	Patches	shallow fog or ice fog at the station, whether on land or sea, not deeper than about 2 metres on land or 10 metres at sea
12	More or less continuous
13	Lightning visible, no thunder heard
14	Precipitation within sight, not reaching the ground or the surface of the sea
15	Precipitation within sight, reaching the ground or the surface of the sea, but distant, i.e. estimated to be more than 5 km from the station
16	Precipitation within sight, reaching the ground or the surface of the sea, near to, but not at the station
17	Thunderstorm, but no precipitation at the time of observation
18	Squalls	at or within sight of the station during the preceding hour or at the time of observation
19	Funnel cloud(s) (tornado cloud or water-spout)

Codes 20-29 Precipitation, fog, ice fog og thunderstorm at the station during the preceding hour but not at the time of observation.

Code	Value
20	Drizzle (not freezing) or snow grains	not falling as shower(s)
21	Rain (not freezing)
22	Snow
23	Rain and snow or ice pellets
24	Freezing drizzle or freezing rain
25	Shower(s) of rain
26	Shower(s) of snow, or of rain and snow
27	Shower(s) of hail^, or of rain and hail^
28	Fog or ice fog
29	Thunderstorm (with or without precipitation)

*Hail, small hail, snow pellets.

Codes 30-39 Duststorm, sandstorm, drifting or blowing snow

Code	Value
30	Slight or moderate duststorm or sandstorm	- has decreased during the preceding hour
31		- no appreciable change during the preceding hour
32		- has begun or has increased during the preceding hour
33	Severe duststorm or sandstorm	- has decreased during the preceding hour
34		- no appreciable change during the preceding hour
35		- has begun or has increased during the preceding hour
36	Slight or moderate blowing snow	generally low (below eye level)
37	Heavy drifting snow	generally low (below eye level)
38	Slight or moderate blowing snow	generally high (above eye level)
39	Heavy drifting snow	generally high (above eye level)

Codes 40-49 Fog or ice fog at the time of observations

Code	Value
40	Fog or ice fog at a distance at the time of observation, but not at the station during the preceding hour, the fog or ice fog extending to a level above that of the observer
41	Fog or ice fog in patches
42	Fog or ice fog, sky visible	has become thinner during the preceding hour
43	Fog or ice fog, sky invisible	has become thinner during the preceding hour
44	Fog or ice fog, sky visible	no appreciable change during the preceding hour
45	Fog or ice fog, sky invisible	no appreciable change during the preceding hour
46	Fog or ice fog, sky visible	has begun or has become thicker during the preceding hour
47	Fog or ice fog, sky invisible	has begun or has become thicker during the preceding hour
48	Fog, depositing rime, sky visible
49	Fog, depositing rime, sky invisible

Codes 50-99 Precipitation at the station at the time of observation

Code 50-59 Drizzle

Code	Value
50	Drizzle, not freezing, intermittent	slight at time of observation
51	Drizzle, not freezing, continuous	slight at time of observation
52	Drizzle, not freezing, intermittent	moderate at time of observation
53	Drizzle, not freezing, continuous	moderate at time of observation
54	Drizzle, not freezing, intermittent	heavy (dense) at time of observation
55	Drizzle, not freezing, continuous	heavy (dense) at time of observation
56	Drizzle, freezing, slight
57	Drizzle, freezing, moderate or heavy (dense)
58	Drizzle and rain, slight
59	Drizzle and rain, moderate or heavy

Codes 60-69 Rain

Code	Value
60	Rain, not freezing, intermittent	slight at time of observation
61	Rain, not freezing, continuous	slight at time of observation
62	Rain, not freezing, intermittent	moderate at time of observation
63	Rain, not freezing, continuous	moderate at time of observation
64	Rain, not freezing, intermittent	heavy at time of observation
65	Rain, not freezing, continuous	heavy at time of observation
66	Rain, freezing, slight
67	Rain, freezing, moderate or heavy (dense)
68	Rain or drizzle and snow, slight
69	Rain or drizzle and snow, moderate or heavy

Codes 70-79 Solid precipitation not in showers

Code	Value
70	Intermittent fall of snowflakes	slight at time of observation
71	Continuous fall of snowflakes	slight at time of observation
72	Intermittent fall of snowflakes	moderate at time of observation
73	Continuous fall of snowflakes	moderate at time of observation
74	Intermittent fall of snowflakes	heavy at time of observation
75	Continuous fall of snowflakes	heavy at time of observation
76	Diamond dust (with or without fog)
77	Snow grains (with or without fog)
78	Isolated star-like snow crystals (with or without fog)
79	Ice pellets

Codes 80-99 Showery precipitation, or precipitation with current or recent thunder

Code	Value
80	Rain shower(s), slight
81	Rain shower(s), moderate or heavy
82	Rain shower(s), violent
83	Shower(s) of rain and snow mixed, slight
84	Shower(s) of rain and snow mixed, moderate or heavy
85	Snow shower(s), slight
86	Snow shower(s), moderate or heavy
87	Shower(s) of snow pellets or small hail, with or without rain or rain and snow mixed	- slight
88		- moderate or heavy
89	Shower(s) of hail, with or without rain or rain and snow mixed, not associated with thunder	- slight
90		- moderate or heavy
91	Slight rain at time of observation	Thunderstorm during the preceding hour but not at time of observation
92	Moderate or heavy rain at time of observation
93	Slight snow, or rain and snow mixed or hail^** at time of observation
94	Moderate or heavy snow, or rain and snow mixed or hail^** at time of observation
95	Thunderstorm, slight or moderate, without hail^** but with rain and/or snow at time of observation	Thunderstorm at time of observation
96	Thunderstorm, slight or moderate, with hail^** at time of observation
97	Thunderstorm, heavy, without hail^** but with rain and/or snow at time of observation
98	Thunderstorm combined with duststorm or sandstorm at time of observation
99	Thunderstorm, heavy, with hail^** at time of observation

**Hail, small hail, snow pellets

Codes 100-199: From automatic weather stations

Codes 100-119 Present weather reported from an automatic weather station

Code	Value
100	No significant weather observed
101	Clouds generally dissolving or becoming less developed during the past hour
102	State of sky on the whole unchanged during the past hour
103	Clouds generally forming or developing during the past hour
104	Haze or smoke, or dust in suspension in the air, visibility equal to, or greater than 1km
105	Haze or smoke, or dust in suspension in the air, visibility less than 1 km
106-109	Reserved
110	Mist
111	Diamond dust
112	Distant lightning
113-117	Reserved
118	Squalls
119	Reserved

Codes 120-126 are used to report precipitation, fog (or ice fog) or thunderstorm at the station during the preceding hour but not at the time of observation.

Code	Value
120	Fog
121	Precipitation
122	Drizzle (not freezing) or snow grains
123	Rain (not freezing)
124	Snow
125	Freezing drizzle or freezing rain
126	Thunderstorm (with or without precipitation)

Codes 127-199 Present weather reported from an automatic weather station

Code	Value
127	Blowing or drifting snow or sand
128	Blowing or drifting snow or sand, visibility equal to or greater than 1km
129	Blowing or drifting snow or sand, visibility less than 1 km
130	Fog
131	Fog or ice fog in patches
132	Fog or ice fog, has become thinner during the past hour
133	Fog or ice fog, no appreciable change during the past hour
134	Fog or ice fog, has begun or become thicker during the past hour
135	Fog, depositing rime
136-139	Reserved
140	Precipitation
141	Precipitation, slight or moderate
142	Precipitation, heavy
143	Liquid precipitation, slight or moderate
144	Liquid precipitation, heavy
145	Solid precipitation, slight or moderate
146	Solid precipitation, heavy
147	Freezing precipitation, slight or moderate
148	Freezing precipitation, heavy
149	Reserved
150	Drizzle
151	Drizzle, not freezing, sligt
152	Drizzle, not freezing, moderate
153	Drizzle, not freezing, heavy
154	Drizzle, freezing, slight
155	Drizzle, freezing, moderate
156	Drizzle, freezing, heavy
157	Drizzle and rain, slight
158	Drizzle and rain, moderate or heavy
159	Reserved
160	Rain
161	Rain, not freezing, slight
162	Rain, not freezing, moderate
163	Rain, not freezing, heavy
164	Rain, freezing, slight
165	Rain, freezing, moderate
166	Rain, freezing, heavy
167	Rain (or drizzle) and snow, slight
168	Rain (or drizzle) and snow, moderate or heavy
169	Reserved
170	Snow
171	Snow, slight
172	Snow, moderate
173	Snow, heavy
174	Ice pellets, slight
175	Ice pellets, moderate
176	Ice pellets, heavy
177	Snow grains
178	Ice crystals
179	Reserved
180	Shower(s) or intermittent precipitation
181	Rain shower(s) or intermittent rain, slight
182	Rain shower(s) or intermittent rain, moderate
183	Rain shower(s) or intermittent rain, heavy
184	Rain shower(s) or intermittent rain, violent
185	Snow shower(s) or intermittent snow, slight
186	Snow shower(s) or intermittent snow, moderate
187	Snow shower(s) or intermittent snow, heavy
188	Reserved
189	Hail
190	Thunderstorm
191	Thunderstorm, slight or moderate, with no precipitation
192	Thunderstorm, slight or moderate, with rain showers and/or snow showers
193	Thunderstorm, slight or moderate, with hail
194	Thunderstorm, heavy, with no precipitation
195	Thunderstorm, heavy, with rain shoers and/or snow showers
196	Thunderstorm, heavy, with hail
197-198	Reserved
199	Tornado

Stations

Endpoint

It is possible to get the station list through the metObs service by calling the station endpoint. See API documentation for endpoint.

The station list represents both present and historical data about a station - see Station Lists Explained.

List is also available here.

Historical availability

The metObs service provides data from 1953. However all parameters are not available for all stations as far back as 1953. Click here for page displaying the historical availability for each parameter at each station. The noted year is the first year with observations for the given parameter and station.

Station types for the metObs service

The DMI has five types of stations which measure meteorological parameters. A description of the different station types can be seen below.

Station type	Description	Available for Denmark	Available for Greenland
Synop	Weather stations that register a wide variety of meteorological parameters, e.g. temperature, wind, pressure, and precipitation.	X	X
GIWS	Weather stations that register a wide variety of meteorological parameters, e.g. temperature, wind, and pressure.		X
Pluvio	Precipitation stations register data concerning precipitation. Precipitation is also measured by some synop-stations.	X
Manual precipitation	In Greenland the precipitation is at some locations measured manually once a day. Once a month DMI receives the data, whereafter the data will be available through our API-services. There can be some instances where precipitation has not been measured daily for different reasons. There can therefore be instances, where a measurement can cover the accumulated precipitation of more than one day. It is possible to see if a measurement covers more than one day's accumulated precipitation, if there are not any data for the previous day(s).		X
Manual snow	In Denmark the snow depth and cover is measured manually once a day.	X

Page tree

Table of contents:

Parameters

Codes

Snow_depth_man

Wind_dir

Cloud_cover

Weather

Codes 00-99: From manual observation stations

Codes 100-199: From automatic weather stations

Stations

Endpoint

Historical availability

Station types for the metObs service

Page tree

Meteorological Observation Data

Table of contents:

Parameters

Codes

Snow_depth_man

Wind_dir

Cloud_cover

Weather

Codes 00-99: From manual observation stations

Codes 100-199: From automatic weather stations

Stations

Endpoint

Historical availability

Station types for the metObs service