■ OpenSense - COST Action CA20136
Opportunistic Precipitation Sensing Network
Discover what is OpenSense and how it helps weather monitoring here:
■ New
■ ABOUT
Introduction to
OpenSense Action
Find out more about our COST Action (CA20136) OpenSense focused on Opportunistic Precipitation Ensing Network.
Despite advances in remote sensing, precipitation observations remain one of the weakest links in the description of Earth’s water cycle. This is especially critical in the face of climate change, human-induced hydrologic changes e.g. due to rapid urbanisation, and consequent increase in frequency and magnitude of extreme events.
Opportunistic sensing can greatly improve spatial and temporal resolution of standard precipitation monitoring networks on continental scale by complementing them with measurements from personal weather stations or devices primarily not intended for precipitation monitoring such as commercial microwave links or broadband satellite terminals.
The number of opportunistic sensors has already now exceeded traditional in-situ observations by an order of magnitude, and it is increasing exponentially. Nevertheless, it is still unclear how to make this data operationally accessible, achieve robust quality control of these observations, and integrate them into standard observation systems.
OPENSENSE brings together scientists investigating different opportunistic sensors, experts from national weather services, owners of sensor networks, and end-users of rainfall products to build a worldwide reference opportunistic sensing community.
It will i) overcome key barriers preventing data exchange and acceptance as hydrometeorological observations ii) define standards to allow for large-scale benchmarking of OS precipitation products developing new methods for precipitation retrieval iii) coordinate integration of the opportunistic observations into traditional monitoring networks, and iv) identify potential new sources of precipitation observations.
These coordinated activities will boost uptake of OS as precipitation observation methods and enable generation of high-quality precipitation products with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution.
■ NEWS
Latest Updates

Transboundary Rainfall Estimation Using Commercial Microwave Links
One of the major benefits of using commercial microwave links (CMLs) for rainfall estimation is the vast abundance of these opportunistic sensors across the globe.

Evaluation of error components in rainfall retrieval from collocated commercial microwave links
Until now, studies evaluating commercial microwave links (CMLs) reliability have focused on comparisons with traditional observations used for reference, although the path-integrated character of CML
☀️Summer is approaching and with it... the 2nd @OpenSenseAction joint meeting and workshop!
This year the OpenSense community will be hosted in 🇵🇱 Poland at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków from 🗓️27 to 29 June.
Info on travel and accomodations here
For #WorldMeteorologicalDay 🌧️ we're introducing @OpenSenseAction.
Opportunistic precipitation sensing has huge potential to improve the understanding & modelling of the water cycle. Learn more 👇
#WorldMetDay #OpportunisticSensors #COSTactions https://bit.ly/3FF7a7n
■ STRUCTURE
Meet our
Working Groups
Establish a network of 5 working groups with multidisciplinary scientists investigating different opportunistic sensors.
■ Join us
Are you interested in taking part?
The COST Action OPENSENSE welcomes research-active scientists working in the field. There are many ways to get involved.