Application Note
Why reliable data is the backbone of smart cities
Solving smart city challenges with reliable weather intelligence
Background
According to the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), a smart city is an urban area that leverages digital technologies to improve efficiency, promote environmental sustainability, and enhance social inclusion. IMD’s latest Smart City Index, identifies 146 smart cities worldwide, with six added in the past year.
Put simply, a smart city uses an integrated network of sensors and digital instruments to monitor a wide range of factors — from air pollution behaviour and environmental monitoring to safe efficient mobility and energy efficiency. Beyond security cameras, these measurements are often captured by ultrasonic anemometers and compact weather stations, typically installed on smart lampposts throughout the city.
The real-time data collected from these instruments helps infrastructure operators and city administrators make more informed decisions. For example, wind pattern data is commonly used to monitor air quality but can also help detect gunshot sounds more accurately for crime prevention. Rainfall measurements can aid in forecasting floods and trigger timely safety responses such as adjusting braking distances for public transport or carrying out precautionary inspections on critical infrastructure such as bridges.
Challenge
Despite the promise of smart cities, many urban areas face key challenges that hinder their development:
- Infrastructure limitations – Some cities lack the necessary foundations and would need to invest in both the network hardware and power and communications solutions. In many cases, existing urban layouts were not designed with modern technologies in mind. Even when sensors are deployed — often mounted on lampposts or utility poles — they can be perceived as eyesores. As a result, city operators continue to explore ways to integrate these devices more discreetly into the urban landscape.
- Fragmented technology providers – Each city will have bespoke requirements and unique urban landscapes to navigate. As a modular solution of sensors and instruments is built, it can be a challenge to ensure the various modules can be integrated, both in terms of power and communications but also working together to create derived parameters. These individual devices, or nodes, can include devices and peripherals from diverse technologies originally designed to work as standalone sensors. Ensuring the devices communicate effectively and seamlessly is essential to avoid system integration issues slowing or even stalling smart city projects.
- Data analysis – More significantly, even if the infrastructure is in place and all systems are successfully integrated, the value of a smart city depends on the right expertise to analyse and apply this data to enable operationally informed decisions. The resultant information is often automatically presented in a public user dashboard for public benefit while the private sector will use the data for further analysis for metropolitan applications such as understanding pollution dispersion, triggering safety checks on infrastructure, and providing extreme weather warnings.
Solutions
Gill’s weather instruments have proven to be robust and low-maintenance solutions, providing accurate and reliable data for smart city applications.
While some weather sensors on smart poles can fail after extended exposure to outdoor conditions, especially in high-humidity or extreme weather environments, Gill’s MaxiMet compact weather stations are built for durability.
Failures in other systems not only compromise data quality but also lead to high maintenance costs, as replacements often require specialised equipment, manual intervention and repairs to be carried out during low-traffic hours. MaxiMet stations use ultrasonic technology, providing highly accurate measurements, and with no moving parts they eliminate the need for frequent recalibration or mechanical maintenance, ensuring they are highly cost-effective.
Accurate and reliable readings are essential for weather modelling, forecasting, and long-term climate research. MaxiMet sensors meet international standards and are backed by third-party accreditation, giving users confidence in their performance while minimising ongoing maintenance concerns.
In addition to accuracy and durability, Gill’s instruments help overcome common communication challenges. They support open protocols allowing operators to easily integrate them through a wireless gateway without relying on proprietary systems. This ensures quick setup, ease of programming, and broad compatibility — making integration straightforward and providing a flexible solution for third-party providers and system integrators.
Gill’s MaxiMet weather stations have already proven successful in smart cities where they measure a full range of meteorological and environmental parameters to international standards, including wind, precipitation, solar radiation, temperature, humidity, pressure, GPS, and compass readings.
Their low-power Eco Mode makes them ideal for energy-sensitive applications, while the integrated multi-sensor design reduces deployment costs and simplifies maintenance. In addition, their design makes them easy to integrate into the urban landscape while remaining discreet.
Recommended compact weather station for smart city applications...
MaxiMet is an advanced compact weather station designed and manufactured by Gill Instruments using proven technology to measure meteorological and environmental parameters to international standards.