Manual precipitation stations
In addition to its automatic precipitation measurements (see automatic weather stations, automatic precipitation stations and automatic tower stations), MeteoSwiss operates a manual precipitation monitoring network.
Measurements are taken once a day and transmitted to MeteoSwiss via SMS. The network comprises around 240 locations, about 190 stations measure rainfall and snow, and about 50 stations measure snow only.
Due to their long-series measurements, they are of great climatological significance.
In mountainous areas that are difficult to access, the network is supplemented by around 60 totalisers which record the volume of precipitation for an entire year (see Totaliser precipitation stations).
Data download
The Open Data from MeteoSwiss may be used without restriction; the source must be cited when reproducing or redistributing ("Source: MeteoSwiss").
✅ By using 'Open Data' from MeteoSchweiz, you confirm that you have taken note of the Terms of use.
Download data automatically
Download files per station automatically via FSDI's REST API: https://data.geo.admin.ch/api/stac/v1/collections/ch.meteoschweiz.ogd-nime
Read our documentation on how to download files automatically.
The STAC Browser can be a useful tool to facilitate the use of the API: https://data.geo.admin.ch/browser/index.html#/collections/ch.meteoschweiz.ogd-nime
Download data manually
Select and download files per station manually via MeteoSwiss' Open Data Explorer.
Data structure
- Files per station
The data is split by measuring station. A file for a station contains all available parameters in one file. There are files with daily d, monthly m and yearly y values.
We strongly recommend that you download the corresponding aggregated data granularity.
Depending on the granularity there are files with update frequency recent and historical.
See e.g. files for station Aigle (AIG) with all granularities and update frequencies mentioned: ogd-nime-aig_(data granularity)_(update frequency).csv.
Data format
CSV with an estimated volume of ≤0.6 MB per file.
Metadata
- Parameter
- Stations
- Data inventory
All parameters have a unique identifier that depends on the time resolution .
ogd-nime_meta_parameters.csv provides a list of all parameter identifiers with explanation, time interval, decimal places, data type and unit of measurement.
All stations have a three-letter identifier (e.g. BER for "Bern/Zollikofen" or LUG for "Lugano").
ogd-nime_meta_stations.csv provides a list of all station identifiers with name, Canton, Wigos ID, station type, altitude, coordinates, orientation and URL of the station details pages.
ogd-nime_meta_datainventory.csv provides a list of all stations and parameters with start and end date of the measurements.
Data usage
See e.g. MeteoSwiss' SwissMetNet network map.