Download Data to a JSON or GeoJSON File

Download dust observations from GLOBE’s Application Programming Interface (API)

GLOBE’s Application Programming Interface (API) allows end users to query data by date, location, protocol type, and much more. The API is intended for users with computer programming skills.

 

The API is a great option if you

  • want to download a large batch of data (more than 50,000 data points)
  • want the data as a JSON or GeoJSON file
  • want to write a script to automatically retrieve the latest data

 

To access the API, go to globe.gov.

Click on GLOBE Data > GLOBE API

Click on Go to GLOBE API Interface

Tip: Looking for more documentation about GLOBE data? Click on the GLOBE Data User Guide in the menu bar on the left.

We want all clouds data from 01 July 2019 to 01 August 2019. For this, click on GET /v1/measurement/protocol/measureddate/.

Click Try it out

Scroll down in the Protocols for search menu and select sky_conditions. Enter 2019-07-01 as the Start d0ate. Enter 2019-08-01  as the End date. Note dates must be entered as YYYY-MM-DD. The default file format is GeoJSON. In this example, I want the data returned as a JSON file. Select FALSE from the geojson dropdown menu. Click Execute.

Executing this call returns the Curl, request URL, and a sample of 10 observations is displayed in the Response body. Take moment to spot check the sample of data returned in the Response body. If the data looks okay, you can retrieve the full dataset.

To retrieve the full desired dataset, copy-past the Request URL into a new window in your web browser. After pasting the URL, edit sample=TRUE to sample=FALSE. Hit return on your keyboard to execute the search.

All GLOBE clouds data from 01 July 2019 to 01 August 2019 will be returned in JSON format to your web browser window. In this example, I am using Firefox because it displays JSON data nicely. Selecting Raw Data > Pretty Print makes it easier to read the data on the screen.

 

If you search (ctrl-f) the term “dust”, you see GLOBE clouds observations reporting dust.

 

 

To download the data, click Save.

 

 

Name your file and save to your desired location.

 

Now you can work with the JSON (or GeoJSON) data in the analysis or plotting software your normally use.