Availability analysis of the Brazilian’s national weather measurement system

Abstract

Weather measurement systems became an important tool for the efficient operation of various economic activities. Automated irrigation systems, that improve agricultural productivity and reduce the consumption of water resources, relies on data collected by these systems, for example. Due to the inherent complexity of these systems (i.e. stations with multiple sensors communicating through multiple communication channels to cloud services), it is very important to have measures that clarify how faults behave allowing better planning of maintenance and establish a degree of systems' reliability. This work presents a study of the availability of all meteorological stations of the National Institute of Meteorology - INMET installed in the Brazilian territory in the year 2017. The results present the first analysis of this parameter and serve both for academic and commercial users, as a form of measurement of these systems' reliability, as well as for weather measurement infrastructure providers as a tool for improving the effectiveness of their maintenance policy and as a support for the strategic planning of new investments.