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Astera — API Sources

This document tracks every data provider considered, implemented, or planned.

Implemented ✅

Weather

Provider	Status	Notes
met.no (Norwegian Met Institute)	✅ Active	Free, global, no key. Primary weather provider.
Open-Meteo	❌ Removed	Unreachable from Render's servers — do not use

Marine

Provider	Status	Notes
Open-Meteo Marine	✅ Active	Wave height + sea temp. Free, no key. Returns 400 for inland — handled as non-fatal.
WorldTides	✅ Active (optional)	Global tide predictions. Paid API key required (`WORLDTIDES_API_KEY`).
NOAA CO-OPS	✅ Active (fallback)	US coastal tides. Free, no key. Used when WorldTides key not present.
Environment Agency	✅ Active (fallback)	England & Wales tides + flood gauges. Free, no key.

Location & Geocoding

Provider	Status	Notes
Nominatim (OpenStreetMap)	✅ Active	Reverse geocode lat/lon → place name + country. Free, no key. Returns English names via `Accept-Language: en`.

Astronomy

Provider	Status	Notes
Computed (Meeus algorithms)	✅ Active	Sunrise, sunset, moon phase, illumination. No external call.

Air Quality

Provider	Status	Notes
WAQI	✅ Active	AQI, PM2.5, PM10, NO2, O3. Demo token built in. Set `WAQI_API_KEY` for production.

Flood / Alerts

Provider	Status	Notes
Environment Agency	✅ Active	UK flood monitoring. England & Wales only. Free, no key. Non-fatal for non-UK locations.

Planned / Candidate 🔲

Weather

Provider	Notes
OpenWeatherMap	Paid after free tier. Potential backup for met.no.
Tomorrow.io	Good global coverage, paid.

Marine

Provider	Notes
Stormglass	Wave, wind, tide. Paid. Better coastal detail.
Copernicus Marine	EU ocean data. Free but complex auth.

Astronomy

Provider	Notes
AstronomyAPI	Richer data (planet positions, ISS passes). Paid.

Air Quality

Provider	Notes
OpenAQ	Open-source, global sensor network. Free.
Copernicus Atmosphere	EU air quality modelling. Free.

Geography / Points of Interest

Provider	Notes
Overpass API (OSM)	Query map features near a location (beaches, marinas, airports etc.)
GeoNames	Elevation, feature type classification. Free.

Flood / Water

Provider	Notes
USGS Water Services	US river levels and flood data. Free.

Aviation

Provider	Notes
AviationWeather.gov	METARs, TAFs, SIGMETs. Free. Useful for drone scoring.
OpenSky Network	Live aircraft positions. Free.

Nature / Wildlife

Provider	Notes
eBird (Cornell Lab)	Bird sighting activity by location. Free API.
iNaturalist	Species observations. Free API.

Not Pursued

Provider	Reason
AstronomyAPI (sunrise/sunset)	Replaced by computed Meeus algorithms — no external dependency needed
Open-Meteo (weather)	Unreachable from Render's servers
MarineTraffic	Paid and high cost — not relevant to current scoring activities
TransportAPI / National Rail	Out of scope for current product