About the Wx Now Gazetteer
Weather Now uses its own gazetteer (database of geographical information) to allow you to search for and view weather with local context and maps. We store the data in a single Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB NOSQL collection containing over 15 million places. Using a NOSQL database allows us to mix all kinds of place data in one fast, searchable database.
When complete, the database will contain millions of records from numerous sources, including:
- The US Federal Aviation Administration
- The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
- The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
- The United States Census Bureau
- The United States Geological Survey National Geospatial Program
We also use Microsoft Azure Maps to validate and correct some existing data.
Finally, in future, we plan to allow vetted users to add their own geographic places. If you register with us, we'll let you know when this feature is available.