i'd been browsing through some WMO reports and other associated NWP lit recently and i'd seen stuff on GPS-RO, but nothing on anyone assimilating "smart" devices.
There are researchers who use this data - we have collected about 4 billion atmospheric pressure measurements that we have distributed for academic and government research. The primary researchers are Cliff Mass and his lab at the University of Washington. There are also groups in Canada and the US that are using the data. IBM is now also collecting and using smartphone pressure data through their mobile apps. [2]
Generally speaking, the current trend is to take the live data stream, run it through a quality-control algorithm and then use kalman filters in the WRF data assimilation package.
There are some papers published, but it is still early. I will find some links to papers if you'd like to read them. [3]
[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/29/technology/ibm-to-acquire-...
[3] Utility of Dense Pressure Observations for Improving Mesoscale Analyses and Forecasts: http://www.atmos.washington.edu/~hakim/papers/madaus_hakim_m...
"It also learns every time you actively report to the community on sky conditions and hazards, translating this information into weather predictions."
does sunshine actively run a numerical weather prediction model like WRF?
it'd be great to assimilate all these extra sensors into the NWP centre's models, but i imagine things like cal/val and WMO agreements to share data might make things difficult for commercial companies?
And yes it would be great to have all these sensor readings available to NOAA, Environment Canada, ECMWF, and everywhere. I have made lots of progress in getting them to talk about it, but it's a long road before any government starts using this data in its own NWP models.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/1561...
there's some stuff being written this year as well for the side that i work (space). with all the upcoming sensor gaps, they're looking at alternative ways to cover.