How much would weather data from ocean-going vessels improve climate research?
&quot;Ship of opportunity&quot; weather observations have contributed to global data collection exercises since the dawn of meteorology as a science. There are many national and international initiatives that collect data and the data already inform weather forecasts and climate models. The practice is summarised in https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2019.00434/full
In recent years the number of ships contributing has declined, but over 2000 ships that do participate are collecting higher quality data.