Weather forecast instruments are a vital component in our application of science and technology in an attempt to predict future conditions of the atmosphere for a given time and location. This article will help you know the basic weather forecast instruments and invention which aids scientist in reading the weather today.
1. Pyranometers Measure Solar Irradiance
Pyranometers are a special type of weather forecast equipment used to measure solar irradiance on a given planar surface. They are also designed to detect and record solar radiation flux density (W/m2) within a wavelength range of 0.3 to 2.8 micrometers.
They have become the World Meteorological Organization's standard instrument and are covered under the International ISO 9060 standard. Such devices tend to be calibrated using the World Radiometric Reference which is maintained by the World Radiation Center in Switzerland.
Pyranometers tend to comprise of following main components:
- A thermopile, which is a sensor made of thermocouples in series and coated with a solar absorbing material.
- A glass dome to restrict the wavelengths of light able to enter the device. It also shields the thermopile from wind, rain, and convection
- An Occulting disc which measures the diffuse radiation and blocks beam radiation from the surface
These devices are normally passive and do not require any power supply at all. Modern electronic pyranometers, on the other hand, do require a small amount of electrical input.
Wind speeds can be accurately measured using devices called anemometers. They were first developed by Italian artist Leon Battista Alberti in 1450 but were perfected much later in the 20th Century.
They are a common instrument often found on weather stations. Their design has changed very little since the 15th Century.
The most easily recognizable forms used in weather forecasting include:-
- Cup anemometers.
- Vane anemometers.
The first determines wind speed based on how fast the cup wheel spins. Improvements made to the design in 1991 by Derek Weston, also allows them to determine wind directions from the cyclical changes in cup wheel speed.
Although simple in theory, other factors need to be factored in before determining true wind speeds. For instance, turbulence from the device itself and friction from the mount point need to be accounted for.
A vane anemometer, on the other hand, combines a propeller and a tail on the same axis to obtain accurate and precise wind speed and direction measurements from the same instrument. Wind speed is determined using a rev counter which is then converted to wind speed.
There are also other forms of anemometer ranging from hot-wire anemometers (the most popular constant-temperature devices), Laser Doppler anemometers, ultrasonic anemometers and ping-pong ball anemometers (though generally confined to middle-school experiments).
Today, radar forms an integral part of any weather instrumentation and is used, primarily, to locate precipitation, track it and estimate its type (snow, rain etc) and intensity. Radar can also be used to forecast precipitation associated with thunderstorms, hurricanes and winter storms.
Radar was initially developed during the Second World War as a means of detecting and tracking enemy aircraft. Personel soon noticed "noise" or "echoes" on their displays from precipitation which revealed a potential peacetime application for the technology.
Shortly after the conclusion of the war, surplus radar equipment was repurposed on weather stations.
Modern stations use pulse-Doppler Radar that is actually capable of detecting the motion of rain droplets as well as the intensity of the precipitation. They typically use dual-polarization radar that sends and receives vertical and horizontal pulses.
This gives meteorologists a much clearer appreciation of the multi-dimensional situation at any one time.
4. Rain Gauges Have Been Used to Measure Rain Since 500 BC
Rain gauges are pretty simple instruments used to directly measure the amount of liquid precipitation in one location over a period of time. They are vital instruments for meteorologists and hydrologists alike.
Rain gauges are one of the world's oldest and most basic weather instruments around. Some of the first recorded apparatus dates back to Ancient Greece around 500 BC. Other records indicate that people living in India also started measuring rainfall in around 400 BC.
The first standardized rain gauge appears to have been developed in 1441 AD in the Joseon Dynasty of Korea. The first 'tipping bucket' form of rain gauge was developed by Sir Christopher Wren in 1662.
Richard Towneley is the first person to systematically measure and record rainfall over a period of 15 years from 1677 to 1694. He later inspired other scientists of the age to follow suit, eventually leading the pioneering work of George James Symons (one of the first official Meteorologists who founded the British Rainfall Organisation).
Most modern rain gauges generally measure the precipitation in millimeters in height collected on each square meter during a certain period, equivalent to liters per square meter.
This can be simple collection systems that are later visited by meteorologists to assess rainfall or automated to gather data in situ.
5. Weather Balloons Take Weather Forecasting to New Heights
Weather or sounding balloons are effectively mobile weAather stations that carry scientific instruments into the upper atmosphere. They tend to be equipped with suites of sensors to measure weather variables like atmospheric pressure, temperature, and humidity.
This information is relayed to ground-based receiver stations to be stored and analyzed.
Other information, like wind data, can be obtained by tracking the balloon's position using radar, radio direction finding or installing GPS systems on each balloon. Other instruments are encased in small, parachute-equipped though often expendable, payloads called radiosondes.
Each balloon tends to comprise a large, often up to 6 ft (1.8 meters) wide, helium or hydrogen filled latex balloon. The balloons then carry an instrument payload package that encases and protects the more sensitive instruments during its flight.
Leon Teisserence de Bort, a French meteorologist, was one of the first people to use weather balloons. He launched hundreds of them during 1896 which led to his discovery of the troposphere and stratosphere.
Some balloons, called transosonde, are designed to stay aloft for long periods of time. They were initially devised to help monitor radioactive debris from atomic fallout during the 1950's.
Hygrometers are tools used to measure humidity or air moisture content in the atmosphere, soil or indoors. The very first, though crude, hygrometer was invented by the Italian genius Leonarda da Vinci in around 1480.
More modern versions were created by Swiss polymath Johann Heinrich Lambert in 1755.
Older analog hygrometers come in various forms including hair tension hygrometers and sling psychrometers to name but a few. The former, as the name suggests, use animal hair (which is hygroscopic - water absorbing) to 'detect' changes in relative air humidity as the hairs length changes.
The latter uses a set of two thermometers, one moistened and one dry, that are spun in the air. As temperatures fluctuate above or below the freezing point of water, the 'wet' thermometer will either show a cooler temperature (if water evaporates above freezing point) or lower (if ice forms) when compared to the dry thermometer.
Modern hygrometers tend to be digital versions as they are more reliable and accurate. They use electronic sensors to detect changes in relative humidity and convert it to an easily readable numerical value.
One of the newer 'kids on the block' weather satellites are the highest tech options available to weather forecasters. They are able to view and gather large amounts of data about the Earth's weather and climate with unparalleled views.
They tend to hold either asynchronous orbits (therefore covering the entire Earth's surface) or geostationary (thereby focussing on a single spot for extended periods). As early as 1946 ambitions to put cameras into space was already being developed.
The first weather satellite, Vanguard 2, reached Earth's orbit in February 1959. This sparked the beginning of a proliferation of weather satellite launches over the next 5 decades.
From orbit, they are privy to unobstructed views of the Earth's cloud systems and are able to gather information on anything from ocean temperatures to spotting wildfires or sandstorms.
Weather satellites are unique in that they are able to offer meteorologists views of weather systems over large-scale areas offering the ability to observe weather patterns hours or days before more conventional systems like weather radar.
They are often employed to track and monitor large-scale weather patterns like hurricanes and El Nino.
Disdrometers are weather forecasting instruments that are used to measure the drop size distribution and velocity of raindrops (hydrometeors in the meteorological parlance).
Disdrometers come in various forms:
- Impact Disdrometers which directly measure the kinetic energy of raindrops,
- Acoustic Disdrometers that use piezoelectric sensors and diaphragms to determine raindrop kinetic energy and;
- Optical Disdrometers that use light to measure raindrops in a non-intrusive manner.
More sophisticated instruments are even able to distinguish between hailstones, raindrops, and graupel.
They tend to be used in various applications from traffic control to scientific studies to hydrology. Modern instruments employ microwave and/or laser technology as well as a 2D video that can be used to analyze snowflakes.
9. Transmissometer Help Determine Local Visibility
Transmissometers are weather forecast instruments used to measure the extinction coefficient of the atmosphere and seawater and by proxy estimate the visibility.
These instruments send narrow beams of energy, usually a laser, through the air towards a corresponding receiver a set distance away. Any photons that are absorbed or scattered by the air between the detector and sources will not reach the detector.
By determining the path transmission and extinction coefficient the local visibility can be determined.
These devices are also known as telephotometers, transmittance meters, or haze meters.
Ceilometers are devices that use lasers or other light sources to determine the height of clouds or cloud bases, it can also be used to determine cloud thickness. They also have applications for determining aerosol concentrations and volcanic ash in the atmosphere.
They come in two general forms:
- Optical drum ceilometers use triangulation to determine cloud height from a spot of light projected onto the base of clouds. These tend to consist of a rotating projector, detector, and recorder.
- Laser ceilometers consist of a vertically aligned laser and lidar receiver within the same location. The time taken for the reflected light to return the lidar receiver enables the device to determine cloud cover height. This technology can also be prone to false positives because it can be affected by any form or particulate matter in the air (dust, rain, smoke etc).
Ceilometers have also been shown to be fatal to birds as they get disoriented by the light beams emitted from them.
In the worst recorded ceilometer, non-laser light beam incident, approximately 50,000 birds from 53 different species died at Warner Robins Air Force Base in the United States during one night in 1954.
11. The Barometer: Weighing the Air Since the 1600's
The barometer is one of the most important instruments in weather forecasting. It is used, as the name suggests, to measure localized atmospheric air pressure.
Evangelista Torricelli is widely credited with the invention of the barometer in the mid 17th Century. But historical documentation also indicates that Gasparo Berti, another Italian scientist, built a working barometer by accident between 1640 and 1643.
Berti was a friend of Galileo who in turn was the mentor of Torricelli. Berti could not explain how his 'barometer' worked, invoking a theory that the vacuum in some way held the water level in the tube and asked Galileo for advice.
If this is true, Torricelli later made the connection between atmospheric pressure and phenomenon described by Gasparo Berti in his apparatus.
He would later write:-
"We live submerged at the bottom of an ocean of elementary air, which is known by incontestable experiments to have weight".
Torricelli also later discovered he could replicate the phenomenon in 'miniature' using denser fluids like mercury.
Traditionally, barometers came forms such as:
- Water (Goethe)
- Mercury and
- Aneroid (later invented in 1844 by Lucien Vidi).
Analog forms are rarely used for official weather prediction today, having largely been replaced with digital ones. Digital barometers use electrical transponders, instead of liquids in a vacuum, to detect atmospheric pressure and are the most widely used form in official weather stations today.
Air pressure, when combined with wind observations has been used to predict, fairly accurately, short-term weather forecasts since the later 19th Century.
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