We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
To save content items to your account,
please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies.
If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account.
Find out more about saving content to .
To save content items to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org
is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings
on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part
of your Kindle email address below.
Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations.
‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi.
‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
This handbook provides a comprehensive, practical, and independent guide to all aspects of making weather observations. The second edition has been fully updated throughout with new material, new instruments and technologies, and the latest reference and research materials. Traditional and modern weather instruments are covered, including how best to choose and to site a weather station, how to get the best out of your equipment, how to store and analyse your records and how to share your observations. The book's emphasis is on modern electronic instruments and automatic weather stations. It provides advice on replacing 'traditional' mercury-based thermometers and barometers with modern digital sensors, following implementation of the UN Minamata Convention outlawing mercury in the environment. The Weather Observer's Handbook will again prove to be an invaluable resource for both amateur observers choosing their first weather instruments and professional observers looking for a comprehensive and up-to-date guide.
Instrument calibrations are both one of the most important, and yet sometimes one of the most neglected, areas of weather measurement. This chapter describes straightforward methods to check and adjust calibrations for the most common meteorological instruments – precipitation (rainfall), temperature, humidity and air pressure sensors. To reduce uncertainty in the measurements themselves, meteorological instruments need to be accurately calibrated, or at least regularly compared against instruments of known calibration to quantify and adjust for any differences, or error. Calibrations can and do drift over time, and therefore instrumental calibrations should be checked regularly, and adjusted if necessary.
The term ‘humidity’ refers to the amount of water vapour in the air. The physics of water vapour is one of the main components of the atmospheric heat engine which produces ‘weather’ and as a result, humidity measurements are an essential requirement for operational meteorological analysis and forecasting, for climate studies, hydrology, agriculture and many other areas of human activity and comfort. In the meteorological context, the terms relative humidity (RH) and dew point (Td) are most often used in specifying atmospheric water vapour content. This chapter sets out how humidity measurements are made, following guidelines laid down by the World Meteorological Organization in the so-called CIMO guide (Commission for Instruments and Methods of Observation), including those from chilled mirror hygrometers, a dry and wet bulb psychrometer and electronic humidity sensors. Limitations of existing methods in some circumstances, such as air temperatures below freezing point, are covered.
In order to provide representative measurements of grass, soil or earth temperatures, thermometers must be deployed in suitable locations or sites and the sensors themselves exposed in a standardised manner. This chapter sets out what those standardised conditions of site and exposure are for measurements of grass, soil or earth temperatures, following the guidelines laid down by the World Meteorological Organization in the so-called CIMO guide (Commission for Instruments and Methods of Observation). As a result of the UN Minamata Convention, traditional mercury-based thermometers have been progressively withdrawn from observation networks, and this chapter considers both their replacement by electronic sensors and impacts of that changeover.
Metadata is literally ‘data about data’. In the context of meteorological records, metadata covers the description of the observation site and its surroundings, the instruments in use and their units together with any significant changes over time, and any other relevant information, such as where the site’s records are archived. Its importance lies in providing essential information for any other user of the records to understand more about the location and characteristics of the data, and therefore enables more informed use of the data. Metadata are especially important for elements which are particularly sensitive to exposure, such as precipitation, wind and temperature, and for professional sites, especially so for long-period records. This chapter sets out what should be recorded, following guidelines laid down by the World Meteorological Organization in the so-called CIMO guide (Commission for Instruments and Methods of Observation).
There are enormous differences in functionality and capability between basic and advanced weather stations. This chapter outlines typical system specifications within broad capability and budget boundaries. When used with the prioritized assessments of functionality from the previous chapter, it will provide clearer guidance regarding the main brands, products and suppliers within the automatic weather station sectors.
Instrumental readings are of course vital when making weather observations, but non-instrumental ‘eye observations’ (such as cloud amounts and types) and brief notes (such as short weather diary entries) help to help build a more complete picture. This chapter sets out how to include these types of record, along with documentation regarding the occurrence of fog, snowfall, thunderstorms and other elements, in a practical and useful series.