What Data Does an Automatic Weather Station Collect?

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has over 10,000 automatic weather stations (AWS) collecting atmospheric data. The presence of so many AWS scattered across the globe has a strong purpose for WMO. It helps them predict weather conditions vital for disaster management, agriculture, industrial, construction, and maritime applications. The data from these automatic weather stations enhances safety and ensures the well-being of all.

Automatic weather stations come in many types, shapes, sizes, and configurations, which affect their data collection capability. Some are equipped with state-of-the-art sensors, while others may utilize a simplistic design for essential monitoring. Depending on the budget and data requirements, automatic weather stations can vary. Continue reading to understand what parameters the AWS collects and its accuracy and frequency.

Automatic Weather Station (AWS): Collecting Data From Atmosphere

Rain, Sun, Wind, Hurricanes, and Tornados are deeply rooted in human culture and beliefs. The quest to find and measure climate conditions dates back to ancient times. Recent advancements in electronics and computation have made measuring and predicting weather conditions convenient with ±0.3°C, ±3% RH, and ±0.3hPa accuracy. Massive data collection through thousands of atmospheric weather stations provides an extensive information pool that enhances predictability.

Automatic weather stations (AWS) house many sensors, including temperature, humidity, wind speed, wind direction, pressure, precipitation, and UV sensors. However, the more advanced and tailored AWS will feature further sensors. The AWS can transmit data wirelessly or wired to a host computer that acts as a data logger.

Types of Automatic Weather Stations

Automatic weather stations can be large enough to require massive support like a met tower or be as simple as a single sensor in a field. To fully grasp the variety of automatic weather station and their data collection, we need to explore these types based on application:

● Meteorological Automatic Weather Stations

The most popular automatic weather station is related to the meteorological field. It comes with a wind sensor, temperature, humidity, and pressure, at the least for accurate weather prediction. In some cases, a PV panel may also be included to supply power in case of remote locations and provide solar data. Installing meteorological automatic weather stations is critical as they must be in an open space without obstructing wind or solar radiation.

● Agricultural Automatic Weather Stations

The traditional method of sowing and watering is a time-tested technique, but to keep up with the pace of the modern world, it's vital to make it efficient. Agricultural automatic weather stations have basic and advanced weather sensors that provide real-time field conditions. It can include soil moisture and temperature sensors. Moreover, it can also come with pH, electrical conductivity (EC), Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium (NPK) Sensors for more advanced insight into the solid condition for farming. It can increase yields and enhance the operational efficiency of farms.

● Aviation Automatic Weather Stations

Automatic weather stations are necessary in the aviation industry, which revolves around atmospheric conditions. Aeroplanes, helicopters, flying jets, or any other object that relies on wind drag to generate a lift or descend needs atmospheric conditions. The airport traffic control (ATC) tower monitors the data from the sensors and decides whether to allow landing or take off. In some extreme conditions, the ATC will ask the airplane to take another route. Data from aviation automatic weather stations are extremely valuable for safety.

● Marine Automatic Weather Stations

With their live feed of wind, temperature, and pressure, automatic weather stations provide valuable data for navigation for boats, ships, and other marine activities. This is especially critical for offshore, Port, Coastal, and naval operations. The marine AWS is more advanced in military operations, with a wider detection range and sophisticated technology.

● Industrial Automatic Weather Stations

Depending on the industry, automatic weather stations can be fixed or portable in industrial applications. In a coal power plant, the discharge from the chimney may need to be carefully dispersed to avoid pollution for the residents. It's also vital to ensure compliance with local codes and regulations. It plays a crucial role in plume modeling.

● Other Types of Automatic Weather Stations

Other categories of AWS are based on their ability to connect wired or wirelessly. Some manufacturers may categorize them as fixed or mobile, but overall, they are mainly classified based on their application.

Detecting Atmospheric Temperature, Pressure, Humidity and More

Now that we know the types of automatic weather stations and the sensors that they may include to become relevant for a particular application, we can dive deeper into how they detect these parameters and their significance:

♦ Ultrasonic Automatic Weather Sensor

These are the most modern all-in-one sensors, incorporating tons of detection capabilities. A single ultrasonic automatic weather sensor can detect wind speed and direction, atmospheric temperature, humidity, pressure, precipitation (rain, hail, snow), solar radiation, illuminance, UV index, dust concentration (PM2.5, PM1), GPS, and electronic compass.

• Wind Speed and Direction: It has ultrasonic wind speed and direction sensors. The sensor has a reflector, receiver, and transmitter of ultrasonic sound. The transmitter generates the ultrasonic sound that travels through the air and reflects to the receiver. The time taken in the process represents the wind speed. Similarly, multiple sensors in different directions reveal the direction of the wind.
• Atmospheric Temperature, Humidity, and Pressure: The detectors house Micro-Electrical Systems (MEMS) sensors to detect all these parameters. They use physical load or pressure and convert it into an electrical signal. In case of pressure, the pressure causes a membrane to deform, changing the voltage across the membrane. The change in voltage is representative of the pressure change.
• Precipitation (rain, hail, snow): A 24GHz radar is enclosed in the sensor that provides the quantity of rain, hail, and snow using the precipitation detection phenomenon.
• Solar radiation, illuminance, and UV index: Silicon cell sensors use the photovoltaic effect to convert light into electrical energy, thus representing solar radiation.
• Dust concentration (PM2.5, PM1): The detector uses a photoelectric scattering mechanism to detect harmful particulate matter that must remain within the limit for good weather conditions.
• GPS or Compass: Finding the proper airspeed is vital when a weather station is on a remote vehicle or moving. The GPS helps eliminate the movement effect from the sensor's wind speed calculation.

♦ Rain Gauges

To detect the quantity of rain, there are multiple manufacturers use different approaches in their automatic weather station design:

• Tripping Bucket Rain Gauges: This is one of the earliest designs to detect rainfall in millimeters. The bucket collects rain from a specific area and funnels it into a section that has a bucket that tips over once it is filled. Each tip represents 0.1mm or whatever, depending on the gauge design. Counting the tips gives the rain quantity.
• Rain and Snow Switches: A ring conductor sensing board has an electrical conductivity sensor and heating elements to depict rain and snow accurately.

♦ Soil Detectors

In the case of agricultural AWS, the use of soil sensors can improve farming and enhance yields. These AWS use the following sensors:

• Moisture: Detecting moisture requires using stainless steel probes inserted into the soil, which provides details of moisture content through soil dielectric properties.
• Electrical Conductivity: Soil salinity is a vital parameter affecting crops. Soil electrical conductivity is a direct representation of soluble salts.
• pH: Plants' ideal pH range is neutral to slightly acidic. These detectors detect the activity of hydrogen ions to represent pH.
• Soil Nutrient Sensors (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium—NPK): Nitrogen is a plant lifeline; it directly represents the yielding soil can provide. Similarly, phosphorus and potassium are also strong indicators of soil health. Detectors use an electrochemical method where electrodes produce different signals when interacting with soil.

How Does an Automatic Weather Station Collect Data?

After the sensors are all set up and the weather station is physically set up in the field, we need to collect data from the weather station to produce results. Data collection can happen through a wired or wireless connection. However, you will need a data logger, microprocessor, and communication devices to collect data.

★ Steps of Automatic Weather Station Data Collection

Here are the steps through which the automatic weather station collects data from the field using sensors:

1) Data Acquisition

As mentioned in the last section, the first step is receiving data from the various sensors on the automatic weather station. In their raw form, the data are electrical signals referred to as analog, either in voltage, current, or capacitance.

2) Processing

The next step is to interpret the field data into perceivable results. The raw data is fed into a microprocessor within the weather station assembly, which converts it into viable digital form. Depending on the user's requirements, these sensors usually output RS485, RS232, and SDI-12 forms. One is excellent for long distances, the other for short distances, while the SDI-12 is suitable for low power consumption in agricultural settings.

3) Data Logging

The data is associated with the timestamp and will be later converted into graphs or representative data.

4) Transmission

After all the above steps happen within the automatic weather station, the data must be sent autonomously to the server or designated PC. The station can send data through GSM, Wi-Fi, LoRa, or wired USB/Ethernet.

5) Analysis

After the server or user PC receives the data with time stamps, it can be converted into visual and graphical representations using software to interpret the results.

★ Data Collection Frequency of Automatic Weather Station

The frequency of data collection for the automatic weather station depends on the user setting. A typical weather station can log data every second and transmit it to the server or user PC in real-time, between seconds and a minute. The data logging can also extend to days, depending on long-term monitoring.

★ How Accurate are Automatic Weather Stations?

Automatic weather stations are highly accurate. However, their accuracy depends upon the sensor technology and the manufacturer-built quality. Here is an example of one automatic weather station that uses different detection methods to provide the following accuracies:

Accuracy of the RK900-10 AWS (by Parameter)

Conclusion

To summarize the complete post, data from the automatic weather station is collected to a server or PC through weird or wireless communication. AWS has sophisticated sensors that provide an analog output converted into a digital form using an on-board microprocessor. The data is logged against the timestamp and sent at the interval set by the user. The software then provides the graphical results. AWS can monitor wind conditions, atmospheric conditions, soil conditions, and rain through multiple sensors. They have many applications in aviation, agriculture, meteorology, and industrial setups.

If you are looking for high-accuracy, precisely engineered, high-end sensors, visit the Rika sensor automatic weather station page to explore all your needs. Buyers can also explore the sensors that they need on their weather station for a more customized product. We hope you found the information you required in this article!