I’m wanting to put up an advanced weather observatory at home because I’ve recently taken a strong interest in weather monitoring. My main objective is to contribute to regional weather networks and gather precise and thorough meteorological data for my own research.
I am, however, somewhat daunted by the array of hardware and software options. I would be very grateful for any guidance or suggestions from this informed group.
I have the following specific queries:
Recommended Equipment: What are the top weather stations available right now for amateur meteorologists in terms of equipment? High precision, robustness, and a wide variety of monitors (temperature, humidity, wind direction and speed, rainfall, pressure from the atmosphere, etc.) are what I’m searching for.
Software and Data Integration: Which programmes do you suggest using to gather, examine, and display meteorological data? Software with forecasting capabilities and the ability to interface with online weather systems is what interests me.
Location and upkeep: Do you have any advice on how to put up and keep a weather station in the best possible condition? I have a sizable backyard with a couple of raised areas that might be used to install equipment.
Involvement of the Community: How can I provide my data to online weather platforms or local weather networks? Are there any particular networks or communities that are especially open to new members?
Learning Resources: What websites, books, or courses would you recommend so that I can improve my knowledge of meteorology and conditions monitoring?
This is a huge question with many possible answers which is probablywhy no-one has tried to answer it for you. I’ll give some very brief answers from my perspective but there are probably many other opinions too!
‘Top’ in the categories you mention is likely a Davis Instruments station, probably the Vantage Pro 2 possibly with some extra sensors. The Davis stations are fairly expensive for many amateurs, so there are other cheaper options like the Ecowitt stations, e.g. the Ecowitt Wittboy.
There are numerous software packages available, each with different functionality. A couple of popular ones are Weather Display and CumulusMX. Both can collect weather data, make it available for display on your own web site and upload to various online weather systems. Some software can produce very simple local forecasts, but they won’t be very accurate. To produce your own forecasts you’d need to use something like WxSim which can take data from Weather Display and CumulusMX, plus other sources and produce a local forecast.
There are various discussions on the forum about how best to locate a station. Ideally the rain gauge should be mounted fairly low (under 2m), the temperature and humidity sensors should be protected from full sun using something like a Stevenson Screen and the anemometer should be in the open at 10m. For most people it’s not possible/easy to achieve this so it’s usually a compromise.
The software can upload to sites like Weather Underground, etc, so there will be some publicity by appearing in their lists. You’d have to do your own research about other local weather. That really depends on your location.
The weather and meteorology is a very large field to learn about, so it’s difficult to recommend websites, books or courses that would help without you being more specific about your areas of interest.
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High precision, robustness, and a wide variety of monitors (temperature, humidity, wind direction and speed, rainfall, pressure from the atmosphere, etc.) are what I’m searching for.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/369820856_Design_and_Development_Recommendations_for_a_Smart_Weather_Monitoring_System_ but didn’t get clarification on that.
in advance.