Weather station

A weather station is a facility with instruments and equipment to make weather observations by monitoring atmospheric conditions to study the weather.

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Typical weather stations have the following instruments:

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• thermometer for measuring temperature
• barometer for measuring air pressure
• hygrometer for measuring humidity
• anemometer for measuring wind speed and wind direction
• rain gauge for measuring precipitation

Except for those instruments requiring direct exposure to the elements (anemometer, rain gauge), the instruments should be sheltered in a vented box (usually a Stevenson screen) to keep direct sunlight off the thermometer and wind off the hygrometer. The instrumentation may be specialized to allow for periodic recording otherwise significant manual labour is required for record keeping. Automatic transmission of data, in a format such as METAR, is also desirable as many weather station's data is required for weather forecasting.

Related Topics:
Stevenson screen - METAR - Weather forecasting

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Weather station: See also ►