Applications

Meteorology

Wind, rainfall, temperature, relative humidity, pressure and radiation, from a compact station to a full network.

A weather station combines sensors, a data logger that stores the readings and a way to send them. This guide helps you match the three to your site.

The problem

Weather changes from place to place: the rain in the next town is not the rain on your field. Irrigation, solar plants, highways and research need on-site measurements, recorded continuously by sensors that can take sun, rain and cold.

The variables

Wind: speed and direction, from ultrasonic anemometers
Precipitation: tipping-bucket and weighing rain gauges, rain, snow and hail detectors
Temperature, relative humidity, pressure and dew point
Global and diffuse solar radiation, PAR and UV light
Visibility and evapotranspiration

How to choose

A compact station with everything in one body, or separate sensors wired to a data logger. Data can travel over cellular, Wi-Fi, Sigfox, satellite, LoRaWAN or radio. Sensors with SDI-12 or Modbus output plug into loggers already in the field. Away from the grid, use a solar panel; in the cold, heated versions. Silicon pyranometers respond faster; thermopile ones are more accurate. Some loggers send alerts by email or SMS.