Automatic Weather Station

Devesh Dewangan
2015CE10322
The automatic weather station is made for measuring several meteorological parameters. It
is designed and built for the long-term use under extreme weather conditions without any
infrastructure. The AWS can be equipped with diverse sensors according to the specific
customer requirements.

The components of an automatic weather station

Automatic weather stations are extensively used to collect data from sites and locations
which are remote, difficult to access or even from other locations to save the human labour
and avoid human error.

Solar panels
Solar panels provide the power to run the weather stations. As these stations are located at
remote stations, solar energy is the only reliable source of energy. Energy generated by the
solar panels is stored in the battery.

Battery
Batteries store the energy generated by the solar panels and ensure functioning when solar
energy is not available.

Enclosure
Enclosure prevents the various components of the weather station from the environmental
conditions and hence, prevents them from damages.

Sensors
 Thermometer
Thermometers are typically used to measure the temperature of the photovoltaic panels.
As the temperature of the panels goes up, their efficiency drops down. Thermometer
ensures that the temperature of the PV panels is recorded.

Anemometer
Anemometers are used to measure the velocity of winds. Cup type anemometers are
most commonly used. The term is derived from the Greek word, Anemos which means
wind.

Wind vane
In some applications, knowing only the wind velocity is not enough, but direction in which
the wind flows is also required to be monitored. A wind vane or a weather vane is used
for this purpose.

Hygrometer
A hygrometer is a device which is used to measure humidity or moisture content in the
air. The first successful hygrometer was made by Johann Lambert. Different types of
hygrometers function by monitoring changes in certain parameters like dew point,
capacitance, and electrical resistance to find out the actual humidity.

Barometer
Pressure tendency can forecast the weather changes. Barometers are used to measure
the atmospheric pressure at the given location.

Rain gauge
Rain gauge is used to find out the rainfall at the given location.

Pyranometer
Pyranometers are used to measure the solar radiation at the given location. Depending
upon the type of the Pyranometer (PV based or thermocouple based), the bandwidth of
the measurement would be decided.

Apart from the above mentioned sensors, some weather stations can have ultrasonic snow
depth sensor, sensors to measure cloud height etc. depending upon the location and the
purpose of the use.

In India, Automatic Weather System (AWS) data collected by India Metrological Department
and these are as follows
LAT : Station latitude in oN
LON : Station longitude in oE
ELEV : Station elevation in meters
MSLP : Mean sea pressure level in hPa
DBT : Dry bulb temperature in oC
DPT : Dew point temperature in oC
RH : Relative humidity in %
RRR : Hourly rainfall in mm
DD : Wind direction in degree
FF : Wind speed in knots measured through Anemometer

References:
1. India Metrology Department
2. Aeron, Smart Technology Company