Weather Monitoring Unprecedented Demand For Casella’s Tipping Bucket Rain Gauge
Specialists in hydrology and rainfall monitoring equipment, Casella Monitor (UK) is continues to bask in a 30% increase in sales of its high performance Tipping Bucket Rain Gauge (TBRG) over the past 24 months. The TBRG incorporates new calibration multi-point methodology, which Casella Monitor believes has resulted in one of the best, most cost-effective solutions on the market at present.
Tim Turney, Market Manager explains: “We had unprecedented demand from international government bodies and the product is popular with companies who integrate the buckets into their own telemetry and hydrology systems. The increased need to monitor rainfall, especially for crop and flood protection, is driving demand across the globe.”
TBRGs are sensors for measuring rainfall level and events such as thunderstorms. The Casella Monitor TBRG model is a reliable and extremely robust transducer, designed as a stand-alone sensor for operation within an existing logging system, such as the Casella Automatic Weather Station.
Tim concludes: “We are currently drastically increasing stock levels to keep up with demand and ensure quality service to our customers.”
Comprising a divided bucket assembly which is pivoted at the centre, rain collects in one side of the bucket, which then tips when a predetermined volume of water has been collected. The tipping action discharges the collected water and repositions the opposite side of the bucket under the discharge nozzle ready for filling.
Reader Reply Card No. Robust Ultrasonic Wind Sensor with Hard-Anodised Aluminium Alloy Construction
Gill Instruments (UK), manufacturer of anemometers, wind sensors and compact weather stations, has launched WindSonic M – a compact ultrasonic wind sensor with robust aluminium housing and optional anti-icing system.
The sensor incorporates many existing features of the hugely successful WindSonic and WindObserver II wind sensors, which are used worldwide to measure wind speed and direction in demanding applications. WindSonic M shares the same optimised aerodynamic profile as the original WindSonic, with further improvements to the internal systems to enhance performance. The robust aluminium alloy housing is hard-anodised to ensure suitability in harsh marine environments, and an optional anti-icing system allows operation down to -40ºC.
“The original WindSonic is hugely successful, recognised internationally for its innovative design and superb
reliability record”, said Chris Stock, Sales Manager at Gill Instruments. “The introduction of the WindSonic M builds on this success, significantly opening up the technology to more extreme environments, even those where flying debris and falling ice are encountered”.
“The ‘pancake’ sensor configuration, which was first developed and introduced by Gill in the form of the original WindSonic, is also used on WindSonic M giving unbeatable protection to the sensing transducers from debris, birds and other objects.”
The WindSonic M has been designed to comply with all the applicable sections of BS EN 60945 standard for ‘exposed equipment’. These include but are not limited to; corrosion (salt mist), vibration, radiated and conducted emissions and water ingress. In addition the unit has been designed to withstand hail or falling ice to UL 2218 Class 1.
WindSonic M provides a marine-standard NMEA 0183 output, with options for RS232, 422 and 485 outputs also available to ensure compatibility with most systems. A single 9-way connector and three mounting holes for attachment to a 1.75” pipe ensure installation is straightforward. With no moving parts to wear out and no routine calibration required, WindSonic M has a very low maintenance overhead.
Reader Reply Card No. SPN1 Sunshine Pyranometer for PV Applications
Photovoltaic developers and triallists find the SPN1 Sunshine Pyranometer from Delta T Devices (UK) a valuable tool for research and for performance validation. When making PV investments, it is essential to identify the best sites. An SPN1 can be used to quantify the available global and diffuse radiation at potential sites. Later, after an installation has been completed and power is being generated, the SPN1 can help to monitor the short and long term efficiency of the panels, and these results can be fed back into improved PV panel design.
The key advantage of the Sunshine Pyranometer type SPN1 is that it measures global (total) and diffuse radiation, and sunshine state – all in one instrument. It is also easy to use and needs no routine adjustment or polar alignment. Output from an SPN1 Sunshine Pyranometer allows calculation of DNI (Direct-Normal Irradiance) in sun tracking, horizontal and tilted installations. It is a common practice to
compare solar panel efficiency to DNI, particularly in solar energy field trials.
The SPN1 is a meteorological class instrument designed for long-term outdoor exposure, and is an affordable and effective alternative to traditional shade-ring pyranometers, the Campbell-Stokes and other sunshine recorders. It also provides some of the functionality of expensive pyrheliometers: Global (total) and diffuse horizontal irradiance in W.m-2, DNI (Direct-Normal Irradiance) calculation, Sunshine threshold to WMO definition: >120 W.m-2 in the direct beam, No moving parts, no shade rings, no motorised tracking needed, No routine adjustment or polar alignment needed and Works at any latitude.
The unique design of the SPN1 Sunshine Pyranometer uses a patented array of thermopile sensors and a computer-generated shading pattern to measure the direct and diffuse components of incident solar radiation. The shading pattern and thermopiles are arranged so that at least one thermopile is always fully exposed to the solar beam, and at least one is fully shaded from it, regardless of the position of the sun in the sky. A microprocessor derives the global and diffuse radiation values, which allows an estimate of the direct beam, and hence sunshine hours, to be calculated. The SPN1 Sunshine Pyranometer is protected by patents EP 1012633 & US 6417500.
The Sunshine Pyranometer provides 2 voltage outputs for global and diffuse energy, and a digital output of sunshine state for data logging. Delta-T Devices’ reliable low cost logging solution for the SPN1 is the GP1 Data Logger.
The SPN1 has a precision ground glass dome and uses wideband thermopile sensors; it achieves a near ideal spectral and cosine response. The internal heater keeps the Sunshine Pyranometer clear of dew, ice and snow down to –20°C, ensuring reliable readings in difficult climatic conditions.
In summary, the shine Pyranometer is a high performance instrument offering a unique combination of solar radiation measurements in a single, rugged, low maintenance device, making it ideal for PV applications.
Reader Reply Card No. 53 Reader Reply Card No. 54
www.envirotech-online.com IET May / June 2012 Reader Reply Card No. 52 51 50
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