Weather Monitoring 17
programmes. The recommended density of stations for weather and rainfall is 20km, so that they will need to be powered in ways other than by mains electricity such as solar power. These stations will also have to have the capability to transmit records via mobile data services such as GSM or GPRS in real time in order to offer early warning of extreme weather or rainfall events.
The collection of sound, reliable meteorological data is imperative for continued sustainable development. Many industries, such as health, tourism, agriculture and energy, depend on such information. Monitoring networks, which can help reduce the vulnerability of agricultural systems and study illness outbreaks, are critical to logistics operations including those at airports and harbours.
Water stress
Water stress – lack of good quality fresh water – is a major problem that is driving the growth in water, rainfall and precipitation monitoring networks around the world. According to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 1.5 billion people currently live in water-stressed regions, and this will be exacerbated by the growth in populations, which is estimated to raise this number to 7 billion by the mid 2000’s, with ever more competition for this essential resource.
conditions with accuracy will require a much higher level of investment in National Meteorological and Hydrological Networks (NMHN) to ensure that risks from disasters can be minimised, weather models improved, and local facts and figures made available to all governmental departments, industry and farmers. Data from these Networks will also help bodies such as the Met Office Hadley Centre, the UK’s most important climate change research centre, to provide more accurate modelling software to help plan out infrastructure development plans for the next few years.
Recently, the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) undertook modelling exercises up to 2030 to look at the viability of current and planned technologies to provide water supplies and sanitation. This in turn will allow them to identify research needs in technologies and regions that are the most appropriate.
Need for investment
High water stress and the need for food security are also forecast to lead to major shifts in population and increased migration. The Environmental Justice Foundation estimates that there could be 150 million refugees by 2050 owing to the effects of dramatic weather and flooding. Forecasting such changes is extremely difficult, but the impacts of climate change must take into account changes to societies and how they will adapt to these changes.
A new report from the conservation organisation WWF and insurers Lloyd’s 360 Risk Insight, Global water scarcity: risks and challenges for business, explores the increasing threat to business from water scarcity, as populations grow and climate change takes hold. It says that businesses will have to address and manage the risk of water scarcity in the future if they are to survive.
Looking at weather systems as local environmental monitoring systems means the data can be incorporated to give global pictures. Increasing numbers of applications such as industrial processes now have requirements to monitor local conditions to help check emissions of pollutants, or chemical spills, from their site boundaries.
Everything we do is dictated by the weather, so that monitoring
We now have the technology to monitor weather conditions in great detail, while the extensive modelling packages that are now available allow us to attempt to predict what may happen in the future. This equipment is becoming more affordable, even for the poorest countries of the world, and every piece of monitoring helps assess the overall picture, so that the necessary action can be taken.
However, many areas of the world still do not have enough capacity in their monitoring capabilities. In countries such as Africa, increased investment of meteorological services is vital. The Environment Minister for Kenya recently demonstrated this by stating: “Weather shocks have devastated food security. Deforestation, soil erosion and land degradation have wiped out thousands of acres of land while water borne diseases continue to claim hundreds of lives.”
With the all too obvious results of climate change around us every day, it is now even more vital that regions and countries continue to invest in the development and expansion of their weather and rainfall monitoring networks in order to help study the overall changes in climate.
According to the WMO, science-based disaster risk reduction offers
a high return on investment, since every dollar invested pre-disaster in risk reduction can save seven dollars’ worth of disaster-related economic losses. As its factsheet on climate information for reducing disaster risk concludes: “More accurate weather and climate forecasts and warnings play a key role in anticipating risk to lives and property.”
AUTHOR DETAILS
Gary Noakes Market Manager Casella Monitor Regent House, Wolseley Road, Kempston, Bedford MK42 7JY Tel: 01234 844100 Fax: 01234 841490 email:
garynoakes@
casellameasurement.com
www.casellameasurement.com
Wind Sensor Technology Displayed at Windpower 2010
Gill Instruments (UK) exhibited their extensive product range at Windpower in Dallas, Texas in May 2010. The product range on display included the new MetPak II combined weather station as well as the popular WindSonic wind sensor, Extreme Weather WindObserver and WindMaster Pro ultrasonic anemometers with a live demonstration of the low-cost WindSonic wind sensor.
The new Gill MetPak II combined weather station is a compact and lightweight multi- sensor instrument that measures a wide range of weather parameters. Gill ultrasonic technology, as used in the proven WindSonic instrument, measures wind speed and direction. Temperature and humidity are measured using industry standard probes housed in a naturally aspirated radiation shield. Barometric pressure is measured within a vented enclosure. A serial data output is provided to interface to industry standard data loggers. Gill Instruments technical sales engineers will be on-hand at the Windpower International show to discuss the new developments in more detail.
The Gill WindSonic anemometer has become the benchmark for low-cost ultrasonic wind measurement technology, offering all of the benefits of this advanced measurement technique at an affordable price. The new variant of the WindSonic is due to incorporate further enhancements to allow use in a broader range of applications and environments.
Reader Reply Card no 47 Reader Reply Card no 48
May/June 2010
IET
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