34 Weather Monitoring Improved Accuracy in Measuring Direct Solar Radiation
Kipp & Zonen (The Netherlands) has improved its first class normal incidence pyrheliometer. The new CHP 1 pyrheliometer has improved performance and is updated with the latest developments. Following the footsteps of its predecessor, the CHP 1 offers the best accuracy and reliability available. CHP 1 pyrheliometer: A pyrheliometer is an instrument that measures the direct component of solar radiation at normal incidence. A pyrheliometer needs to be pointed at the sun at all times so that the solar disk always falls within the field of view of the instrument. Using an automatic sun tracker, such as the Solys 2, the direct solar irradiance can be measured very accurately during the whole day. CHP 1 is a new pyrheliometer that builds on the legacy of the CH 1, offering the reliability and durability of its predecessor together with important improvements. Highlights are the new detector design that has an improved response time and minimizes the influence of ambient temperature fluctuations. An internal temperature sensor is installed as standard. Moreover the new design is more installation and service friendly thanks to the new signal cable connector and screw-in desiccant cartridge. The specifications exceed the ISO 9060 ‘First Class’ standard and CHP 1 meets all the requirements for high end solar radiation networks, such as the BSRN (Baseline Surface Radiation Network). During its development CHP 1 has participated in field campaigns, including the IPC-X pyrheliometer intercomparison at the World Radiation Centre in Davos Switzerland, with excellent results.
CHP 1 is the best choice available for high accuracy measurements of direct solar radiation for meteorological, climatological and renewable energy research. It fits easily to all Kipp & Zonen sun trackers, including the new SOLYS 2 because the mounting size of the CH 1 and CHP 1 are identical.
Reader Reply Card no 125 Davis Vantage Pro2 Weather Station Reader Reply Card no 124
Ultrasonic Ane mometer Meas ures Highest Wind Speeds
The Model 85000 Ultra sonic Anemometer from R. M. Young Company (USA) offers excell ent accuracy and resolution over an extended ope rating range. High speed wind tunnel tests confirm a solid 70 m/s top end speed!
This is the highest speed attained by a 2-D sonic ane -
mometer. The Model 85000 2-D sonic is supplied standard with a selection of digital (including SDI 12) and analog outputs to suit a wide range of applications. Please contact R.M. Young for more information.
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Network of Weather Monitoring Stations Benefits Agri-Businesses
Many of the traditional sources of weather information are not sufficient for agricultural applications because weather observations sites are not close enough or timely enough to represent the local environment. Additionally, most systems are designed to deliver information on an hourly basis at best, where as many decisions in agriculture are based on minute-by- minute weather conditions. Localised, real-time environmental information is vital for day-to-day agronomic management of all crops. To help the agri-business community, a new network of weather monitoring stations is sprouting up in Canada. The project was initially launched in summer 2007 and was spearheaded by the Canadian Wheat Board, Pioneer Grain and WeatherBug, a leader in live, local weather information and services. The project’s original goal was to deploy a network of 1,000 weather stations across the Prairies over the first three years of the program. Due to overwhelming demand, however, more than 900 weather stations have been installed within the first year on farms, grain terminals and agricultural retailers.
The weather stations are mounted on poles and record wind speed and direction, humidity, precipitation, temperature, barometric pressure, dew point readings and more. Data is wirelessly transmitted to a hand-held device or cell phone and are updated every few seconds. One of the goals of the program is to use information collected from the weather stations for more efficient use of equipment and products. As an example, the weather stations assess wind conditions to reduce spray drift, or indicate temperature, humidity and rainfall conditions to help predict harvest quality. This past summer, there were enough stations deployed to create models to forecast certain disease and insects.
Reaping direct benefits for growers and retailers, the weather network in Canada is now being used as a model for other countries looking to increase yields and grades while also saving money and time.
Reader Reply Card no 128 Reader Reply Card no 127 October/November 2008 AET
Ashtead Technology (SEA) Rentals has equipped Vantage Pro2 Weather Station offers great features such as forecasting, on-screen graphing, and much more. Quick view icons show the forecast at a glance sunny, partly sunny, cloudy, rain or snow while a moving ticker-tape display gives more details. The integrated sensor suite combines our rain collector, temperature and humidity sensors, and anemometer into one package making setup easier than ever and improving performance and reliability. For improved accuracy, temperature and humidity sensors are housed inside a radiation shield. The shield protects against solar radiation and other sources of radiated and reflected heat. The first and only weather station in its class to use frequency hopping spread spectrum radio technology to transmit weather data wirelessly up to 1000 FEET (300 m). That's over three football fields in length and three times farther than competing stations!
Key Features • Weather information includes inside/outside temperature, rainfall amount, humidity levels, wind speed, wind direction and wind chill factor.
• Weather information includes barometric pressure trend, heat index, dew point, time of sunrise and sunset, moon phase, forecasting icons.
• Rain collector is self-emptying aluminum-plated tipping bucket reading rainfall in 0.01-inch increments.
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