A weather station can provide you with valuable information about your local area. There are lots of different types and models available and choosing the right one for your needs can be difficult. Having the best weather station on the market won’t be of much use to you if it can’t provide you with accurate information. This article provides an introduction to some of the factors that need to be considered before purchasing a new weather station, including available space, location options, and sensor selection.
- Space
Where you plan to place your weather station is an important consideration. If it is intended as a hobby, then where you put the equipment will be limited to what you can house or accommodate in your garden or windowsill. While some of the smaller, simpler models are suitable for this type of installation, most require more space and can be housed indoors. They also need a clear space in which to operate a mast and a location where the components can be accessed easily for maintenance and replacement of batteries, among other things. Professionals have more choice with regard to where they position their weather station equipment because of the amount of space or land available at their workplace.
- Location Options
The installation of a weather station requires more than just bolting the equipment to a wall and connecting power supplies, sensors, and data collection devices. There are other considerations that should be taken into account before securing or installing your equipment in its final position. For example, wind direction is important because the station needs to measure this information accurately for meteorological reports. It is not simply a case of pointing the measuring instrument in the direction from which the wind typically blows, as this can vary considerably and some important weather phenomena such as sea and land breezes may need to be taken into account.
- Sensor Selection
Weather stations are able to measure a broad range of meteorological conditions that will influence our daily lives. This includes air temperature, humidity levels, atmospheric pressure, wind speed and direction, rainfall amounts, cloud cover, and the ultraviolet index among many other things. Some models collect this information with individual sensors located at different positions around the station. Others gather this information using a combination of electronic components and software to calculate the individual measurements. There are both positive and negative aspects of these two approaches, with pros and cons for each model type.
- Time Frame
Some weather stations can take up to 12 hours or more before they will give you the first set of readings that you can use to monitor the local weather conditions. This means that you cannot expect instantaneous or up-to-the-minute information and can be frustrating if you want to know what is happening right now. Not all models will take this long, but user reviews will often mention this time frame so it’s worth checking before purchase. Some of the best weather stations available on the market will provide you with up-to-date information within seconds.
There are many different factors that need to be considered when purchasing a new weather station. While the installation of your equipment will depend on available space, location options, and sensor selection, you must also consider the time frame for initial readings before making your purchase.