Weather observation

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Arrangement of the weather data

The weather observation deals with the acquisition and recording of weather data . It is closely related to meteorology , but in contrast to this it does not try to give any scientific explanations for the observations. Weather observation provided the basis for the meteorological relationships and in modern times led to the scientific field of meteorology.

How do you watch the weather?

When observing the weather, the conditions of the earth's atmosphere - temperature , cloud (types) , wind , humidity , etc. - are recorded at a specific location, usually at set times. This now mostly happens automatically, but in the past it was also done manually by reading from measuring instruments or simply by writing down what was seen. Nowadays the weather observations of all state weather services are coded with a weather key and exchanged worldwide via a special data network.

history

Weather observation and recording have existed for thousands of years. Traditions and records, however, dealt almost exclusively with major events and a more or less rough date determination until modern times. Storms, storm surges, floods, drought and their consequences are described. In earlier times, coarse laws were derived from regular observation of the atmosphere, but also of other natural phenomena. These regularities are now colloquially called peasant rules .

Beginning of modern weather observation

In Europe, the weather has been recorded in different places and with different quality and regularity for about 300 years. The professional and systematic recording of weather data did not begin until 1781 by the Societas Meteorologica Palatina at the Hohenpeissenberg Observatory in Bavaria, Germany. The “Mannheim hours” used at that time, 7 am, 2 pm, 9 pm mean local time, correspond to the climate observation dates that are still common today. This series of data continues to this day, making it the oldest and longest weather record in the world. If one speaks today of "since the beginning of the weather recording" then the maximum period from 1781 is meant. In some regions, however, much shorter periods of just a few decades.

A new chapter in weather observation began in the 19th century. The English meteorologist James Glaisher from 1862 and the French meteorologist Léon-Philippe Teisserenc de Bort from 1896 were among the first to try to explore the atmosphere with the help of balloons . Teisserenc de Bort discovered the troposphere and the stratosphere with the help of unmanned weather balloons . With this began the systematic exploration of the earth's atmosphere . In the 20th century, the range of instruments for weather observation was expanded to include ships and airplanes and, from around 1950, the weather radar .

The age of global weather observation via satellite

In 1960, the TIROS satellite, the first television camera for weather observation, was launched into orbit and the weather has been geostationary and global since 1966 recorded by polar orbiting weather satellites . The observation spectrum of the image-recording sensors ranges from the infrared range and the visible range to the microwave range.

Weather observation on other planets

Since October 24, 2001, probes such as the 2001 Mars Odyssey or the Mars Express have been orbiting Mars. Since then, the weather on other planets and moons has been recorded, similar to the earth. Today we have a very precise picture of the weather systems on Mars through this observation.

Types of weather observation

There are essentially two types of weather observation, synoptic and climatological.

Synoptic weather observation

The aim of synoptic weather observation and recording is a short to medium-term weather forecast . Long-term weather forecasts sometimes extend into the field of climatology .

These weather forecasts are made with computers. For such a calculation it is necessary to simultaneously record the state of the weather worldwide on certain dates. Therefore the synoptic weather observations are carried out synchronously. The main synoptic observation dates are 00, 06, 12 and 18 o'clock UTC .

Climatological weather observation

The aim of weather observations for climatological purposes, however, is to compare the climate between different locations. Therefore, the climatological observation is carried out worldwide at certain times of the day ( mean local time ). As early as 1780, the so-called Mannheim hours were set by the Societas Meteorologica Palatina (Palatinate Meteorological Society) . Since then, climatological weather observations have been carried out at 7 a.m., 2 p.m. and 9 p.m.

Measuring networks

Today, the weather data is recorded via a network of measuring stations (measuring network) that are distributed all over the world. In the federal territory , in addition to the state German Meteorological Service (DWD) and the Federal Armed Forces Geoinformation Service (GeoInfoDBw) with their measurement networks, private weather services also register the data with their own measurement networks. In contrast to the state weather service DWD, however, the private services do without trained weather observers and only record meteorological parameters automatically. The DWD's measuring network consists of 182 full-time stations, the GeoInfoDBw maintains one with 31 stations. Both form the full-time official measuring network in Germany.

AWEKAS (Automatic Weather Map System) is one of the largest private weather measuring networks. AWEKAS is a worldwide network of private and public weather stations with over 6500 members from over 80 countries. The station data is processed in real time and made available immediately.

Private weather observation

Private weather records can provide an interesting insight into the weather. Usually, a weather diary is used to record the temperatures, cloud types or shapes, wind speed and direction, humidity, and other interesting natural phenomena. By comparing these data, conclusions can be drawn later about regularities. In the meantime, a certain degree of automation with the PC is also possible in the private sector. There are systems and software that use sensors to automatically collect various data and log it in a weather diary.

For private weather recording, the weather data can be recorded similar to the following example.

 
date
 
Temp.
 
Air pressure
Air pressure
change
Cloud
cover
 
Cloud type
Wind
direction
 
Wind force
Air
humidity
 
Others
January 1, 2000 −3 ° C 1000 hPa +10 hPa three quarters
to full
Heap clouds Southeast 3 60% Morning mist

literature

Peter Moore: The weather experiment . 1st edition. mareverlag, Hamburg 2016, ISBN 978-3-86648-237-1 .

Individual evidence

  1. Kaspar, F .; et al .: Monitoring of Climate and Climate Change in Central Europe and Germany, 2017. doi: 10.1007 / 978-3-662-50397-3_3

Web links

Wiktionary: Weather observation  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations