Weather station
The weather station is a La Crosse WS-2355 and consists of four sections:
The Console which is sited indoors and displays information about the current weather - plus includes the barometer. It also sends the collected information to a computer, where a software program processes it.
The thermometer/hygrometer (humidity)/co-ordinator. This collects the data from its own sensors together with those from the anemometer, vane and rain gauge and sends it to the console at intervals of about 8-seconds.
The rain gauge. An automated device which measures the rainfall in predetermined measures and then tips to release the collected water to start over again.
The anemometer and vane. A combination unit comprised of the anemometer (wind speed) and vane (wind direction).
Locations of these units are recommended by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology to be as follows:
Console - immaterial.
Thermometer - ~1.2 metres from ground level (in the shade and protected from reflected radiation while allowing full air flow).
Anemometer/Vane - ~10 metres from ground level (preferably in an area without trees or buildings affecting the air flow).
Rain gauge - ~300 mm from ground level (preferably located so as to be clear of any obstruction by two or more times the height of such).
Like most private weather stations it has not been possible to comply with all those recommendations at this weather station site. The positions are Temp: 2>3 m rain: 2>3 m wind: ~10 m.
Most locations in the Blue Mountains are affected by trees and this one is no different. Wind readings in all directions are always lower than a similar station on a flat unobstructed site.
A dedicated computer is used for the weather station, so it's the weather station's work station. Apart from a few small utility programs and a small number of browsers there is nothing else at all on board. The operating system is Windows 7 Pro 64-bit. The processing of the raw data is taken care of by Weather Display. More information on this will be found in the INFO menu under WEBPAGE.