Well, if you have not recognized the line in the title, it
is from a famous song from an even more famous movie by Mr. Anurag Kashyap “Gangs
of Wasseypur”. The line translates to “They ask me, whether I like weather.” Just
to let you know, this post is not about movies or the music, but to know something
that might help you to answer the above question, if someone happens to ask you
the same: Whether you like weather.
Let us talk about few instruments that are used to measure
the weather parameters. You will find one, more, or all of these in a weather
station.
Thermometer: This
is a simple one, we all know, used for measuring the temperature. However, the
thermometers used for measuring atmosphere temperature is slightly different
from the one we use at home to measure body temperature. These thermometers
capable of recording maximum and minimum temperature.
Barometer: Used
to measure atmospheric pressure. Measurement of atmospheric pressure and its
deviation is extremely helpful in predicting short-term weather conditions.
Hygrometer: This
instrument is used to measure the humidity in the atmosphere.
Anemometer: This instrument
is used to measure the wind speed. Most of us would have spotted one near an
airport, a rotating device with four arms and hemispherical cups attached to
the end of arms.
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| a simple anemometer |
Pyranometer: Used
to measure solar radiation, this instrument measures solar radiation flux
density. The non-electronic forms of this instrument do not need any power to
operate and electronic versions are low power devices.
 |
| Pyranometer |
Rain Gauge: the
most obvious one, as the name suggests, it is used to measure liquid precipitation
over a period of time. The instrument captures the falling rain in a cylinder
with an opening of known size, and measuring the amount of water collected in
mm(interestingly enough, not in ml).
Nerd Note 1:
Anemometer gets its name from greek word anemos which means wind.
Nerd Note 2:
Pyranometer is named based on two greek words, pyro meaning fire and ano
meaning above sky. The unit of measurement for solar radiation flux density is
W/m2.
Nerd Note 3: There
are few more equipment that are advanced like Disdrometer, Transmissometer, and
Ceilometer. Can you tell us in comments what are these used for?
So next time someone asks you whether you like the weather,
tell them you need above instruments to set up a weather station so that you can make an informed decision.
And as always, thanks for reading.
Ayush!!!
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