This weather station is a 1-wire weather station. It consists of a numerous devices, daisy-chained.
The components were purchased from Hobby Boards in the U.S.A. The data is collected by a program called Weather display. This automatically translates and uploads all the data to the internet.
This AWS is sited at UWA sports park (McGillivray oval) in Floreat. It is by no means in a "built-up" area,
the station has very good air flow from all directions, it is approx 20m asl. Therefore it is very good representation of the area. Through much testing and cross checking of data, it is in a cooler area than other Perth AWS, such as Swanbourne nearby, this has been attributed to the cooling effect from the more than 18 hectares of oval to the south of the AWS.
The anemometer is mounted on a 12m mast, (pictured below) ontop of a building. this gives great readings from the E/NE thru south to the west. From the west thru north to the E/NE, there are some scattered trees so the speed readings are not so great.
The rain gauge is located on top of the building, and has no trees or obstacles hindering readings.
AWS location:
AWS layout:
The series is as follows, barometer, and indoor temperature. This barometer is based on a design by Tim Bitson. It reads pressure from 948-1083 hPa. It's resolution is approximately 0.34 hPa:
The Leaf Wetness Sensor is a circuit board that has rows a parallel traces. The resistance between these traces will decrease as the sensor gets wet:
Temperature/humidity. Measures temperatures from -55C to +125C
0.5C accuracy from -10C to +85C
9-bit thermometer resolution and the Honeywell HIH-4000 series humidity sensor.
Mounted inside a Stevenson screen that was re-furbished after being sited at the U.W.A. research station in Shenton Park from the 1960's 'till 2006. The AWS at the research station is now an Ag. Dept. AWS. it can be viewed online here
As mentioned before, the screen has exceptional air flow.
And again.
The lightning detector (in blue PVC pipe) detects lightning within approx. a 100km radius. Though lightning to the west can sometimes be detected upto 150-200kms. It does not give a direction or distance reading, just simply a count:
Solar sensor, mounted inside pipe, with a ping-pong ball used as a light diffuser, and wind speed/direction. The Solar Radiation detector measures sunlight. It detects light in the visible to infrared portion of the spectrum, with peak detection at 860nm and an acceptance angle of 140 degrees. The Anemometer is the discontinued Dallas wind instrument. Measures wind speed in excess of 250km/h, and the direction is measured on a 16 point compass. This device is very accurate. The cups start turning at less than 0.1knt.
Mounted on a 12m high mast:
The other anemometer is a Lacrosse 2300 weather station for the McGillivray Grounds crew.
This is the RAINEW rain gauge by RainWise, with the hobby-boards 1-Wire counter installed. The 8" diameter collector meets National Weather Service (NWS) specifications for statistical accuracy. Every time the bucket tips, a count is transmitted to the computer and the gauge empties. Unlike manual rain gauges, you never have to empty the gauge. Each tip of the bucket counts 0.01 inches (approximately 0.25 mm) of rain:
This should ideally be sited on, or as near to the ground as possible. In this case this is not an option, as the irrigation can effect readings
Rain gauge, lightning detector (in blue PVC pipe) and screen.
These are all connected via Cat-5 cable, and rj45 LAN connectors.
STATION NOTES:
May 21st 2010: Station failing to read sensors. Suspected hail damage from March 222nd storm. Anemometer mast dismantled, problem found to be damaged solar sensor housing. The solar sensor has now been removed untill further notice, and daytime sun conditions are now taken from the Belmont airport metar.
Refer to pictures below:
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