This weather station is a 1-wire weather station. It consists of a numerous devices, mostly 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:
*PLEASE NOTE, THIS IS THE NEW LAYOUT AS OF JANUARY 2011*
The layout 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:
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: (*REMOVED* and replaced with Boltek Lightning Detector. Refere to station notes at bottom of page)
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. (*REMOVED* Refere to station notes at bottom of page) 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:
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: (*MOVED* Refere to station notes at bottom of page)
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:
20th May 2009:
Leaf wetness sensor removed. Causing the station to loose contact with the base.
May 21st 2010: Station failing to read sensors. Suspected hail damage from severe March 22nd 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:
8th June 2011:
Boltek lightning detector installed. Static page updates every 5-10 mins at HERE
and Java page running Nexstorm updates every 1 mins HERE
11th November 2011:
Rain gauge moved 50m east, due to poor communications.
7th December 2011:
Severe electrical storm damages station. Components damaged included: Computer USB, DS9097U, Barometer, and 1-wire lightning detector. 1-wire lightning removed, and due to the parts required coming for the USA, in total the station was down for 1 month, All rainfall readings during this time were taken from the Ag Dept AWS 400m due east.
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