Types Of Weather Station: Beginners Guide

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It matters not who you are, but if your day to day tasks involve regular weather updates then you need best weather stations for sure, irrespective of you being a gardener, sailor or pilot. 

For any normal person, a residential weather station serves the purpose in allowing us to understand parameters like temperature, sun, rainfall, snow and wind. 

This data can be transmitted enabling Wi-Fi proof devices to retrieve them on the handheld devices. 

Go through the article to know in-depth about the Weather Stations and their types.

What Are The Different Types Of Weather Station:

If you are keen or your job requires you to retrieve accurate weather information like the temperature difference, levels of humidity, the sunlight, quality of air, or any other kinds of weather conditions, then the weather station is the best way to obtain it. 

These are known to provide the true sense of the weather with actual time and climatic predictions. These prove to be very helpful for anyone who is in need of the data for professional purposes. 

The weather station has a number of equipment which is used to give perfect climate data all based on how sophisticated the weather station is. 

Few of the features of weather station are mentioned below:

  • Thermometer and Hygrometer
  • Rain Gauge
  • UV Sensor 
  • Weather Warners from Hailstorm, Snow, Rainfall
  • Air Quality Tester
  • Speed of the Wind and its Direction
  • Soil Temperature Measurer is also available in few of the weather station models

Become Your Own Weatherman

To have up to date information about present weather conditions, the household weather stations are more than accurate and reliable these days. 

Nowadays, few sophisticated models are available which have inbuilt sensors.

They also include National Weather Service feed and facilitate improved forecasting, crowd sourced reports are also generated.

If you are an owner of a vast property far away or are planning for a vacation at a property, then having a professional home weather station or probably a high-precision weather station will help you keep informed about severe weather conditions.

There are weather stations serving all kinds of weather predictions – home based, professional, severe, emergency or even educational.

You can get the one which suits your needs the best installed. Read on to understand the various types of weather stations.

Weatherman

Personal Weather Station

This is a set of various instruments and equipment which predict the weather as per your home or business needs.

The kind of instruments and their accuracy might differ based on the model or make.

Generally, the instruments which a personal weather station has for sure are outdoor temperature, relative humidity, pressure, rainfall, and wind speed and direction.

You can find various other types of weather stations going forward. Types of Personal Weather Stations are:

Digital Home Weather Station

A basic digital home weather station keeps track of temperature and the ambient as well as inside humidity through a thermometer and a hygrometer respectively.

These equipment also have inbuilt clocks and calendars which merge and display data as per requirement.

In a standard set up, forecasting and historical data are also given. While in much advanced systems, they have all the above mentioned features and along with the below mentioned.

They can be chosen according to all or probably a by part of them as per the user’s needs.

  1. A Rain gauge
  2. An Anemometer for measuring wind speed and direction
  3. A Barometer
  4. An Actinometer for checking UV index and solar radiation

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Wireless Indoor Outdoor Weather Station

Indoor Outdoor Wireless

Most commonly used and extensively spread are these wireless indoor outdoor weather stations which are affordable as well.

They are fully competent with sensors for indoor as well as outdoor.

They take the reading and transmit them through a network that is local or probably an ultrasonic transmission into a central control panel.

The output is generated in true time after thorough analysis of the data in the weather station.

Previous data can be stored in these devices along with the current data which can be compared as well in the weather station itself.

Smart Weather Station

Smart Homes along with Perfect Weather Precision convergence is the birth of Smart Weather stations.

They closely monitor the climatic conditions from wherever they are located without having to move them using Internet of Things (IoT) technology.

These smart weather stations easily track the air-pressure, rainfall, wind and UV light through the sensors built in them in real time.

They can be controlled via Alexa or any other kinds of AI installed at homes. As the name suggests they are smart.

Analog Weather Station

As the name goes – Analog, they are just like the analog clocks where accurate data can be read through different kinds of pointers and different indicators.

This weather station is limited to 3 kinds of meters which are used to measure temperature, humidity and air pressure through thermometer, hygrometer and barometer respectively.

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Professional Weather Station

The professional weather station means it actually gives high level and professional data that perfectly meets the International Meteorological Standards giving away, highly accurate and real time weather measurements. 

The information that these professional weather stations provide with optional sensors are:

  • Barometric pressure
  • Humidity
  • Temperature
  • Rainfall

Like for farmers estimating the coverage of irrigation and anticipating the speed of water evaporation can be known through this.

Whereas, for the safety purpose and pleasant travels the pilots and airport managers would need accurate climatic information as well.

Who Use Professional Weather Stations

The professional weather stations are used by all kinds of professionals of various industries. Few of them are listed below.

  • True Enthusiasts of Weather 
  • Businesses of Industrial and Commercial
  • Aircraft (Airports)
  • Agriculturalists
  • Government Organizations
  • Fire Extinguishing Departments
  • Event Management Organizations
  • Insurance Based Companies

Exceptional Weather Stations

This weather station is one of the most crucial weather stations as it quietly, very accurately and regularly records the weather conditions.

It also helps in acquiring environmental threats due to climatic conditions and displays it as the most useful data which helps in protecting the world from any kind of climatic disasters. 

These weather stations are entirely automated and thus would require a little bit of maintenance.

The components work perfectly with the tools and applications in monitoring heat, humidity level, cold temperatures, rainfall measurements, neighborhood climatic conditions and any kind of critical weather updates.

  • Prepare for severe weather
  • Protect people and property
  • Automate and streamline operations

Best Handheld Weather Station

Portable weather station, easy to use, easy to read with accurate information display is the benefit of a handheld weather station and is thus the best. 

With its compact and easy to carry design it does not take much of your space and can easily fit into a pocket or backpack.

They also come with a couple of electronic sensors providing crucial weather information. 

A basic handheld weather station comes with an anemometer, air temperature, relative air pressure, weather forecast, dew point, and even compass calibration. 

Agricultural Weather Stations

Agriculture Weather Station

To measure the weather conditions for the agricultural needs, various sensors are placed in with a meteorological monitoring instrument. 

The sensors that are installed in the agricultural weather stations are :

  • Temperature And Humidity Sensors
  • Wind Direction And Speed Sensors
  • Air Pressure Sensors
  • Rainfall Sensors

Special sensors like:

  • Light Sensors
  • Soil Temperature Sensors
  • Soil Moisture Sensors
  • Leaf Wetness Sensors
  • Co2 Sensors

Remote Weather Stations

As the words suggest these weather stations are placed which are not reachable or in remote places which are difficult to reach.

These weather stations are capable of producing accurate readings in a considerable time which are  powered by solar and for communications the cell service is used.

Marine Weather Stations

It is a well known fact that anything that comes in continuous contact with water faces corrosion. 

So same is the case with the weather stations and thus they need to be safe from corrosion and properly sealed. 

They give accurate reading of the climatic conditions, any severe weather change and regular updates.

Extreme Weather Conditions

Top end professional weather stations are the best equipment to track the extreme weather conditions like storms, twisters, hurricanes provided the station recording the weather is installed securely. 

Like a pilot tube is used in aircraft to measure the wind’s speed, similarly it is used in these weather stations.

Thermometer with alcohol base is used in extreme cold regions as it will show reading upto -94°F unlike the normal mercury thermometer which is limited to -35°F. 

To measure the super heavy rainfall, a weighing bin or a siphon is also used as a rain gauge.

Educational Weather Stations for Kids

Weather stations that are educative and explanatory to children starting with pre-school are installed at some of the schools.

Huge complicated weather stations are also installed with proper worksheets and documentations for study purpose. 

This will let the children understand the importance of the weather station. Hence, installing a kid weather station can benefit you in many ways.

Weather Stations used by Professional Meteorologists

Meteorologists use specialized equipment like:

  • Radiosondes: They are small weather stations that are completely self-contained. They are dropped by aircraft or weather balloons and then the data is then transmitted to the receivers at the ground.
  • To measure the view through the air and its clarity, transmissometers or haze meters are used.
  • To measure the precipitation of the raindrops, hail, snowflakes or graupel, disdrometers are used. 
  • To detect and record atmospheric conditions from a distance, for them the Radar and Lidar equipment are used.

How to Choose?

Choosing a weather station is not very tricky and rather simple as it clearly depends on 3 basic things namely

  • Amount of required information
  • Accuracy of the foretasted data
  • The amount of investment 

Once the purpose of the weather station and the investment amount is finalized compare the features, durability, and accuracy prior to the purchase.

Common FAQs

A weather station is an easy way to obtain accurate information on temperature, humidity levels, sunlight, air quality and other weather conditions. Weather stations provide predictions of actual weather time.

There are five types of weather: sunny, cloudy, windy, rainy, and stormy.

There are 5 kinds of weather stations:

  • Home weather stations, otherwise known as Personal weather stations
  • Professional weather stations
  • Specialty weather stations
  • Educational weather stations for kids
  • What professional meteorologists use for forecasting

 An automated weather station is an automatic version of a traditional weather station. They can be single-site or part of a weather network. Automatic weather stations are the worldwide standard for climate and boundary-layer meteorology. 

A stationary front marks the boundary between two air masses, there are often differences in air temperature and wind on opposite sides of it.

 As there is a change in weather at the stationary front as there it is cloudy while it is snowing or raining at the other end due to low atmospheric pressure.

Wrap Up

Well, this is it. You have it all, now it is on you which one to choose. Technology has reached every corner of the world today thus making life simpler. 

Same is the case with the weather stations. 

You can consult The Weather Station for any kind of information or support.

Keep Forecasting!

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