Atmospheric Instrumentation M. D. Eastin
Meteorological Instrumentation: A Brief HistoryEarly Weather and Climate Observations:
• Early civilizations (e.g., Egypt, Maya, Vikings, Chinese, Polynesia) were known to monitor local weather/climate patterns and pass this information from one generation to the next through stories, art, religion, and architecture
• Influenced agricultural (food)• Influenced movement and migration (nautical travel)• Influenced site selection for town/cities (access / stability)
• Aristotle (Greek – 350 BC) is considered the “founder” of meteorology
• Wrote Meteorologica where he described the hydrological cycle• Book served as the primary reference for centuries
• Pomponius Mela (Roman – 25 AD) formalized a climate zone system
• Varahamihira (India – 500 AD) wrote Brihatsamhita - first formal description of the seasonal cycle and the formation of clouds/rain
• Al-Dinawari (Muslim – 900 AD) wrote Book of Plants - first formal description of the application of meteorology to agriculture
Atmospheric Instrumentation M. D. Eastin
Meteorological Instrumentation: A Brief HistoryEarly Surface Observations:
• Basic instrumentation was first developed
• Standardized rain gauge (Korea – 1441 AD)• Anemometer (Italy – 1450 AD)• Thermometer (Italy – 1607 AD)• Barometer (Italy – 1643 AD)• Hygrometer (France – 1783 AD)
• Regular meteorological surface observation networks were developed
• Italy – 1654 AD• United States – 1849 AD• England – 1854 AD• India – 1875 AD • Scandinavia – 1881 AD• Japan – 1883 AD
• Standardization was introduced → could share observations from multiple networks
• Temperature → Fahrenheit vs. Celcius• Pressure → millibar vs. pascal• Surface station design and sheltering
Atmospheric Instrumentation M. D. Eastin
Meteorological Instrumentation: A Brief HistoryEarly Upper Air Observations:
• Beginning in the mid-1700’s scientists began using a number of techniques to acquire meteorological observations above the surface → Kites (1749)
→ Manned hot air balloons (1783)→ Unmanned instrumented balloons (1902)→ Radiosonde (1930)
Atmospheric Instrumentation M. D. Eastin
Meteorological Instrumentation: A Brief HistoryEarly Radar Observations:
1904 Christian Hulsmeyer developed a device that could remotely detect ships beyond the human visual range – the first “radar” device
1917 Nikola Tesla outlined how a “radar” device could be used for tracking ships bytransmitting pulses at regular intervals
1930s Pulsing “radar” developed by British, German, French, and U.S. militaries fordefense – the Allies thought the Germans were developing “death rays”
1940s Science of radar meteorology was born during World War II
1940 A “radio detection and ranging” (radar) device was developed by the U.S. Navy
1941 A 10-cm (S-Band) defense radar along the southern coast of England – the sameradar used to track German fighters / bombers – was used to track a thunderstormwith large hail over a distance of 7 miles.
1943 First operational weather radar – Panama Canal Zone
1957 First operational weather radar network in U.S. (66 WSR-57 radars)
Atmospheric Instrumentation M. D. Eastin
Meteorological Instrumentation: A Brief HistoryEarly Satellite Observations:
1957 Soviet Union launches Sputnik-1 into low-Earth orbit – first man-made satellite
1960 Unites States launches TIROS-1 – the first weather satellite - collected visible(daytime only) imagery of clouds and tested basic instrumentation techniques
1964 Nimbus-1 launched – first satellite to collect infrared (IR) imagery (nighttime)
1965 TIROS-9 launched – first sun-synchronous near polar-orbiting satellite that could provide complete global coverage over the course of one day.
1966 ATS-1 launched – first geostationary satellite that could provide full-disc visible images every 20 minutes
1969 Nimbus-3 launched – first satellite to have an IR spectrometer (24-hr temperature profiles / soundings) and solar/infrared interferometers (Earth’s radiation budget)
1970 NOAA-1 launched – first “modern” polar-orbiting satellite (19 total)
1975 GOES-1 launched – first “modern” geostationary satellite (15 total)
Atmospheric Instrumentation M. D. Eastin
Observed Parameter Surface Upper-Air Radar SatellitePressure X XTemperature X X XHumidity X X XClouds X X X XPrecipitation X X XWind Speed / Direction X X X XRadiation X X
Severe Weather X X X XTornadoes X X X XHurricanes X X X XAir Quality X X X XAircraft Safety X X X XWinter Weather X X X XClimate Change X X X X
Data assimilation into X X X X numerical weather and climate models
Meteorological Instrumentation: Current Uses
Atmospheric Instrumentation M. D. Eastin
Example of a Modern Surface System
NOAAASOS
Station(operational)Precipitation
Amount(heated)
(tipping bucket)
Wind Speed / Direction(cup anemometer)
(wind vane)
TemperatureHumidity
(aspirated)
Cloud Height(ceilometer)
Visibility
PrecipitationType
Lightning
Pressure
Electronics(Transmitter)
Atmospheric Instrumentation M. D. Eastin
Example of a Modern Surface System
DavisVantage
Pro-2Station
(research)
PrecipitationAmount
(tipping bucket)
Wind Speed / Direction(cup anemometer)
(wind vane)
TemperatureHumidity
(aspirated)
Solar and UV Radiation(radiometers)
Electronics(Transmitter)
Atmospheric Instrumentation M. D. Eastin
Example of a Modern Upper-Air System
Receiving Antenna
Balloon Inflation Area
HeliumTanks
GPSAntenna
TemperatureSensor
HumiditySensor
PressureSensor
(inside case)
TransmittingAntenna
Vaisala Sounding Systemand
RS-92 Sonde
Atmospheric Instrumentation M. D. Eastin
Examples of Modern Radar Systems
NOAANEXRADS-band10.5 cmDoppler
NCARDoppler
on WheelsX-band3.2 cm
Doppler
NOAA-WP3D X-band / 3.2 cmDoppler
-15 0 15 30 45
0 5 10 15 20 25 Range (km)
ReflectivityFactor (dBZ)