More air means higher pressure, and less air means lower pressure. Atmospheric pressure is another measurable element that can tell you a lot about current, and even future, weather conditions. The humidity reading will vary greatly between outdoors and indoors.īarometers measure atmospheric pressure - simply put, the weight of the air above you. Again, you can either use a mechanical or electronic sensor. Hygrometers typically give you the relative humidity reading: how saturated the air is in terms of a percentage. There are electronic temperature sensors that are actually very accurate, and again provide the convenience of remote readings and constant monitoring. After you record your readings, just reset them. If you want to keep track of the high and low temperatures for the day, you can get a maximum/minimum thermometer, which uses indicators that become fixed at the warmest and coldest points after measuring the temperature over a period of time. Outdoor thermometers will show you the current temperature. Be sure to avoid snow drifts or bare spots. You can also go around with a ruler and measure snow on the ground, taking several readings and averaging them. This will give you a rainwater equivalent for your records. Bring your gauge indoors and allow the snow within to melt. In winter, you can remove the funnel cone from the top of the 4-inch gauge and use it to measure snowfall. The electronic version of a rain gauge is called a “tipping bucket.” An electrical signal is generated every time 0.01 inch of rain is collected, and this is sent to a display and/or recorder that tracks how much rain has been collected. If you receive more than 1 inch of rain, the overflow will be caught by the outer tube. The surface area of the top funnel is 10 times the area of the measuring tube that sits inside the larger overflow tube, which magnifies the actual amount of rain and makes it easier to get an accurate measurement. A popular and accurate standard is the classic 4-inch gauge (the measurement refers to the diameter of the tube), which is made of durable plastic. Cheap, plastic gauges cost only a few dollars, but they’re not always accurate. Rain gauges come in a variety of sizes and prices, and are sold in many stores. Measuring the amount of rainfall isn’t just for weather enthusiasts - it’s critical for gardeners too. You may give up some accuracy, but you gain continuous readings that can be monitored remotely. For all of the “standard instruments,” many of which were developed centuries ago, there are electronic counterparts. Weather Instruments 101Ī variety of weather instruments are available to everyone. And by closely observing the current weather, we can even make forecasts about our future weather, and in the process, become experienced weather watchers. Besides satisfying our meteorological curiosity, measuring the weather puts us more in touch with it. We want to know how warm it was or how much rain fell. Those of us who are really into the weather, it’s not enough to say it’s warm outside or it rained yesterday.
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