Products on Show
Low-cost weather station
COMET/UCAR
Promoting its initiative to develop and deploy low-cost weather instrumentation globally, the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) will be at Meteorological Technology World Expo to demonstrate its 3D-printed automatic weather station (3D-PAWS), which can be used as a low-cost surface observation solution for less developed, data-sparse regions of the world. The current design consists of a three-cup anemometer, wind vane, tipping bucket rain gauge and sensors for temperature, relative humidity, light and pressure.
The system is designed to be adapted and installed using locally sourced materials. Sensor operation, communication and data archiving are controlled using a low-cost Raspberry Pi computer, which is installed in a waterproof housing on the instrumentation frame. Power can be supplied using a 5V input or through a battery with solar power backup.
Communications with the 3D-PAWS system are achieved with a direct network connection, wirelessly or through an adapter or GSM cell.