Observations

Question 1

When are observations taken worldwide?

Answer 1

0000, 0600, 1200, 1800 UTC

Question 2

How many weather stations are there in the UK?

Answer 2

200+

Question 3

how far apart are the stations

Answer 3

40km

Question 4

What does AWS stand for

Answer 4

Automated Weather Stations

Question 5

What are the main measurements by a weather station?

Answer 5

temperature, humidity, wind, rainfall, pressure, cloud and ‘present weather

Question 6

What are the conditions for a weather station

Answer 6

a flat site well away from buildings trees or steep ground, this provides data that is representative of a wider area

Question 7

What is a stevenson screen

Answer 7

where themometers and humidity sensors are kept

Question 8

why are stevenson screens white

Answer 8

to reflect the sun

Question 9

why are the sides of the stevenson screen louvred

Answer 9

to allow for ventilation

Question 10

what side is the door on a stevenson screen

Answer 10

north side

Question 11

At what hight is temp and humidity measured at

Answer 11

1.25 m above the ground

Question 12

What is used to measure rainfall

Answer 12

a tipping bucket device is continually used to monitor the amount of precipitation

Question 13

at what hight are wind measurements take

Answer 13

10m above the ground in an area with no large obstacles within 300m to affect wind

Question 14

what is commonly used to take wind measurements

Answer 14

cup or sonic anemometers most commonly used

Question 15

what method is used to measure the wind

Answer 15

the mean wind is take 10 mins before reporting time and the gust is the maximum of 3 second average

Question 16

what is pressure measured by

Answer 16

electronic sensor

Question 17

what method is pressure measured by

Answer 17

3 separate measurements with automated checks for discrepancies than the reported pressure is converted to sea-level

Question 18

why is it important to make cloud observations

Answer 18

for aviation purposes

Question 19

what things are measured about clouds

Answer 19

cloud amount, type and cloud base

Question 20

how are cloud distributions best measured

Answer 20

from satellite images

Question 21

what are the drawbacks of using satellite images to measure clouds

Answer 21

cloud base cant be measured
cloud layers below top are not visible
satellite instruments struggle to distinguish shallow and low cloud from fog from the land

Question 22

how many sub categories of clouds is there

Answer 22

10

Question 23

what does a cloud base recorder measure?

Answer 23

cloud base and amound

Question 24

waht does a LIDAR system do

Answer 24

sends pulses of laser light upwards and records backscatter from clouds.

Question 25

how many layers can a LIDAR system detect

Answer 25

3

Question 26

can LIDARS record cloud type

Answer 26

no

Question 27

How many solar powered buoys does the met office have moored

Answer 27

11

Question 28

what dat is recorded at weather buoys

Answer 28

pressure, air and sea temps, humidity, wave height, wind speed and direction

Question 29

what other company has buoys organised

Answer 29

world meteorological organisation

Question 30

What is a radiosondes

Answer 30

a balloon that is sent into the atmosphere to measure weather

Question 31

how high to weather balloons go

Answer 31

surface - 25km

Question 32

what do radiosondes measure

Answer 32

temp, humidity and pressure

Question 33

how do radiosondes measure windspeed and direction

Answer 33

change in gps measured position