An Affordable and Powerful Tool for Weather Research

June 24, 2016

WindLogger: An Affordable and Powerful Tool for Weather Research

Weather monitoring and analysis is commonly associated with renewable energy investments such as wind and solar power. However, it is also a powerful research tool, with the main difference that in research the goal is to generate knowledge rather than profits.

In business, it can be said that the best projects are those than generate the highest percentage return on the capital spent upfront. Under the same logic, it can be said that a “lucrative” research project is one that maximizes the knowledge produced for the budget assigned to it. Data measurement is a cornerstone of any scientific endeavor, as it provides a basis for other researchers to replicate experiments and verify hypotheses.

In the case of weather research and forecasting, the best results can be obtained with a measurement tool that is reliable and rugged, while also offering versatility in terms of the variables that can be measured and ease of access to data. The WindLogger kit, with its starting cost of £249 and its wide variety of sensors, can be a valuable asset in any research project involving the weather.

Importance of Climate Research

The global climate has considerable importance for the environment and human society. Ecosystems normally depend on a delicate balance of local weather conditions, and many of the products and services on which human society is built are climate-sensitive, such as:

Food: Agricultural products, livestock, etc.
Drinking water supply
Energy: Hydroelectricity, wind power, solar power and other renewable sources.

Studying the weather is comparable to when a doctor checks the vital signs of a patient: it is possible to detect potentially dangerous conditions well in advance with constant monitoring. In the case of the planet, weather research has a fundamental role in anticipating potentially damaging events such as droughts, tropical storms and heat waves.

NASA global map

Also, research in general is a driver of innovation: many modern industries are built on the results of research, and many technologies which are currently lucrative started off as purely scientific projects. Academic institutions and multinational corporations are aware of the long-term benefits of scientific research, and that is the reason why they assign considerable budgets to their R&D departments every year.

Why Use WindLogger and GSM weather station in Research Applications?

The WindLogger kit offers a combination of four key characteristics that make it suitable for data measurement and logging in weather research applications:

Versatile – Able to measure multiple variables related with local weather, thanks to the broad range of sensors than can be installed on it.
Rugged – Built for the toughest environmental conditions. Thanks to its IP65 enclosure, the WindLogger kit is dust-proof and water-proof. The system can also be custom-built for temperatures as low as -40°C and as high as 70°C.
Connectivity – Capable of GSM communication and backed up by cloud data storage.
Affordable – Available for a fraction of the cost of similar monitoring solutions.

What Variables can WindLogger & Logic Energy GSM weather station measure?

WindLogger has a wide variety of sensors, which makes the system capable of generating the complete weather profile of any location. The following are the some of the measurements a WindLogger kit can carry out:

Sensor	Weather Variable Measured
Anemometer	Wind speed *Dual anemometers can be used to analyze complex wind patterns.
Wind Vane	Wind direction
Rain Collector	Precipitation
Pyranometer	Solar radiation
Temperature Probe	Ambient temperature
Relative Humidity Transducer	Relative humidity
Barometric Pressure Transducer	Atmospheric pressure

With its broad range of sensor inputs, the WindLogger kit can be configured for virtually any research application where the local weather must be monitored. For instance, it is possible to use a pyranometer and rain collector together to analyze the relationship between solar radiation and precipitation in a region suffering from drought.

How Does WindLogger Offer Data Security and Accessibility?

The WindLogger kit is equipped with a battery that can last for up to three years on a 10-minute measurement interval, and is also equipped with a memory card that can hold ten years of data. The system is capable of GSM communication, and can back up its data in a cloud database, allowing the research team in charge of a project to access logged data from anywhere as long as an Internet connection is available. If a WindLogger unit is lost or damaged due to adverse site conditions, all the data registered so far is available on the cloud.

Concluding Remarks

WindLogger is a weather monitoring solutions that has been field-proven in environments like the Atacama Desert in Chile and the frozen lakes of Antarctica, and used by organizations such as NASA. Its combination of low cost, resistance to harsh conditions, long battery life and connectivity make it a suitable tool for carrying out weather research even on remote locatio