{"id":1096,"date":"2017-12-08T11:21:25","date_gmt":"2017-12-08T11:21:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/meteorology\/?page_id=1096"},"modified":"2018-03-20T12:16:31","modified_gmt":"2018-03-20T12:16:31","slug":"observatory-metadata","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/meteorology\/atmospheric-observatory\/observatory-metadata\/","title":{"rendered":"Observatory metadata"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Brief details of measurements made are given in this section: more details are given under headings organised by parameter recorded. More detailed technical information and specifications for the sensors in use can usually be found in the manufacturer\u2019s website links, which are given where possible. (Manufacturer-specific product information and links are given solely to provide additional details on the particular sensors in use at the observatory, and should not be inferred as commercial endorsement.) Photographs of the instrument and its siting are given where available. The period of record available is also given by element where known. Calibration details of individual sensors can be found in the &#8216;Calibration data&#8217; tab at the end of this section, or on application to the department&#8217;s technicians.<\/p>\n<p>More information on meteorological instruments and standard observing practices can be found in the following publications, copies of which are available in the department library:<\/p>\n<p><em>Meteorological Measurements and Instrumentation<\/em> by Giles Harrison (Wiley, 2014)<br \/>\n<em>The Weather Observer\u2019s Handbook<\/em> by Stephen Burt (Cambridge University Press, 2012)<\/p>\n<p>There are also further details of certain instruments given in published papers using the data generated &#8211; see the Cited references tab for latest information.<\/p>\n<p>There are two types of measurements made:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>\u2018Climatological\u2019<\/strong> \u2013 a manual observation made once daily at 0900 UTC, with the values entered in registers by hand. This observation includes \u2018eye\u2019 observations of cloud amount and types, present weather, visibility and other elements, as well as manual readings of the thermometers, manual raingauge etc. Almost all climatological observations therefore relate either to the time of the observation itself (i.e. 0900 UTC) or to the 24 hours ending at 0900 UTC. By convention, the maximum temperature and the rainfall read at 0900 UTC are \u2018thrown back\u2019 to the previous date. Exceptions are sunshine duration, &#8216;days with&#8217; thunder, snowfall, hail etc, mean and maximum gust wind speeds and all solar radiation values, all of which refer to the \u2018civil day\u2019 (i.e. 0000-2359 UTC). Some climatological records extend back more than 100 years \u2013 for details see the individual element description.<\/li>\n<li><strong>\u2018Automatic\u2019<\/strong> \u2013 regular recording of electrical sensors, at sub-daily frequency. A display of the derived values to the department has been a central aspect, also providing information or data for teaching. Automatic records (sub-daily digital data) commenced for some elements in 1996, other elements more recently: not all of these records are continuous. The three different logging systems which were individually constructed by staff in the department during the period of continuous automatic recording are summarised in Table 2 below. These systems were named after the location of the display \u2013 \u201ccorrdisp\u201d was the original corridor display system used in the old department buildings at Earley Gate, and \u201cFidas\u201d \u2013 an acronym generated from \u201cFoyer Information and Display System\u201d \u2013 was implemented in the Meteorology Building to which the department moved in March 1997. Later, METFiDAS became the acronym, generated from \u201cMeteorology Field Data Acquisition System&#8221;. A custom data reception room (GU04) was part of the specification for the new building, cabled to a pillar in the entrance foyer to allow a display to be mounted. (An earlier corridor automatic weather system \u201cCAWS\u201d was operational in the early 1990s and used for teaching, but almost no data survives.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Currently the automatic sensors are polled and logged once per second using a Campbell Scientific CR9000X logger (Table 2). Data are available at 1 s resolution for research purposes, whilst standard \u2018meteorological\u2019 output consists of period averages of the polled values in compliance with World Meteorological Organization specifications \u2013 for example, wind speeds are normally quoted as 10 minute averages, and wind gusts as the highest 3 second running mean wind speed. Further details are given in Quantities and Units.<\/p>\n<p>A separate self-contained automatic weather station operated by the Met Office was installed within the enclosure in August 2012; this description does not include this equipment. In addition, there are occasional experimental or test instruments located within the observatory which are not described here.<\/p>\n<p>Because of differences in recording methods and instrumental response times, slight differences can occur between \u2018climatological\u2019 and \u2018automatic\u2019 records. The \u2018climatological\u2019 records are subject to quality-control measures and are normally regarded as the definitive value.<\/p>\n<h3>Period of record by element<\/h3>\n<p>Table 1 summarises the period of record by main element; in all cases, records were made at London Road until 1967 and at Whiteknights from 1968 to date. In a few instances, missing data or incorrect values have been estimated using data from other local observations. The records are not completely homogeneous, in that the current Whiteknights site has less urban influence, and is 20 m higher, than the London Road site and therefore slightly cooler, although careful comparisons have shown that there is no significant difference in the precipitation record.<\/p>\n<p>The full daily observation database and scanned registers are available for research on application to the department; see also <em>One Hundred Years of Reading Weather<\/em> by Roger Brugge and Stephen Burt, published in 2015. In most cases, a few minor gaps have been estimated from other local observations.<\/p>\n<p><strong>TABLE 1 &#8211; Period of record by element<\/strong><\/p>\n<table border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"3\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"col\" width=\"39%\">\n<div align=\"left\"><strong><em>Element<\/em><\/strong><\/div>\n<\/th>\n<th scope=\"col\" width=\"13%\">\n<div align=\"left\"><strong><em>Record commenced<\/em><\/strong><\/div>\n<\/th>\n<th scope=\"col\" width=\"12%\">\n<div align=\"left\"><strong><em>Record ceased<\/em><\/strong><\/div>\n<\/th>\n<th scope=\"col\" width=\"36%\">\n<div align=\"left\"><strong><em>Notes<\/em><\/strong><\/div>\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Precipitation<\/td>\n<td><em>Monthly totals\u00a0<\/em>&#8211; 1901<br \/>\n<em>Daily totals\u00a0<\/em>&#8211; January 1908<\/td>\n<td>Continues<\/td>\n<td>Records missing 1904-1907 (estimated from Forbury Gardens record), together with a few minor gaps in early years<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Air temperature &#8211; daily maximum and minimum temperatures<\/td>\n<td>January 1908<\/td>\n<td>Continues<\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Daily climatological observations at 9 a.m. GMT &#8211; cloud cover and type, wind direction and speed, present weather, barometric pressure<\/td>\n<td>January 1908<\/td>\n<td>Continues<\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>&#8216;Days with&#8217; thunder, snowfall, snow lying at 0900 UTC, etc<\/td>\n<td>January 1908<\/td>\n<td>Continues<\/td>\n<td>Snow depth records commenced late 1950<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Earth temperatures at 1 ft \/ 30 cm<\/td>\n<td>January 1908<\/td>\n<td>Continues<\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Earth temperatures at 4 ft \/ 120 cm<\/td>\n<td>January 1908<\/td>\n<td>December 1971<\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Earth temperatures at 5, 10 cm and 20 cm<\/td>\n<td>June 1961<\/td>\n<td>Continues<\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Earth temperatures at 50 cm and 100 cm<\/td>\n<td>January 1972<\/td>\n<td>Continues<\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Grass minimum temperature<\/td>\n<td>January 1920<\/td>\n<td>Continues<\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Daily sunshine duration (Campbell-Stokes recorder)<\/td>\n<td>April 1956<\/td>\n<td>Continues<\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Autographic precipitation records (Dines tilting siphon recorder)<\/td>\n<td>November 1960<\/td>\n<td>Continues<\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Autographic wind records<\/td>\n<td>January 1968<\/td>\n<td>Continues<\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Solar radiation<\/td>\n<td>January 1968<\/td>\n<td>Continues<\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong>TABLE 2 &#8211; Automatic logging record details<\/strong><\/p>\n<table border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"3\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"col\" width=\"6%\">\n<div align=\"center\"><em>Dates<\/em><\/div>\n<\/th>\n<th scope=\"col\" width=\"10%\"><em>Logging system<\/em><\/th>\n<th scope=\"col\" width=\"26%\"><em>Equipment<\/em><\/th>\n<th scope=\"col\" width=\"49%\"><em>Features<\/em><\/th>\n<th scope=\"col\" width=\"9%\"><em>Supporting staff<\/em><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\">\n<div align=\"center\">1 Jan 1997 to<br \/>\n11 Jan 2009<\/div>\n<\/th>\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\">corrdisp<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\">Keithley metrabyte 12 bit logging cards installed in a DOS PC, with radio clock synchronisation. Initially a UHF radio link transmitted serial data to the corridor display (a further DOS PC) in the old building and, initially, to the Meteorology Building. Shortly after the new building was commissioned, a cable link from the Observatory site was installed. Data transmission necessitated a 20 s interruption in the data logging every 5 min.<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>5 min average Excel compatible data files, generated daily from 1 s sampling<\/li>\n<li>1s raw data stored for three days<\/li>\n<li>5 min update of graphical display PC<\/li>\n<li>Radio clock time synchronisation, also used to ensure display PC \u201clistened\u201d for data at the correct time it was transmitted.<\/li>\n<li>Basic auto-refreshed html text web page and graphs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<p align=\"left\">Hardware: Andrew Lomas<\/p>\n<div align=\"left\">Software: Giles Harrison<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th rowspan=\"2\" scope=\"row\">\n<div align=\"center\">8 Aug 2005 to 27 July 2014<\/div>\n<\/th>\n<td>METFiDAS I<\/td>\n<td>Amplicon 12 bit logging cards and Windows NT PC. Optical fibre link to Meteorology Building allowed mounting of hard disk by operating system, and bi-directional data flow.<\/td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>5min average Excel compatible data files, generated daily from 1 s sampling<\/li>\n<li>1s raw data stored indefinitely<\/li>\n<li>Radio clock time synchronisation<\/li>\n<li>5 min update of graphical display PC<\/li>\n<li>Basic auto-refreshed html text web page<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td rowspan=\"2\">Hardware: Andrew Lomas, Rosy Wilson Software: Iain Russell<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>METFiDAS II<\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<td>METFiDAS II followed as a back-up running alongside the original and eventually taking over. Software for this used National Instruments LabVIEW, and was written by Iain Russell<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"row\">\n<div align=\"center\">30 Aug 2014 to date<\/div>\n<\/th>\n<td>METFiDAS3<\/td>\n<td>Campbell Scientific CR9000X data logger<\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<td>Level 0 and Level 1 data &#8211; Andrew Lomas and Selena Zito<\/p>\n<p>Level 2 data &#8211; Roger Brugge<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><em>Updated December 2017<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Brief details of measurements made are given in this section: more details are given under headings organised by parameter recorded. 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