World Meteorological Organization

Purpose of this web portal is to enable Members to share their experience and knowledge on Instruments and Methods of Observation, thus facilitating others' everyday work.

Please, help us to improve this portal and do not hesitate to provide comments, suggestions, and other related material and links by sending us an email(iruedi@wmo.int and kpremec@wmo.int).

Contents

1. Siting and Exposure

 2. Guidance and Training Material

 3. Quality Assurance and Quality Control

 4. Instrument Tests, Evaluations and Comparisons

 5. Methods of observation and Applications

 6. Safety Procedures

7. Selected Conference Proceedings

 8. Other Relevant Links

1. Siting and Exposure

Quality Assessment using METEO-Cert: The MeteoSwiss Classification Procedure for Automatic Weather Stations (2017)

Temperature siting classification in Nordic Countries (M. Wolff et al., Norwegian Meteorological Institute, No. 17/2016)

WMO Siting Classification for Surface Observing Stations on Land

Siting and Maintenance of Weather Stations (The University of Arizona, 2010)

Initial Guidance to Obtain Representative Meteorological Observations at Urban Sites (WMO/TD-No. 1250, IOM Report NO. 84, 2006)

Road Weather Information System Environmental Sensor Station Siting Guidelines (US Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, 2005)

Siting and Exposure of Meteorological Instruments at Urban Sites (T. Oke, 27th NATO/CCMS International Technical Meeting on Air Pollution Modelling and its Application, 2004)

Siting Standards for Meteorological Observing Sites (Meteorological Service of Canada, 2001)

Guidelines for the Siting and Exposure of Meteorological Instruments and Observing Facilities (Bureau of Meteorology, Australia, 1997)

Wheather Station Siting and Installation Tools (Campbell Scientific Inc., 1997)

Federal Standard For Siting Meteorological Sensors At Airports (US Department of Commerce/NOAA, 1994)

top of this page

2. Guidance and Training Material

Automatic Weather Station Operation Training Materials (CoWIN, HKO, 2014)

AWS

Training Material on Automated Weather Observing Systems (WMO/IOM Report No. 87, WMO/TD-No. 1307, 2006)

Automated Surface Observing Systems - User's Guide (NOAA, 1998)

Guidance on Automatic Weather Systems and their Implementation (WMO/IOM Report No. 65, WMO/TD–No. 862, 1997)

NPL guides on measurement understanding and technical abilities (NPL, UK)

Measurements/ Observations

Metrology within Meteorology  - WMO Training  Workshop on Metrology in RA V (ppt, Melbourne, Australia, 2011)

Training Material on Metrology and Calibration (WMO/IOM Report No. 86, WMO/TD-No. 1306, 2006) English; French

Measurement Theory (ppt)

Surface Weather Observations and Reports (Federal Meteorological Handbook No. 1, Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorology, 2017)

Met Monitoring Guide (The Meteorological Resource Center - WebMet.com, 2002)

Short Course on Introduction to Meteorological Instrumentation and Observation Techniques (NOAA/ARL, 2001)

Temperature - WMO Training  Workshop on Metrology in RA V (ppt, Melbourne, Australia, 2011)

Temperature

Pressure - WMO Training  Workshop on Metrology in RA V (ppt, Melbourne, Australia, 2011)

Pressure

Relative Humidity - WMO Training  Workshop on Metrology in RA V (ppt, Melbourne, Australia, 2011)

Humidity

Uncertainty of Relative Humidity Calibration - WMO Training  Workshop on Metrology in RA V (ppt, Melbourne, Australia, 2011)

Introduction to the Tipping Bucket Rain Gauge - WMO Training  Workshop on Metrology in RA V (ppt, Melbourne, Australia, 2011)

Precipitation

Solar Radiation Measurement - WMO Training  Workshop on Metrology in RA V (ppt, Melbourne, Australia, 2011)

Solar radiation

Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN) - Operations Manual (WCRP-121, WMO/TD-No. 1274, 2005)

Maintenance keeps radars running (Bulletin of AMS, E. Saltikoff et al., 2017)

Radars

Training Material on Weather Radar Systems (WMO/IOM Report No. 88, WMO/TD-No. 1308, 2006)

Doppler Radar Theory and Meteorology (Federal Meteorological Handbook No. 11, Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorology, 2005)

Information Flyer on Traceability (WMO, 2015)

Traceability/

Calibration/

Uncertainty/

Accreditation

Traceability and Uncertainty (poster) (NPL, 2015)

ILAC Policy on Traceability of Measurement Results (ILAC P10:01/2013)

ILAC Policy for Uncertainty in Calibration (ILAC P14:01/2013)

Securing testing, measurement or calibration services - The difference between accreditation and certification (ILAC B5:06/2013)

Uncertainty Analysis - WMO Training  Workshop on Metrology in RA V (ppt, Melbourne, Australia, 2011)

Guidelines for the determination of calibration intervals of measuring instruments (ILAC G24:2007 - under revision)

Guidance for Documenting and Implementing ISO/IEC 17025:2005 & Laboratory Guidance (Laboratory Accrediation Bureau, 2006)

Introducing the Concept of Uncertainty of Measurement in Testing in Association with the Application of the Standard ISO/IEC 17025 (ILAC G17:2002 - under revision)

Uncertainty of Measurements Results (NIST, 2000)

Interlaboratory Comparison in the field of Wind Speed (TSMS, 2018)

Interlaboratory Comparisons

Interlaboratory Comparison in the field of Temperature, Humidity and Pressure in the WMO Regional Association VI (MM-ILC-2015-THP, 2018)

SI Brochure: The International System of Units (SI)

SI

International Vocabulary of Metrology - Basic and General Concepts and Associated Terms (VIM), (JCGM 200:2012)

VIM

VIM - WMO Training  Workshop on Metrology in RA V (ppt, Melbourne, Australia, 2011)

Evaluation of measurement data - Guide to the expression of uncertainty in measurement (GUM), (JCGM 100:2008)

GUM

MIDAS Data User Guide for UK Land Observations(Met Office,2020)

Data

Training Materials, Resources (NOAA/NWS, Cooperative Observer Program, 2013)

Miscellaneous

Useful information about meteorological instruments and observing systems (Meteo-Technology.com)

top of this page

3. Quality Assurance and Quality Control

MADIS Quality Control (NOAA/NWC, 2014)

Interactive quality assurance practices (24th Conference on IIPC, A.S. Karsten, NOAA/NESDIS/NCDC, 2008)

More Quality Control for Weather Station Networks (Helsinki University of Technology, V. Hasu, ppt, 2007)

Operational Quality Control in Helsinki Testbed (University of Helsinki, H. Lahtela and H. Turtiainen, ppt, 2007)

Strategies for evaluating quality control procedures (14th Symposium on Meteorological Observations and Instrumentation, I. Durre et al., NOAA/NESDIS/NCDC, 2007)

Instrumental quality control on raw data collected by automatic weather stations of a new ground-based measurement network in Switzerland (22nd International Conference on Interactive Information Processing Systems for Meteorology, Oceanography and Hydrology, Y_A. Roulet et al., MeteoSwiss, 2006)

Implementing an enhanced and integrated quality assurance and quality control system within the MSC's new Data Management Framework (22nd International Conference on Interactive Information Processing Systems for Meteorology, Oceanography and Hydrology, L.D. Boudreau and A. Zucconi, Meteorological Service of Canada, 2006)

The design of a quality control algorithm for environmental sensor stations (22nd International Conference on Interactive Information Processing Systems for Meteorology, Oceanography and Hydrology, B.J. Haskins, Univ. of North Dakota, 2006)

The development of an operational quality assurance system for OASIS Super Site data at the Oklahoma Mesonet (10th Symposium on Integrated Observing and Assimilation Systems for the Atmosphere, Oceans, and Land Surface (IOAS-AOSL), J.W. Monroe et al., Univ. of Oklahoma, 2006)

Automated real-time operational rain gauge quality control tools in NWS hydrologic operations (20th Conference on Hydrology, C.R. Kondragunta and K. Shrestha, NOAA, 2006)

An End-to-End Quality Assurance System for the Modernized Coop Network (13th Symposium on Meteorological Observations and Instrumentation, C.A. Fiebrich et al., Oklahoma Climatological Survey, 2005)

Integrated hydrometeorological monitoring solutions and network management (21st International Conference on Interactive Information Processing Systems for Meteorology, Oceanography and Hydrology, H. Kokko, Vaisala, 2005)

An update on MADIS observation ingest, integration, quality control, and distribution capabilities (21st International Conference on Interactive Information Processing Systems for Meteorology, Oceanography and Hydrology, P.A. Miller et al., NOAA, 2005)

The Value of Routine Site Visits in Managing and Maintaining Quality Data from the Oklahoma Mesonet (8th Symposium on Integrated Observing and Assimilation Systems for the Atmosphere, Oceans, and Land Surface (IOAS-AOSL), C.A. Fiebrich et al., Oklahoma Climatological Survey, 2005)

The Value of Weather Station Metadata (13th Symposium on Meteorological Observations and Instrumentation, J.E. Martinez et al., Oklahoma Climatological Survey, 2005)

The Value of Routine Site Visits in Managing and Maintaining Quality Data from the Oklahoma Mesonet (8th Symposium on Integrated Observing and Assimilation Systems for the Atmosphere, Oceans, and Land Surface, C.A. Fiebrich et al., Oklahoma Climatological Survey, 2004)

The Value of a Quality Assurance Meteorologist (14th Conference on Applied Climatology, J.E. Martinez et al., Oklahoma Climatological Survey, 2004)

Real-time Soil Moisture Information for Drought Monitoring and Assessment (14th Conference on Applied Climatology, B.G. Illston et al., Univ. of Oklahoma, 2004)

A new automated and interactive system for solar radiation data processing and quality control (20th International Conference on Interactive Information Processing Systems for Meteorology, Oceanography and Hydrology, T.H. Sopoco et al., Meteorological Service of Canada, 2004)

Automated Quality Control of Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program (ARM) Data (12th Symposium on Meteorological Observations and Instrumentation, K.L. Sonntag et al., Univ. of Oklahoma, 2003)

Quality Control Tools for Meteorological Data in the MeteoSwiss Data Warehouse System (ICAM/MAP, M. Musa et al., 2003)

Quality Control of Meteorological Observations Automatic Methods Used in the Nordic Countries (Report 8, F. Vejen et al., NORDCLIM, pdf, 2002)

Met Monitoring Guide: 8. Quality Assurance and Quality Control (The Meteorological Resource Center, WebMET.com, 2002)

top of this page

4. Instrument Tests, Evaluations and Comparisons

ALMOS AWS MSI2 - Sensor Interface Card Testing (Instrument Test Report No. 657, T. Livaditis, BoM, pdf, 1999)

Automatic Weather Stations

Evaluation of Milos 500 AWS unit (Instrument Test Report No. 656, G. Bowkett, BoM, pdf, 1999)

A comparative study of ASOS and CRN temperature measurements (8th Symposium on Integrated Observing and Assimilation Systems for the Atmosphere, Oceans, and Land Surface (IOAS-AOSL), B. Sun and C.B. Baker, NOAA/NESDIS/NCDC, 2004)

Temperature

A Preliminary Investigation of Temperature Screen Design and Their Impacts on Temperature Measurements (Instrument Test Report No. 649, J. Warne, BoM, pdf, 1998)

Performance tests on Vaisala DTS-12A Temperature Sensors (Instrument Test Report No. 645, P. Huysing and J. Warne, BoM, pdf, 1997)

Evaluation of Vaisala HMP45D Humidity Probes (Instrument Test Report No. 661, J. Gorman, BoM, pdf, 2002)

Humidity

Evaluation of the Output Variability of Rotronics MP101A Humidity Probes (Instrument Test Report No. 659, J. Gorman, BoM, pdf, 2001)

Performance Tests on a Vaisala HMP35D Humidity/Temperature Probe (Instrument Test Report No. 654, G. Bowkett, BoM, pdf, 1999)

The Practical Impacts of RTD and Thermometer Design on Wet and Dry Bulb Relative Humidity Measurements (Instrument Test Report No. 648, J. Warne, BoM, pdf, 1998)

Performance Tests on a Rotronic MP101A Humidity/Temperature Probe (Instrument Test Report No. 641, P. Huysing, BoM, pdf, 1995)

The Conversion Equation of the Synchrotac 706 Anemometer (Instrument Test Report No. 677, J. Gorman, BoM, pdf, 2004)

Wind

Field and Operational tests of a Sonic Anemometer for the Automated Surface Observing System (8th Symposium on Integrated Observing and Assimilation Systems for the Atmosphere, Oceans, and Land Surface (IOAS-AOSL), R. Lewis and J.M. Dover, NOAA/NWS, 2004)

Performance Verification of Vaisala Anemometers (Instrument Test Report No. 676, J. Warne, BoM, pdf, 2003)

Repeatability of the Monash Wind Tunnel (Instrument Test Report  No. 668, M. Berechree, BoM, pdf, 2002)

Wind Tunnel Evaluation Test Report: part A (Instrument Test Report No. 662, M. Berechree, BoM, pdf, 2002)

Calibration Check of a Vaisala PTB201A Barometer (Instrument Test Report No. 634, K.J. Gregory, BoM, pdf, 1999)

Pressure

Electronic Barometer Testing - Replacement Barometer Project (Instrument Test Report No. 658, T. Livaditis, BoM, pdf, 1999)

Comparison of the Regional Association V and A Fuess (S/N F6754) Standard Barometer for the Philippines Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Instrument Test Report No. 647, J. Warne, BoM, pdf, 1998)

Comparison between the Regional Association V and the Malaysian Standard Barometers (Instrument Test Report No. 643, P. Huysing, BoM, pdf, 1996)

Test of a Crouzet 2100 Digital Barometer against the WMO Region V Standard Barometer (Instrument Test Report No. 639, P. Huysing, BoM, pdf, 1995)

The Southern Oscillation and Characterisation of a Kew Pattern Barometer (Instrument Test Report No. 642, J. Warne, BoM, pdf, 1995)

WMO Solid Precipitation Intercomparison Experiment (2018)

(see also the list of SPICE publications)

Precipitation

HTB weather and precipitation sensors (University of Helsinki, H. Turtiainen, ppt, 2007)

An Evaluation of Two Ultrasonic Snow Depth Sensors for Potential Use at Automated Surface Weather Observing Sites (13th Symposium on Meteorological Observations and Instrumentation, W.A. Brazenec et al., Colorado State University, 2005)

Operational Testing of Various Precipitation Sensors in Support of the United States Climate Reference Network (USCRN), (13th Symposium on Meteorological Observations and Instrumentation, L.W. Larson et al., Short and Assciated Inc., 2005)

Winter Test of Production All-Weather Precipitation Accumulation Gauge for ASOS 2003–2004 (9th Symposium on Integrated Observing and Assimilation Systems for the Atmosphere, Oceans, and Land Surface (IOAS-AOSL), C.M. Greeney et al., SAIC, Sterling, USA, 2005)

Evaluation of the Hydrological Services Precipitation Gauge Tipping Bucket Type TB-3 (Instrument Test Report No. 669, J.D. Gorman, BoM, pdf, 2003)

Evaluation of RIC Designed Pumped TBRG Tester (Rex) - (Instrument Test Report No. 671, J.D. Gorman, BoM, pdf, 2003)

Evaluation of the ENVIRONDATA Precipitation Gauge Tipping Bucket Model RG-15 (Instrument Test Report No. 673, J.D. Gorman, BoM, pdf, 2003)

Evaluation of the RIMCO Precipitation Gauge Tipping Bucket Model 7499 (Instrument Test Report No. 672, J.D. Gorman, BoM, pdf, 2003)

Laboratory Evaluation of the Bureau Designed Heated TBRG (Instrument Test Report No. 675, J.D. Gorman, BoM, pdf, 2003)

Comparison of Two Disdrometers Based od Different Principles (EGS-2002, C. Caracciolo et al., University of Ferrara, 2002)

Stability of five McVann Model 7499 TBRG (Instrument Test Report No. 660, M. Berechree, BoM, pdf, 2001)

Evaluation of a Tipping Bucket Rain Gauge Calibrator (Instrument Test Report No. 652, T. Livaditis, BoM, pdf, 2000)

Acceptance Tests of 20 Hydrological Services TB3B Tipping Bucket Rain Gauges (Instrument Test Report No. 655, T. Livaditis, BoM, pdf, 1999)

Drift Test of a Hydrological Services TB3A TBRG (Instrument Test Report No. 644, D. Anderson, BoM, pdf, 1996)

NREL Pyrheliometer Comparison - NPC-2013 (16-27 September, 2013)

Radiation

Investigation of the Accuracy of the Delta-T Devices BF3 Sunshine Sensor (Instrument Test Report No. 700, P. Dyson, BoM, pdf, 2005)

Investigation of the Uncertainty of Sunshine Duration in the Solar and Terrestrial Radiation Network (Instrument Test Report No. 674, P. Dyson, BoM, pdf, 2003)

Evaluation of a RIMCO 9100 automatic evaporation sensor (Instrument Test Report No. 667, D. Anderson, BoM, pdf, 2002)

Evaporation

NubiScope - Laboratory tests and field evaluation (W. Wauben et. al., KNMI, TR-334, 2012)

Clouds

Image Comparison from two cloud cover sensor in infrared and visible spectral regions: Total Sky Imager (TSI) and Cloud Infrared Radiometer (CIR) (21th International Conference on Interactive Information Processing Systems for Meteorology, Oceanography and Hydrology, L. Berger et al., Institut Universitaire de Technologie, Lemans, France, 2005)

The Uncertainty of the Hydrological Services Field Calibration Device (Instrument Test Report No. 679, J.D. Gorman, BoM, pdf, 2004)

Hydrological measurement

An assessment of different radiosonde types 2015/2016 (B. Ingleby, TM-807, ECMWF, 2017)

Upper-air Measurement

Evaluation of Desiccants (Instrument Test Report No. 664, J.D. Gorman, BoM, pdf, 2002)

The Threat to Weather Radars by Wireless Technology (Bulletin of AMS, 97(8), E. Saltikoff et al., FMI, 2016)

Radars

top of this page

5. Methods of Observation and Applications

The use of commercial ADS-B receiver to derive upper air wind and temerature observations from Mode-S EHS infromation in The Netherlands (S. de Haan et al., TR-336, de Bilt, The netherlands, 2013)

An improved correction method for high quality wind and temperature observations derived from Mode-S EHS (S. de Haan, TR-338, de Bilt, The netherlands, 2013)

top of this page

6. Safety Procedures

UNEP Minamata Convention on Mercury

Information Flyer on Mercury-based Instruments Ban (WMO, 2015)

Mercury [Hg]: How to prevent severe illness and to protect the environment (KNMI, 2010)

top of this page

7. Selected Conference Proceedings

TECO-2018 (Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 8-11 October 2018) -  Proceedings

CIMO-TECO

TECO-2016 (Madrid, Spain, 27-30 September 2016) -  Proceedings; Presentations and recordings

TECO-2014 (Sankt Petersburg, Russian Federation, 7-9 July 2014)

TECO-2012 (Brussels, Belgium, 16-18 October 2012) - Presentations

TECO-2010 (Helsinki, Finland, 30 August - 1 September 2010) - Presentations

TECO-2008 (Sankt Petersburg, Russian Federation, 27-29 November 2008) -  Presentations

TECO-2006 (Geneva, Switzerland, 4-6 December 2006) - Presentations

TECO-2005 (Bucharest, Romania, 4-7 May 2005)

TECO-2002 (Bratislava, Slovakia, 23-25 September 2002)

TECO-2000 (Beijing, China, 23-27 October 2000)

WMO International Conference on Automatic Weather Stations (Offenbach am Main, Germany, 24-26 October 2017) - Poceedings; Presentations and recordings

ICEAWS

4th International Conference on Experiences with Automatic Weather Stations (Lisbon, Portugal, 24-26 May 2006)

3rd International Conference on Experiences with Automatic Weather Stations (Torremolinos, Spain, 19-21 February 2003) - Opening, Theme 1, Theme 2, Theme 3, Theme 4

2nd International Conference on Experiences with Automatic Weather Stations on Operational Use witin National Weather Services (Vienna, Austria, 27-29 September 1999)

International Workshop on Experiences with Automatic Weather Stations on Operational Use witin National Weather Services (Vienna Austria, 15-17 May 1995)

96th American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting (New Orleans, USA, 9-14 January, 2016)

AMS

8th European Conference on Radar in Metorology and Hydrology (Garmish-Partenkirchen, Germany, 1-5 September 2014)

ERAD

top of this page

8. Other Relevant Links

The WMO Integrated Global Observing System (WIGOS)

WIGOS

The Global Observing System (GOS)

GOS

The World Weather Watch Programme (WWW)

WWW

Observing Systems Capability Analysis and Review Tool (OSCAR)

OSCAR

WMO Quality Management Framework (QMF)

QMF

The Association of Hydro-Meteorological Equipment Industry (HMEI)

HMEI

International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM)

BIPM

International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)

ICAO

International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC)

ILAC

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

ISO

The International Organization of Legal Metrology (OIML)

OIML

International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)

IEC

Laboratory Accreditation Bureau (L-A-B)

L-A-B