Functional Testing of Surface Weather Instruments and Systems

1. Functional Testing of Surface Weather Instruments and Systems - Rodica Nitu Meteorological Service of Canada WMO/TECO 2005

2. Summary • Principles • Test facilities • Current projects WMO/TECO 2005

3. Quality Meteorological Data • performance of measurement of the instruments (accuracy, resolution, response time, etc); • variability of measurement within a network; • changes in the data sets when using sensors with different operating principles to measure the same weather element; • how well a sensor operates in the specific environmental and climatological conditions, across the network? WMO/TECO 2005

4. Functional testing • The testing in the outdoor, natural environment where instruments are expected to operate over a wide variety of meteorological conditions and climatic regimes. (WMO, Guide#8) • Goals: • Data quality • System reliability WMO/TECO 2005

5. Challenges • Canadian territory: vast size; • Canadian climate: variable and diverse; • Meteorological equipment – rarely approaches a commodity definition. WMO/TECO 2005

6. Challenges • Monitoring programs are major capital expenditures and the procurement decisions require sound information. • Purchases take place within the Government of Canada procurement system which is highly structured, process-bound. WMO/TECO 2005

7. Canadian Weather Monitoring Networks In Canada the meteorological sensors and systems operate in a set of observing networks organized according to the primary purpose of the data collected: • Public weather, • Aviation, • Reference climate, • Marine, • Upper air. WMO/TECO 2005

8. Reference Climate Network WMO/TECO 2005

9. Canadian Marine Weather Network WMO/TECO 2005

10. Testing Program Fulfills two critical functions: • determining the best mix of instruments and methods of observation that will meet data quality needs with optimal cost/performance ratios. • developing the knowledge base needed to support an effective life cycle management program – identifying and managing potential risks. WMO/TECO 2005

11. MSC Test Sites • St. John’s, Newfoundland: heavy precipitation, high wind speeds, fog, and freezing rain. • Iqaluit, Nunavut: arctic conditions such as extreme cold, ice crystals. • Egbert, Ontario: continental climate regime. • Wiarton, Ontario: heavy snowfall conditions. • Bratt’s Lake, Saskatchewan: continental climate. • Stony Plain, Alberta: operational testing of upper air systems and radiosondes. • Burlington, Ontario: testing marine weather instruments WMO/TECO 2005

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13. St. John’s Newfoundland • Site of the 1994 WMo intercomparisons of present weather sensors. • very active weather; • ideal conditions for testing the performance and the performance limits of any meteorological instrument; • fog; • freezing rainstorms. WMO/TECO 2005

14. After the freezing rainstorm… St. John’s, February 2005 WMO/TECO 2005

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16. Iqaluit, Nunavut • Established in 2004 • South-eastern arctic, on Baffin Island. • Strong arctic storms with harsh temperatures, strong winds, heavy precipitation, blowing snow, low visibility, freezing rain. • Has potential to become a base for major research projects. • 2007-2008: Storm Studies in the Arctic project. WMO/TECO 2005

17. Iqaluit 2004 WMO/TECO 2005

18. Current Projects • reference climate and surface weather networks: wind, pressure, temperature, and humidity sensors; • marine weather network: wind and pressure sensors; • evaluation of automated systems for Nav Canada and Department of Defense. • development of an algorithm for deriving snowfall amount data from snow depth measurements. WMO/TECO 2005

19. Summary Meteorological Service of Canada functional testing program: • A quality management system: • Data quality • System reliability • Pragmatic approach to managing users’ expectations. WMO/TECO 2005

20. Questions? WMO/TECO 2005