-Transmisometer measures the

degree of attenuation of the light

beam at a certain distance
(usually it ranges from several
meters to 150 meters) as it
travels trough water or air. And
on this basis the tools makes
objective calculation about
current viability.

The transmissometer has a light source and a detector at a certain (known)

distance. The light emitted form the source is received by the detector and
then converted into an electrical voltage proportional to the intensity of the
light. The transparency is determined by measuring the proportion of the
light that was send form the source and then recorded by the detector.

-A Stevenson screen is a box,

made of a double layer screens and
it is used to shield meteorological
instruments when there is
precipitation or the instruments are
exposed to direct heat radiation
from outside sources. This shelter
allows free passage of air around
the temperature and humidity
sensors. Most of the time the
Stevenson screens is painted white
to reflect the suns radiation.

-The barometer is a device that

measures atmospheric pressure.
Changes in atmospheric pressure are most often caused by the rise of warm
air and the descent of cold air

Barometric pressure changes with local weather. Rising pressure means fair
weather while falling pressure means poor weather.

-Lidar is a technology for

measuring distance and
remotely obtaining
information about object in a
distance. A laser is used to
illuminate the target and then
the reflected light is analyzed.

In meteorology the Lidar is

used to perform a range of
measurements that include
profiling clouds, measuring winds, studying aerosols and quantifying various
atmospheric components.

-The anemometers are

devices designed to determine
the speed of wind. They were
initially used primarily for
measuring the speed and
direction of wind. Today,
except in weather stations,
they are widely used in
determining the average speed in ventilation systems built in the industrial
and residential buildings.

-The thermometer is a
device for measuring the
temperature. The
thermometers are using
various physical properties
such as thermal expansion
of gases, liquids or solids to
determine the current
temperature.

The two important part of

thermometer are: the sensor
in which some physical change occurs with temperature, plus some means of
converting this physical change into a numerical value (e.g. the visible scale in
glass thermometer).

-All sky camera is a stand-alone Astro and

weather video device enclosed in a
weather proof dome that provides wide
view at the entire sky.

All day all night rain or shine images from

the all-sky can be viewed on the TV
captured on to a laptop or PC or streamed
live over the Internet. The cameras fisheye
lens gives you a 180 degree view from
horizon to horizon. You can use this live
video to observe the sunrises and sunsets, cloud activity, moving storms,
starry night sky, and more.
In meteorological applications camera is used to study cloud cover, UV index,
time lapse photography of clouds, cloud
fractional coverage, sky polarization, the
computation of cloud base height, as well
as wind speed at cloud heights.

-A rain gauge is an instrument for

measuring the precipitation that has
fallen in a given time interval. The rain
gauge is part of every weather station. It is
used in meteorology as an additional tool
of the weather forecast and the
climatology for the purpose of long-term
statistics of precipitation.

The amounts of rain accumulated in the gauge are read either manually or
by automatic weather station (AWS).

-Ceiling projector is a
meteorological instrument for
measuring the height of the clouds
at night. It measures the height of
the cloud base.

Cloud spotlight consists of two

components: the sight of the
spotlight and the alidade installed
at a certain distance from the
projector. Spotlight consists of 430
watt bulbs, installed in protected housing. Inside the case are two mirrors.
The first the lamp above reflects the light down, and the second reflects
the light up to the clouds. Both mirrors are set to produce a high intensity
beam of light that makes a visible light spot on the cloud base.
 -Radiosonde a device to measure various
atmospheric parameters and transmit them
to fixed receivers. Radiosondes can run on
dedicated radio frequency 403 MHz or 1680
MHz; both types of transmitters may
optionally adjust the frequency within a
small range around the specified value.

Rubber or latex balloons filled with helium

or hydrogen is used to rise the Radiosonde
up into the atmosphere. Sometimes
radiosondes are dropped from aircraft. They
are most often used in special research projects, such as the study of the
storms.

-A weather balloon is a balloon which

in meteorology is used for
transportation of instruments and
radiosondes into the atmosphere.

A typical weather balloon is

usuallymade of rubber and has a weight
of only about 200 grams. The skin of the
weather balloon is very sensitive and
delicate, so they must be touched only
when wearing protective gloves. Even minimal damage may result in
increasingly risk bursting at high altitude.

The balloon is filled usually with helium or hydrogen. The probe is attached
to the weather balloon at a enough distance so it wont mess with the
balloon slipstream. The weather balloon can reach heights of 20-30 km
before it bursts and the probe returns with a parachute to the ground.
 -Wind sock is a cone made of
fabric designed to indicate the
direction and approximate speed
of the wind. This is mainly used in
the aviation industry, as well as
chemical plants, where there is a
risk of gas leakage.
Meteorological wind direction
corresponds to the opposite
direction of the wind direction
indicator.

-A wind profiler is a meteorological

measurement system that uses radar
or sound waves (SODAR) to determine
the wind speed and direction at various
elevations above the ground. The
variables measured from wind direction
and speed is useful to meteorological
forecasting and timely reporting for
flight planning.

-Disdrometer is a device for analyzing

the volume of distribution of micro
particles in a controlled environment.
The main application is to determine
the size, speed, and number of
raindrops. With disdrometer the
meteorologist differ raindrops from
graupel and hail.
 -Hygrometer is a device used
for detecting and measuring
humidity. There are several
types of hygrometers (coil, hair
tension, capacitive, resistive and
others), whose operation is
based on different principles.

-A nephelometer is an instrument for

determining the suspension of small particles in
a liquid or a gas colloid.

It consists of a light source and a photo sensor in

the 90 angle to the light beam. The particle
density is obtained from the amount of light
reflected from individual particles. This amount
depends on the nature of the particles shape,
color, and reflectivity. A correlation
between the turbidity and
suspended solids is therefore
varying from case to case. The
nephelometers are used for air
quality measurement for pollution monitoring, climate monitoring, and
visibility.

-A pilot balloon is used by meteorologists to measure the height of the

underside of the clouds from above the ground. It is used during daylight
hours. The balloon is filled to such degree that its ascent rate is known. By
measuring the time period between the start of the balloon and the moment
it hides in the cloud can be determined the height of the cloud base. By
tracking the trajectory, earlier with a theodolite, and today by radar or GPS ,
direction and speed of high-altitude winds are determined.

-Ceilometers meteorological
instruments for determining the
height of the cloud base. To
operate is either used a laser or
other source of coherent light.
Ceilometers also used to
determine the concentration of
aerosols in the atmosphere.

Laser ceilometer consists of a

vertical laser and a light receiver,
typically a lidar. The laser pulse
duration of a few nanoseconds is sent up to the atmosphere. While the beam
passes through the atmosphere some of its energy is scattered by the
aerosol particles with a size of about the wavelength of laser beam. Because
of the effect, called Mie scattering,
some of the light is scattered back and
captured by the ceilometer receiver.
The time delay of the received signal
can be converted into the distance by
the using a formula.

-A Barograph is an instrument for

recording air pressure onto a drum
covered with paper for a set period of time. The resulting curve is called a
barogram. The evaluation of the barogram can give to the weather expert
evidence of future weather developments. Barographs are often found on
ships.