Home >> Science & Nature >> Nature

Weather-Recording Instruments

Recording weather-related patterns to predict future weather events has been done for centuries. In time, technology has made it possible to attain a greater level of information and synthesize these new pieces of information with each other to predict weather more accurately. While some modern weather-recording instruments are variations of older technologies, some are the product of fairly recent technological possibilities, such as aviation and electronics. Of all the weather-recording instruments available to meteorologists today, some stand out as providing the most critical big-picture data.

Barometer
- The barometer was invented in the early 17th century by a young scientist named Evangelista Torricelli. The first barometer was nearly 35 feet high and housed in the home of Torricelli himself. In short, a barometer is used to measure air pressure. When there are differences in air pressure between two places, the difference causes the wind to blow as air moves from high pressure toward low pressure. A barometer called an aneroid barometer is more commonly used today in meteorology because of its small size and improved accuracy.
Weather Balloons
- Weather balloons have been used since November of 1783 when the first weather balloon was launched. Weather balloons are used to carry instruments aloft to capture high-altitude measurements, such as atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity and wind speed, and send the collected information back. This information is gathered by a small measuring device called a radiosonde. The balloon itself is made of a flexible latex material and filled with hydrogen or helium. Some weather balloons can reach altitudes of 25 miles.
Hygrometer
- Meteorologists use hygrometers to measure the humidity, or the amount of water vapor, in the air. A psychrometer is a type of hygrometer that consists of two thermometers: one with a wet bulb and one with a dry bulb. The thermometer with the wet bulb shows a lower temperature as water evaporates. This causes the temperature in the dry bulb thermometer to rise. Humidity is then computed from the ambient temperatures from both the wet bulb and dry bulb thermometers.
Radar
- The use of weather radar today is credited to the same radar technology used in WWII to detect hostile aircraft and missiles. It was soon realized that this type of radar could detect weather. Every day, meteorologists and scientists use radar to detect and track severe weather as well as predict the motion of the storms. Doppler radar was created in 1964. This form of radar allowed scientists to receive an inside view of storms. Further, Doppler radar has become crucial in the detection of oncoming severe storms and tornadoes.

Nature