Weather Tools

What are they? What do

they do?

The Most Common Weather

Tools Are:

• Thermometer

• Wind Vane

• Anemometer

• Barometer

• Rain Gauge

• Hygrometer / Psychrometer

Thermometer • A thermometer is a

weather tool used to

measure the

temperature.

Wind Vane • By observing wind

vanes, we can know

the direction of the

wind. Knowing the

direction of the wind

is an important part in

predicting the weather.

Anemometer

• Wind speed is an

important part of

weather.

• An anemometer is a

weather tool that

measures wind

speed.

Barometer

• Barometers are

important to

measuring air

pressure. Air

pressure can help

you predict good or

bad weather.

Rain Gauge

• A rain gauge is a

weather tool used to

collect rain.

• Using measurements

on the side of the rain

gauge, you can see

how many inches it

rained.

Psychrometer/Hygrometer

• A psycrometer is a tool used to measure

humidity and calculate relative humidity.

– It measures the air temperature (Dry

Bulb)

– It measures the “Dew Point” (Wet Bulb)

– With this data you calculate the relative

humidity

• A hygrometer measures the amount of

humidity in the air.

Relative Humidity Calculation

• Dry Bulb Temperature _____

• Wet Bulb Temperature - _____

• Change in Temperature _____

• Then use the chart to find the intersection of

Dry Bulb Temperature and Change in

Temperature.

Relative Humidity Chart

Weather Radar (Doppler)

• Uses radio waves to

determine location and

speed of storms.

• Records location of

clouds and precipitation.

• Can calculate speed of

storms and/or wind

speed.

Weather Satellites (GOES)

• Orbits Earth in outer

space.

• Sends back pictures of the

atmosphere.

• Pictures large areas all at

the same time

• Can detect movement of

ice fields.

Weather Balloons

• Gather data for weather

stations at all levels of the

troposphere.

• Released on an organized

schedule from hundreds

of stations at the same

time each day.

• Balloon, Parachute,

Sensor Array