Home Weather Station Questions

[Rocket]

I've placed a station on the roof (and there's definitely hardware jealousy running through the neighborhood ). Quick questions:

1. Assuming there is value to publishing data to the web, which service is most useful to others: Weather Underground, CWOP, PWS Weather, Twitter, or my own website?
2. I've read through the requirements for CWOP and noticed they recommend placing the rain collector closer to the the ground than above the roof. I'm in an area that does not have much open space. The only open area is above the rooflines. Is this going to be ok?
3. When the station software and services ask for elevation, is this the elevation of the station or the elevation shown on topo maps? The street elevation is listed from 285 to 302 ft and the station is about 34 ft above that.

Thanks for your help.

[CapturedNature]

I've placed a station on the roof (and there's definitely hardware jealousy running through the neighborhood ). Quick questions:

1. Assuming there is value to publishing data to the web, which service is most useful to others: Weather Underground, CWOP, PWS Weather, Twitter, or my own website?
2. I've read through the requirements for CWOP and noticed they recommend placing the rain collector closer to the the ground than above the roof. I'm in an area that does not have much open space. The only open area is above the rooflines. Is this going to be ok?
3. When the station software and services ask for elevation, is this the elevation of the station or the elevation shown on topo maps? The street elevation is listed from 285 to 302 ft and the station is about 34 ft above that.

IMHO, I think the best place to submit your data is CWOP or APRSNET. The Weather Underground will pickup the data so no need to send it to two places. If you do send it to both, I think you need to tell WU what your MADIS ID is so it can prevent duplicates.

I think the CWOP citing requirements acknowledge that not everyone will have an ideal location and you do the best that you can. The roof should be OK, as long as it is open. In terms of the elevation, I think you want the elevation of the ground. I don't think ASOS stations count the mast height in their parameters.

Make sure that you get your lattitude and longitude correct. I had an issue with that and I have a good understanding of the different systems.

You probably already have this, but here's a link to the CWOP Guide:

http://home.comcast..../CWOP_Guide.pdf

[Rocket]

In terms of the elevation, I think you want the elevation of the ground. I don't think ASOS stations count the mast height in their parameters.

Thanks for the feedback and confirming my initial thoughts.

Can anyone confirm the elevation bit for me?

Thanks

[Isopycnic]

Thanks for the feedback and confirming my initial thoughts.

Can anyone confirm the elevation bit for me?

Thanks

As far a I know typical heights are 2 meters for the temperature and 10 meters for the anemometer.

[MN Transplant]

Personally, I'd go with the elevation of wherever the barometer is.

[ocala]

I've placed a station on the roof (and there's definitely hardware jealousy running through the neighborhood ). Quick questions:

1. Assuming there is value to publishing data to the web, which service is most useful to others: Weather Underground, CWOP, PWS Weather, Twitter, or my own website?
2. I've read through the requirements for CWOP and noticed they recommend placing the rain collector closer to the the ground than above the roof. I'm in an area that does not have much open space. The only open area is above the rooflines. Is this going to be ok?
3. When the station software and services ask for elevation, is this the elevation of the station or the elevation shown on topo maps? The street elevation is listed from 285 to 302 ft and the station is about 34 ft above that.

Thanks for your help.

You should also consider Cocorahs. http://www.cocorahs.org/

All the other organizations you mentioned are also worthy. If your software supports it send them all the data.

As for where you position the rain bucket you pretty much have to go with what works or is allowed in your area. Ideally, on the ground would be best .

The elevation refers to the ground elevation on the topo maps. However as mentioned above matching it with the barometer location would be good too.

[nj2va]

Don't mean to hijack the thread but I also have a home weather station question. I'm considering purchasing one but I can't mount it on the townhouse roof due to the association's rules. Would my obs be very unreliable if I were to mount it on my fence instead? If so, I'll probably just stick with my rain guage.

[MN Transplant]

Don't mean to hijack the thread but I also have a home weather station question. I'm considering purchasing one but I can't mount it on the townhouse roof due to the association's rules. Would my obs be very unreliable if I were to mount it on my fence instead? If so, I'll probably just stick with my rain guage.

If you don't have a perfect siting location, and most of us don't, you have to make the decision about what parameter is most important to you. Your wind obs would not be good at fence level (mine are worthless), but your temps should be better than if it was roof mounted. Precip depends a lot on trees.

[nj2va]

If you don't have a perfect siting location, and most of us don't, you have to make the decision about what parameter is most important to you. Your wind obs would not be good at fence level (mine are worthless), but your temps should be better than if it was roof mounted. Precip depends a lot on trees.

Precip and temp are my most important readings, I'd say. I should be okay on precip since I did fairly well with my coffee can during Irene. I'll see how I do with my rain gauge when it arrives in the mail. Thanks!