Contrary to popular belief, meteorology is an exact science. Weather forecasts are made on the basis of measurements and calculations using special formulas. For each forecast, experts are responsible. Correspondents of RIA "Voronezh" found out who is responsible for weather forecasts in the region and how their daily work is built.
Who "makes the weather" in the Voronezh region?
The meteorological service of the Voronezh region employs about 150 specialists. There are 10 stations in the region, which are part of the state meteorological network, and 15 water-measuring posts for monitoring the state of water bodies. The weather service collects state data environment so that forecasters can form a forecast for them.
What is the difference between the forecast of the state meteorological service and the forecasts of private companies?
Only specialists from the state meteorological service have an observation network. Private companies make forecasts based on data already collected. Only the forecast of the state meteorological service is considered the official forecast.
How is a forecast prepared?
The weather forecast works in three stages. This is the collection of data on weather changes at weather stations, the compilation of a world weather map and a direct forecast for individual territories.
All weather stations in the world conduct observations several times a day. The collected information is sent to data centers in Moscow, Washington DC and Melbourne. To observe processes in the atmosphere, meteorologists launch balloons that automatically send information every three hours. World data centers exchange information with each other. Based on these data, weather maps are compiled for the whole world. Meteorologists conduct observations at the same time, according to the same methodology, with the same instruments installed at the same height. This is important so that the results obtained in different places can be correctly compared.
The advent of the Internet has greatly simplified the work of meteorologists. But even when information was transmitted via telegraph, meteorologists did not say goodbye to punctuality.
- When automatic weather stations appeared, work became a little easier. But it is impossible to completely exclude a person from the process of observing the weather, because, in addition to meteorological characteristics, we fix the time when it starts to rain. Technology cannot do this. There is always a person next to the automatic weather station who also watches the weather,” explained Alexander Sushkov, head of the Voronezh Hydrometeorological Center.
What does a meteorologist-observer do?
Four observers, an agrometeorologist and the head of the station work at the stationary weather station in Voronezh. The change of the meteorological observer lasts a day and begins with the receipt of information and documents from the previous duty officer. He reports on the serviceability of the devices, emergency situations, if any, during the shift, on the number of telegrams sent.
The working day is scheduled by the minute. In a busy schedule, there is often no time for a break or lunch.
- Measurements are carried out strictly according to the regulations. Thus, temperature measurement should be carried out 10 minutes before the information is sent, 15 minutes before the deadline, the temperature is recorded using exhaust thermometers, and atmospheric pressure is recorded 2 minutes before the deadline. A tour of all weather instruments takes an experienced observer about 10 minutes. A telegram with the results of the detour must be sent within a strictly specified time - not a minute later, - stressed the head of the Voronezhagro meteorological station Valery Shtondin.
Measurements are entered in special journals with a pencil, because it does not fade over the years, does not spread when wet and does not fade in the sun.
There is a lot of work between the three-hour data fixations. The weather is changing and this needs to be recorded. When it starts to rain, the observer must place an empty container on the weather site. The sediment is collected in a vessel to determine the level of acidity. At least eight ozone observations. Four more times a day, you need to determine the level of evaporation. And moisten a strip of cambric cloth eight times, attached to a wet bulb thermometer, which determines the humidity of the air.
What instruments do meteorologists use?
With the help of dry and wet thermometers, meteorologists determine the level of air humidity in the warm season at an air temperature of at least -10 degrees. In winter, this indicator is measured with a hygrometer. In the hygrometer, a woman's hair is stretched, connected with an arrow. When stretched or compressed, the instrument displays the moisture value. At high humidity, the hair stretches, and at low it shrinks.
There is a site on the meteorological site that imitates arable land. "Plow" his employees of the station. Three thermometers were installed on the site, measuring the temperature of the soil (maximum, minimum and current) and a thermometer that shows the temperature in the arable layer. The deepest depth at which temperature is measured is 3.5 m. Temperature all year round at this depth it changes slightly - in winter it drops to +4.5 degrees, in summer it rises to +6.
The Voronezh meteorological station operates the only ozonometer in the central Chernozem region, which determines the thickness of the ozone layer. The data obtained in Voronezh are sent to the regions of the Chernozem region.
Once a day, radioactive impurities are measured in the air using gauze stretched over a frame. The fabric is strictly forbidden to touch and shake.
Every day at 8:00, the gauze is removed and sent in a sealed bag to a chemical laboratory in Kursk. Laboratory specialists burn gauze and determine the presence in the ashes. radioactive elements in the air and their number.
Special containers installed at the site are used to measure the amount of precipitation. Each vessel has its own purpose: determining the amount of precipitation, the intensity of evaporation, chemical composition water. In winter, meteorologists install an instrument to monitor the formation of ice.
Wind direction and speed are recorded by an anemorumbometer.
Atmospheric pressure at weather stations is measured using a mercury barometer. Instrument readings are recorded every three hours. Changes in pressure are recorded by a barograph. He "draws" the measurement curve on a special tape.
Insert photo barograph
Who are agrometeorologists?
It is believed that the first meteorologists were agronomists. In agriculture, the result. Nowadays, not every weather station can boast of having a specialist agrometeorologist in their state. The weather station "Voronezhagro" at one time and still is located in the area of experimental gardens of the university, so the weather station has a workplace for an agrometeorologist. Thanks to the observations that this specialist makes, the Voronezh Hydrometeorological Center can give official forecasts for the harvest.
The methods that an agrometeorologist uses for his measurements are quite primitive and simple, but more accurate methods have not yet been invented, Valery Shtondin believes. For example, a special drying cabinet helps to determine the level of soil moisture.
– We observe three fields: winter wheat and two fields of fallow. In each field, soil must be taken from a depth of 100 cm. The wells are drilled by hand, the soil is placed in special numbered aluminum containers. The container with soil is weighed and placed in a drying cabinet. After the moisture has evaporated, it is weighed again, and the resulting difference gives the agrometeorologist an idea of soil moisture, - explained the head of the meteorological station.
What is a weather probe?
To observe processes in the atmosphere, meteorologists launch balloons that record changes every three hours. The probe rises to a height of up to 40 km, measures wind speed and direction, humidity and transmits this data to meteorologists on the ground.
The probe contains a receiver, a transmitter and a humidity sensor. The first probes weighed more than 5 kg, modern devices are much lighter - about 100 g.
To launch into the atmosphere, the probe is tied with a rope to a balloon filled with hydrogen. The diameter of the ball is 1.5 m. The ball is launched twice a day - at 3:00 and at 15:00 in the area of the Voronezh aircraft plant.
At the height to which the ball rises, the temperature drops to -55.7 degrees. The rubber shell of the ball at such a low temperature is destroyed, and the probe falls to the ground.
Before launching the probe, meteorologists will find out if there are any especially important flights at this time. The ball is sent only after permission is received. Each probe has its own number and passport, which can be used to determine from which station it was launched. The nearest weather stations to Voronezh, where probes are launched, are located in Kalach and Kursk.
Previously, when launching a balloon, the aerologist had to send a signal to the balloon. The probe received the signal and responded. The received signal had to be decoded, the location of the ball calculated with a ruler, the information encoded and transferred to higher authorities in Kursk. Now what is happening with the probe is visible on the screen, information from it is sent automatically.
Can portable electronic weather stations replace meteorologists?
According to Alexander Sushkov, electronic weather stations from electronics stores have rather low measurement accuracy - they cannot be equated with certified instruments that meteorologists use in their work.
- If I bought a scalpel in medical equipment, this does not give me the right to perform operations. So it is with household appliances. They can only be used for private observations, but not for industrial purposes, Alexander Sushkov stressed.
Household weather stations are suitable only for personal weather observations. This is the simplest electronics that can only show actual weather data: air humidity, temperature and atmospheric pressure. And already by changing the level of pressure, it is possible to predict the approach of rain.
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The first "code" of extreme weather events in Russia was collected back in the 16th century by decree of Ivan IV the Terrible, these data were included in the Illuminated Chronicle Code. And already in the middle of the 17th century, by decree of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, they began to observe the weather daily in different parts of the state. Compose the first climatic features regions were assisted by volunteer observers. At the beginning of the 19th century, the talented Russian scientist Adolf Kupfer set about creating a service for regular hydrometeorological observations, and in the middle of the century the Main Physical Observatory was created. From that time on, meteorological and magnetic observations began to be carried out on a regular basis, new meteorological instruments and systems for their verification began to be created.
How is the weather measured in Russia today? We have collected the most interesting data about modern process forecasting on the example of the capital region.
reference station
Moscow receives basic data from 6 weather stations. Of these, the oldest and this moment, reference (or reference) - VVC station. The data obtained from it are official for the publication of actual weather and temperature records. It was opened on August 1, 1939 and worked until July 1940, then it was moved to a shaded place, they began to modernize .... but didn't make it. It was opened after the war, in 1949, already as an agrometeorological station. Since then, she has been working.
Outwardly, it is a platform with white (this color does not attract the sun's rays) appliances and cabinets, which at first glance seem very strange. However, any meteorological site in the world looks similar.
Main instruments of the station
A mandatory instrument of the weather station is a thermometer. There are several of them at the All-Russian Exhibition Center: some are stuck directly into the soil at different depths, others are placed above the ground in the so-called psychometric booth. One of the "booth" thermometers is constantly in distilled water, this allows you to determine the humidity of the air. By the way, a device that measures air humidity is also called a hygrometer, and it was invented by Horace Benedict de Saussure, a Swiss naturalist, while climbing Mont Blanc in the 19th century.
A mandatory device for any weather site is also a barometer. There are usually several weather vanes that measure the speed and direction of the wind, some are raised to a height of about three meters, others are located a meter from the ground.
At a height of two meters, on a special pillar, there is a precipitation gauge. This is how precipitation is measured that falls on the heads of passers-by, and not at all by the depth of puddles or the thickness of snow on the sidewalk, as some people think. The modern configuration of the device was invented by the Russian scientist V.D. Tretyakov. The device consists of a bucket and a special protective skirt resembling a half-blown chamomile. A staircase leads to them from the ground, so that it would be more convenient for the meteorologist to take measurements.
There is also an ice machine on the meteorological site, which from a distance is easy to mistake for a fragile version of the “hand-walker” sports equipment. The device heliograph, outwardly resembling a transparent globe, measures the frequency of sunshine. There are also tools for measuring the height and density of clouds. All data received from these devices is recorded in continuous mode: thermograph, hygrograph, psychometer, barograph.
Data processing
Once every three hours, simultaneously all over the world, meteorologists get up from their chairs and go to the weather site to take data from instruments. Then, the data is processed and sent in the form of telephone messages to the head centers. In the capital of Russia, such a center is the Meteorological Bureau of Moscow and the region, where all information flows, both from weather stations and from weather posts, autonomous weather sensors and other devices. Such devices are located throughout the metropolitan area on the roofs of buildings, highways and lighting poles. Total number of these devices only in the Moscow region reaches several thousand.
The received information is processed by Met Office weather forecasters with the help of computer programs and turned into maps: prognostic maps for the day ahead, as well as surface and high-altitude ones, to calculate the coming atmospheric fronts. Further, the forecasts are sent to the Hydrometeorological Center of Russia, where they process data from all meteorological posts and stations in the country. Then, the processed information goes to colleagues from the World Meteorological Organization (it unites 185 countries), and back our specialists receive data on their measurements. In addition, data are collected from satellites, in particular, on fluctuations in the temperature of the surface layer of water in the equatorial part. Pacific Ocean El Niño, which has a noticeable effect on the climate in general.
Forecast for the layman
Digests this global information into forecasts that are generally accessible to humans, for example - “cloudy and temperatures near zero”, a meteorological supercomputer. In Russia, its latest version was delivered in 2009 at the Russian Hydrometeorological Center. This mechanism represents spacious rooms - servers. The total power of the supercomputer is now 30 teraflops (trillions of operations per second). But, as meteorologists recently admitted, these capacities are no longer enough to digest the information received.
Therefore, at the end of 2014, the Hydrometeorological Center of the Russian Federation will announce tenders for the purchase of a more powerful unit. With its installation, the quality of forecasts will certainly increase. This means that the “puzzles” that these machines put together will be more accurate not only for the coming day, but also for the week ahead (now the accuracy of the weekly forecast does not exceed 70 percent), and maybe for six months.
However, as the honorary president of the World Meteorological Organization Alexander Bedritsky noted, the most accurate forecast will be when each molecule is assigned its own meteorological station. Whether this will succeed in the future and whether such accuracy is necessary for a person - time will tell.
The weather station in the village of Kon-Kolodez is one of the oldest in the Lipetsk region. They started to observe the weather here more than 120 years ago in an agricultural school opened by the Voronezh Zemstvo together with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Industry.
2. The weather station changed its location several times, and this house on Lenin Street has been occupied since 1957.
3. Meteorologists here monitor the state of the weather, temperature, wind direction and speed, atmospheric pressure, visibility, humidity, and precipitation. The received information is transmitted by employees 8 times a day to the interregional center of hydrometeorology of the Central Black Sea Region in Kursk.
4. According to the characteristics, the station in Kon-Kolodez belongs to the reference, that is, base stations. Observation is carried out on a small fenced area where meteorological instruments are installed.
Let's take a closer look at some of them.
5. Exhaust soil-depth thermometers - for measuring soil temperature at various depths. These are mercury thermometers placed in special tubes. They are visible in the foreground, and there are 8 of them in total. The longest thermometer measures the temperature at a depth of as much as 3.20 meters.
6. Meteorological booth designed to protect instruments from the action precipitation, wind, solar radiation.
The booth is made of wood and painted white so that it reflects the sun's rays as much as possible and heats up as little as possible. For ventilation, the walls of the booth are made in the form of blinds, consisting of separate slats: the air must pass without stagnation. In addition, the installation height of the booth from the ground is important - it is taken equal to 2 meters.
In such a booth, for example, a psychrometer, a hygrometer are placed - devices for measuring air humidity, as well as a thermograph - a recorder that records changes in air temperature.
7. Thermometers to measure the temperature of the soil surface, for this purpose an area without vegetation cover is used. There are several thermometers here: maximum, minimum and urgent. Maximum - mercury, where there is a capillary with a narrowing that prevents backflow mercury at low temperatures. Thus, the highest temperature during the observation period is measured.
The minimum is alcohol, also with a special design that allows you to measure the lowest temperature for the period.
Urgent - no tricks, it shows the current temperature of the soil surface.
8. Rain gauge Tretyakov - a device for measuring the amount of precipitation. The design is a vessel that is protected from the wind by metal strips-petals. And the amount is expressed by the thickness of the layer of precipitation that has fallen into the vessel, in millimeters.
9. On high masts - instruments that monitor the wind.
10. Wild's weather vane is an indispensable attribute of any weather station.
From bottom to top here: horizontal pins oriented along the main sides of the horizon, the letter "C" respectively points to the north; a weather vane, freely rotating under the influence of the wind, its counterweight ball shows the direction of the wind; at the top - a metal plate deviating from the vertical under the influence of the wind - the angle of deviation is used to judge the wind speed.
At present, such a device is usually used as a backup, for example, in the event of a failure of a more modern anemorumbometer.
11. Anemorumbometer is used for remote measurement of wind speed and direction. There is a wind sensor at the match, and a remote control on the meteorologist's desktop. Reliable and accurate device that works in any weather.
12. Propeller anemometer - measures the wind speed, which is determined by the number of revolutions of the turntable.
13. The most interesting device is the heliograph, for recording the intensity and duration of sunshine during the day.
14. A glass ball-lens collects the sun's rays, focuses them and directs them to a concave tape. If the sun is not covered by clouds, then as a result of the daily movement of the sun, a clear straight line is burned on the tape. When the sun is covered with clouds, the burn becomes weak or stops altogether. According to the total length of the burn on the tape, the duration of sunshine in hours per day is determined.
15. Ice machine - installation for measuring deposits of ice, frost and wet snow on wires; consists of wires stretched on poles in two mutually perpendicular directions. As soon as some deposits appear, the observer periodically measures their thickness and even weight.
16. It looks like a pyranometer to measure solar radiation.
17. Gate of the weather site.
METEOROLOGICAL STATION - an institution that conducts regular observations of the state of the atmosphere. Observations include measurements of the values of meteorological elements on time and determination of the main characteristics (beginning, end and intensity) of atmospheric phenomena. The first meteorological stations began to be created as early as the 18th century, when individual scientists or scientific societies began to conduct systematic observations of the weather. In the 19th century after the establishment of central meteorological institutes, in particular the Main Physical Observatory in St. Petersburg (1849), the weather stations received a unified leadership, as well as a common observation program.
The meteorological station includes a meteorological platform, where most of the instruments are installed (a psychrometric booth with thermometers and hygrometers, instruments for measuring wind speed and direction, a precipitation gauge, soil thermometers, etc.), an office building that houses barometers, recording parts of remote instruments, portable instruments and where observations are processed. Observations are carried out according to the standard program for a 10-minute time interval every 3 or 6 hours, and in some cases hourly. The received data is encoded and transmitted in the form of a digital summary to specified addresses (weather bureaus, aviation weather stations, etc.). Many meteorological stations, along with standard ones, conduct agrometeorological observations, determine the intensity of solar radiation (direct, diffuse, and total), the radiation balance, the amount of evaporation of soil moisture, and other meteorological stations are also installed on ships; automatic weather stations - on buoys on the high seas and in uninhabited land areas.
Observation data from weather stations are used to produce weather forecasts and warnings about adverse weather phenomena for the national economy, to study climate and its changes, as well as to directly provide service organizations with weather information.
There are portable (home) weather stations - devices that include a set of weather instruments. As a rule, this is a barometer, hygrometer and thermometer. This combination of equipment makes it possible to conduct a more accurate study of the environment, to predict weather changes in the near future with the least error. You can find such equipment on our website and order it.
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Everything depends on the weather. The first thing most services do when they get started is to ask for a weather forecast. The life of our planet, individual state, city, companies, enterprises and every person depends on the weather. Moving, flights, work of transport and public services, Agriculture and everything in our life is directly dependent on weather conditions. A high-quality weather forecast cannot be made without readings collected by a meteorological station.
What is a meteorological station?
It is difficult to imagine a modern state without a special meteorological service, which includes a network of meteorological stations that conduct observations, on the basis of which short-term or long-term weather forecasts are made. In almost all parts of the world there are meteorological stations that conduct observations and collect data used in meteorological forecasts.
A weather station is an institution that performs certain measurements of atmospheric phenomena and processes. To be measured:
- weather properties such as temperature, humidity, pressure, wind, cloudiness, precipitation;
- weather phenomena such as snowfall, thunderstorm, rainbow, calm, fog and others.
In Russia, as in other countries, there is an extensive network of meteorological stations and posts distributed throughout the country. Certain observations are made by observatories. Any meteorological station must have a special platform where instruments and instruments for measurements are installed, as well as a special room for recording and processing readings.
Instruments for meteorological measurements
All measurements are taken daily and at the same time meteorological ones are used. What functions do they perform? First of all, the following instruments are used at meteorological stations:
- For well-known thermometers are used. They are of several types: to determine the air temperature and soil temperature.
- For measurements atmospheric pressure you need a barometer.
- An important indicator is the humidity with a hygrometer. The simplest meteorological station monitors air humidity.
- To measure the direction and speed of the wind, an anemorumbometer is needed, in other words, a weather vane.
- The amount of precipitation is measured by a rain gauge.
Instruments used at weather stations
Some measurements need to be taken continuously. To do this, use the instrument readings. All of them are recorded and entered in special journals, after which the information is submitted to Roshydromet.
- A thermograph is used to continuously record the air temperature.
- With continuous joint recording of temperature and humidity readings, a psychrometer is used.
- Humidity is continuously recorded by a hygrometer.
- Barometric changes and readings are recorded by a barograph.
There are also a number of instruments that measure specific indicators such as cloud base, evaporation rate, sunshine rate, and more.
Types of weather stations
The main number of meteorological stations belongs to Roshydromet. But there are a number of departments whose activities are directly dependent on the weather. These are maritime, aviation, agricultural and other departments. As a rule, they have their own meteorological stations.
Weather stations in Russia are divided into three categories. The third category has stations whose work is carried out according to an abbreviated program. The station of the second category collects, processes and transmits data. Stations of the first category, in addition to all of the above, have the function of managing work.
Where are the weather stations located?
Weather stations are located throughout Russia. As a rule, they are located at a distance from large cities in desert, mountainous, forest areas, where the distance from the meteorological station to settlements big.
If the area is remote and deserted, then the station workers go there on long business trips for the whole season. It is difficult to work here, as it is, for the most part, the north of Russia, rugged mountains, deserts, Far East. Living conditions are not always suitable for family living. Therefore, workers have to live away from people for many months. According to the location of the weather station, there are: hydrological, aerometeorological, forest, lake, swamp, transport and others. Let's consider some of them.
Forest
For the most part, forest weather stations are designed to prevent Forest fires. Located in the forest, they collect not only traditional observations about the weather, but these meteorological stations also monitor the moisture content of trees and soil, the temperature component at various levels of forests. All data is processed, and a special map is modeled showing the most fire hazardous areas.
Hydrological
Observations of the weather in various parts of the Earth's water surface (seas, oceans, rivers, lakes) are carried out by hydrological weather stations. They can be located on the mainland coast of the sea and ocean, the ship, which is a floating station. In addition, they are located on the banks of rivers, lakes, and swamps. The indications of these weather stations are extremely important, since in addition to the weather forecast for sailors, they allow you to make long-term weather forecasts for the area.
