Weather Instruments By Amanda, Virginia, and Caroline

Beep, Beep… I’m sensing Radar! Radar was originally designed for World War ll to detect Nazi airplanes. Radar works by sending out regular waves at high frequencies. The signal travels 350,000 kilometers a second. Doppler Radar is an improvement from the old radar machines. Most radar machines send out 1,000 signals a second. Doppler radar can now detect weather such as tornadoes, rain, wind, and sometimes even birds, bugs, and dust.

Windsocks, not for warming your feet A windsock tells the direction in which the wind is going. Windsocks are normally used at airports or places where planes or helicopters are landing, such as hospitals. Wind speed can be indicated by a windsock angle.

Mom explains to boy, weather balloons aren’t for parties. Weather balloons carry instrument packages into the atmosphere. Important data needed to forecast the weather is gathered by weather balloons. Weather balloons are launched twice a day at over 1000 sites around the world. They can measure temperature, humidity, and air pressure.

Breaking news! Wind Vanes don’t carry blood. Measuring wind has always been difficult to do. Buildings always get in the way of getting the correct wind speed. Wind directions are reported as the direction the wind is coming from. Wind vanes measure the direction that the wind is going.

Barometer won’t be found at the doctors. The barometer was invented in It was invented by the Italian scientist Evangelista Torricelli. He used a 34 foot tube that had a column of water inside it. The water was soon replaced by mercury. It measures the air pressure.

Weather maps don’t show how to get to Grandma’s Weather maps are national radar images. They have a surface map displaying the locations of high and low pressure. There are often legends or map keys on the map explaining the symbols.

Satellites, they don’t always provide Charter Satellites are more accurate now than they used to be. With them we can see the big picture all at once. Meteorologists can track weather systems with satellites. Not only can they tell us where clouds are, but they can measure the temperature of water, clouds, and the ground.

Thermometers good for weather and fevers. A thermometer measures the average kinetic energy of the air molecules around it. When the molecules hit the thermometer the kinetic energy is transferred from the molecules to the glass to the Mercury inside the thermometer. When the mercury molecules start to move faster, they push the mercury up in the thermometer.

A Rain Gauge won’t be found in a car. Rain gauges used today by officials were invented over 100 years ago. Special measuring sticks are often put in the measuring tube to account the vertical scale exaggeration. Standard rain gauges can measure up to 2 inches of rain.

Anemometers Can’t Take Your Temperature. An anemometer is a tool that tell how fast wind is blowing. It can’t give an exact wind speed. Professional ones can accurately measure how fast the wind is blowing.

Conclusion Weather instruments include windsocks, weather balloons, wind vanes, barometers, satellites, and anemometers. Meteorologists use these tools to gather data and predict the weather.

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