TECO Upgrade and new developments of the automatic weather stations network in Austria Ernest Rudel, Martin Mair & Kurt Zimmermann ZAMG (Central Institute of Meteorology and Geodynamics) Vienna, Austria

TECO  Meteorological networks  History of AWS network  Present system  New system  Improvement of sensor systems  Outlook Outline

TECO Demands on a National Meteorological Network  WMO standards  Adequate spatial distribution  Data in more population dense areas (greater demand for data)  Data from important traffic routes  Areas with minimum and maximum values  Areas with pronounced gradients  Continuity (Long time measurements on the same site)  Same quality check and derived values

TECO Purposes of a meteorological network  Data for international exchange  Data for severe weather warnings  Atmosphere monitoring over national territory  Data for weather prediction, climatological analysis  Expertise use (courts, assurance companies, regulations, standards,...)

TECO Advantages of AWS  Increasing temporary and area coverage  Providing data from data sparse areas where human observations are not practical  Providing data continuously at frequent intervals and for any observation time  Eliminating the subjectivity in manual observations  Reflecting the requirements of all users of near real time synoptic data  Supporting the trends to reducing model grid scale and the need for more observations to be available in shorter timescales  Make believe to reduce costs

TECO History  1981First AWS  1985 Some telephone links  1991 Network of AWS with leased telephone lines  1992ZAMG generates most of the hourly synoptical reports fully automated

TECO Future requirements of AWS network (1)Increase of the density of AWS (2)Significant reduction of the overall costs of operation  Shut down of all manually operated classical stations  Increase of the network of AWS up to 200 – 220 stations  Substitution of the present AWS with a new generation of AWS  Improvement of the sensor equipment of AWS

TECO Present system of AWS

TECO New system of AWS

TECO

TECO Flow of Data (Sketch)

TECO ZAMG Automated Measurement Network Altitudinal distribution of Area, population and AWS_new in Austria < >3000 m.a.s.l. % Area Population AWS-new

TECO Improvement of sensor systems ParameterSensor type Present AWSNew AWS Air-and soil temperaturesNTC Relative humidityHair hygrometer Amount of precipitation Tipping bucket or weighing gauge Detection of precipitationResistive sensorOptical sensor Wind speed and directionCup anemometerUltrasonic anemometer SunshineRotating shutterStatic detector Global radiationBW pyranometer PressureElectronic aneroid barometer

TECO Outlook  The upgrade of the AWS- network ensures a quantitative and a qualitative improvement of the measurement of meteorological parameters.  With the network of ~200 – 220 AWS a station should be representative for approximately 400 km² (20x20km).  The increase of the temporal resolution of the measurement data in real time is required by different users of meteorological data and especially for inputs in local area numerical models.  The standardization of the network would make it possible to optimize the operational aspects by decreasing the costs of operation.