The Weather Observer's Handbook

Dr Stephen Burt commenced his professional career in meteorology within the UK Met Office in 1977, followed by a series of private-sector marketing roles within the computer industry before returning to academia, eventually retiring from the Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading in 2018 (where he remains a Visiting Fellow). His meteorological research interests span instruments, observation techniques and methods, climatological data rescue, case studies of notable weather events, and long weather records and their sites; in all, he has authored or joint-authored some fifty peer-reviewed journal papers to date, and four other books. Stephen is a Fellow of the UK's Royal Meteorological Society and a member of both the American Meteorological Society and the Irish Meteorological Society. He is also an accomplished photographer with several hundred published photographs to his name.

Part I. The Basics: 1. Why measure the weather?; 2. Choosing a weather station; 3. Buying a weather station; Part II. Measuring the Weather: 4. Site and exposure – the basics; 5. Measuring the temperature of the air; 6. Measuring precipitation; 7. Measuring atmospheric pressure; 8. Measuring humidity; 9. Measuring wind speed and direction; 10. Measuring grass and earth temperatures; 11. Measuring sunshine and solar radiation; 12. Observing hours and time standards; 13. Aws data flows, display and storage; 14. Non-instrumental weather observing; 15. Calibration; 16. Metadata – what is it, and why is it important?; Part III. Making the Most of Your Observations: 17. Collecting and storing data; 18. Making the data avalanche work for you; 19. Sharing your observations; 20. Summary and getting started; Appendix 1: Metrology and meteorology: an instrument theory primer; Appendix 2: Recommended products; Appendix 3: Useful sources; Appendix 4: Mercury-based legacy thermometers and barometers; Appendix 5: Useful functions; Appendix 6: Unit conversions; References; Further reading; Index.