What do weather instruments do?
Who uses these tools?
Meteorologists are weather scientists who use weather instruments to help predict the daily weather. They use the information they find to create forcasts on T.V so the world can see the weather conditions.
Weather instruments
Up in the air?
Can you believe that there is a balloon that measures weather? Meteroligists use a tool called a weather balloon to see what the weather might be in the future. It measures temperature, wind speed and air pressure just by going up in the air. At the bottom of the weather balloon there is a measurer that calculates the weather and transports the conditions back to a computer in a weather station.
Anemometer
Anemometers are instruments used to measure wind speed. This tool consists of cups at the end of sticks. Wind causes the cups to spin and the measure at the bottom of the anemometer goes up as the wind blows. That calculates the speed of the wind.
Beaufort scale
Beaufort scales measure wind speed and wind force by using numbers and symbols. It is a chart that tells you what happens when different types of wind accure. For example, a severe storm's beaufort number would be 11 because it does serious damage to houses. The wind speed would show 110 km/h.
Wind vane
Wind vanes tell us what direction the wind blows. There is an arrow at the end of a wind vane that tells you what direction the wind was currently blowing. Most wind vanes show the initials for North, South, East and West to say what direction the wind was blowing.
Barometer
Barometers are used to measure air pressure. If a barometer is low it means bad weather. If a barometer is high it means good weather.
Thermometer
People use thermometers to measure the temperature. The mercury in the thermometer pushes up a measuring indicator to measure the maximum temperature. Most thermometers are found outside to measure the hot or cold temperature.
Rain Gauges and snowsticks
A rain gauge measures rain. It is basically a compartment stored outside that collects rain and measures it. Snowsticks are quite similar. When snow falls from the sky this tool collects it and measures it.
Satellites
Satellites calculate weather from space. They have a lot of sensors that help it measure weather. If the satellites look at earth they can see many clues to when a storm is coming. If a swirl is seen, then a hurricane might be accuring in that part of earth. The pictures shown below show hurricanes happening on earth.