Graph Interpretation

THE OUTSIDE WEATHER STATION (El. 6246 feet)

Windspeed and Direction

The light green line represents average windspeed.
The dark green line is for gusts (both in MPH).
The red line is the compass direction in degrees.

Temperature

The red line is temperature in degrees Fahrenheit.
The blue line is the dew point. When the two lines
get close together, dew will start to form.

Barometric Pressure

The scale here is kiloPascals hPa, commonly called
millibars. To convert to inches of mercury (inHg),
multiply by .02953 or visit the NWSO calculator site:
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/elp/wxcalc/wxcalc.shtml

Relative Humidity

The relative humidity is measured in percent. It is
'relative' because it will vary with the temperature.
As the dew point approaches the ambient temperature,
the relative humidity will climb toward 100%.

Clouds and Moisture

These are experimental sensors for the observatory. The
moisture sensor in blue reads '90' even if one drop of
rain (or dew) is on the sensor. This is a sensor which
will cause the dome to close and protect the telescope.
The cloud sensor in red is a differential infared detector
As it clouds up, the heat from the earth will bounce back
and heat the sky sensor. The lower the reading, the less
clouds. An irregular line also indicates scattered clouds.
In the daytime it is inaccurate and not recorded.

DOME READINGS INSIDE THE DOME and INSTRUMENT BOX

Temperature

The red line is temperature in degrees Fahrenheit.
The blue line is the dew point. When the two lines
get close together, dew will start to form.

Lightning Activity

The lightning activity is recorded by two sensors 150
meters apart. The sensors are correlated by computers
to remove "false strikes" from local electrical noise.
Logging started 10/05 using a national lightning map
and 05/06 with our local sensors.

Relative Humidity - Yearly only

The relative humidity is measured in percent. It is
'relative' because it will vary with the temperature
As the dew point approaches the ambient temperature,
the relative humidity will climb toward 100%.

Rainfall

The left scale is in inches. Blue lines are small amounts
of collected rain. The computer adds up the hundredths of
an inch and draws a blue line every 5 minutes on the daily
graph, 30 minutes for the weekly, 2 hours for the monthly
and over 24 hours for the yearly graph. The purple line is
a cumulative measure of the total rain during that period.
It is a dynamic scale on the right side of the graph. At a
certain level, it will remain at the top of the graph, and
the scale will vary (the graph may lack numbers till a
certain amount of rain accumulates).

Dome

The dome sensor draws a blue bar when the dome is open.
It works similarly to the rain sensor. A red line shows
the accumulated time. It uses a dynamic scale (on the
right) side that may not show numbers, till a specified
amount of time has accumulated.

Camera Shutter

The camera sensor draws a blue bar when the shutter is
open. It works similarly to the rain sensor. A red line
shows the accumulated time. It uses a dynamic scale
(on the right) side that may not show numbers, till a
specified amount of time has accumulated.