THE YELLOWKNIFE SKI CLUB WEATHER STATION DATA IS NOT AVAILABLE DUE TO THE IGATE BEING TURNED OFF AND A NEW IGATE BEING CURRENTLY CONSTRUCTED AND CONFIGURED...

Remote or automatic weather stations (AWS) are an automated for of a traditional weather station.  At traditional weather station has the following instruments, collecting data:

• Thermometer for measuring air and sea surface temperature
• Barometer for measuring atmospheric pressure
• Hygrometer for measuring humidity
• Anemometer for measuring wind speed
• Pyranometer for measuring solar radiation
• Rain gauge for measuring liquid precipitation over a set period of time.
• Wind sock for measuring general wind speed and wind direction
• Wind vane, also called a weather vane or a weathercock: it shows whence the wind is blowing.

More sophisticated weather stations have other devices to measure other weather parameters including UV index, soil moisture, cloud ceiling, visibility and so forth.  Instruments are often placed in a sheltered box called a Stevenson screen.  A personal weather station is a set of weather measuring instruments operated by an individual, club, association etc.  Many such stations are available on the market.  Often weather data is shared over the Internet via amateur radio.  

The Yellowknife Amateur Radio Society is interested in personal weather stations that are automatic weather stations.  Such stations include a data logger, rechargeable battery, telemetry, meteorological sensors and power generation (such as a solar panel or a wind turbine).  

The APRS article on this website reveals at least three such weather stations as VE8WD-2 (Prelude Lake), CYZF (Yellowknife Airport) and VE8SKI (Yellowknife Ski Club).  These stations send out APRS data streams to the IGate and they are recorded on the Internet and reported.  The Ski Club project is intended to eventually provide real-time local weather conditions at the Ski Club for the skiers.  Traditional weather reports, such as the one on this website in the right panel, originate from Environment Canada's weather station at the Yellowknife Airport. While the airport is close to the Ski Club, the weather information is not always identical.  This is very evident in the summer as the Ski Club is closer to Great Slave Lake than is the airport.  We regard these remote stations as an APRS problem and application.

Some of our members have been pondering the design of this weather station and are working on a potential variation of the project using raspberry pi computers to establish a network of weather monitoring stations around the Ski Club at check-in points.  This is a potentially exciting project that will open up all sorts of hands-on experience with the collection of sensor data and its transmission to a central station (the Chalet) for use by skiers and for conveying to the Internet (so setting up the Ski Club perhaps as a mini-IGate).

All of this may seem a bit mundane, but we think once this project is done, we might be able to construct other remote sensory information collection devices - for example monitoring methane emissions (for climate change and permafrost melting), atmospheric sensors for a yet to be defined balloon mission, some sort of laser-based scintillation device to measure particulate density in the atmosphere, a device for measuring the planet's magnetic field, a seismometer and so forth.  Once again, we can let our imagination run wild... These are not just though experiments but ways in which we can take command of the knowledge and expertise within the Society to learn from others and master the technology available to us.

Sources:

• https://projects.raspberrypi.org/en/projects/build-your-own-weather-station
• https://projects.raspberrypi.org/en/projects/build-your-own-weather-station/2
• https://www.instructables.com/Complete-DIY-Raspberry-Pi-Weather-Station-with-Sof/
• https://www.thegeekpub.com/260023/how-to-build-a-raspberry-pi-weather-station/
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LPEPZ02-t8
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPyDtuzYE5s
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SOjSBf-lmQ