The Weather Observer's Handbook

The Weather Observer's Handbook provides a comprehensive, practical, and independent guide to all aspects of making weather observations. Automatic weather stations today form the mainstay of both amateur and professional weather observing networks around the world, and yet – prior to this book – there existed no independent guide to their selection and use. Traditional and modern weather instruments are covered, including how best to choose and to site a weather station, how to get the best out of your equipment, how to store and analyse your records, and how to share your observations with other people and across the Internet. From amateur observers looking for help in choosing their first weather instruments on a tight budget to professional observers looking for a comprehensive and up-to-date guide covering World Meteorological Organization recommendations on observing methods and practices, all will welcome this handbook. Visit http://measuringtheweather.com/ for additional materials by the author.

Stephen Burt has a professional background in physics, meteorology and climatology, information technology and marketing. He is a Fellow of the UK's Royal Meteorological Society (FRMetS) and is also a member of both the American Meteorological Society and the Irish Meteorological Society. He has run his own meteorological observatory for over 40 years. After almost 10 years with the UK Met Office he took up a business career within the computer industry, successfully managing international marketing roles for several of the world's largest high-technology firms. He is a regular contributor to the Royal Meteorological Society's monthly magazine Weather, to the Climatological Observer's Link (COL) organisation and the Cloud Appreciation Society, with over one hundred published papers or articles and several hundred published photographs to date. He is also a committee member of the Royal Meteorological Society's Special Interest Group on Weather Observing Systems, a recent member of the Royal Meteorological Society's council governing body and Chairman of the Royal Meteorological Society's South-east Centre. He was awarded the Society's Gordon Manley Prize in 2006. He is also a Trustee of the Chilterns Observatory Trust.