A Relationship between Micro-Meteorological and Personal Variables of Outdoor Thermal Comfort: A Case Study in Kitakyushu, Japan

Outdoor thermal comfort is an important indicator to create a quality and livable environment. This study examines a relationship between micro-meteorological and personal variables of outdoor thermal comfort conditions in an urban park. The data collection of outdoor thermal comfort is carried out using two methods in combination: micro-meteorological measurement and questionnaire survey. This finding shows that most of the respondents were comfortable with the thermal, wind, and humidity condition. The acceptability and satisfaction level of thermal comfort were positive. The most significant micro-meteorological variable for the physiologically equivalent temperature (PET) value is mean radiant temperature (Tmrt). As the Tmrt value is influenced by how much shading is produced from the presence of vegetation or buildings around the measurement location, this finding shows that the shadow was very important to the thermal comfort conditions in the Green Park Kitakyushu. The most influential micro-meteorological variable for the three different personal variables (TSV, WFSV, and HSV) is air temperature. The strongest relationship among the four variables is between TSV and PET. The findings will be the basis for the city authorities in preparing regional development plans, especially those related to the planning of city parks or tourist attractions.

Assessment of Solar Energy Potential of East Gojjam Zone Ethiopia Using Angestrom-Prescott Model

Only a small number of Ethiopia’s rural population has access to electricity. These rural areas can be electrified using different electrification approaches. One of the prime challenges in the decision making process is to obtain reliable information about the energy potential of the region under consideration. In this paper, an assessment of the solar energy potential of East Gojjam Zone in Ethiopia is presented. In the study area, there are only four meteorological measurement stations, namely: Debre Markos, Debrewerk, Mota, and Yetnora. The data for the hours of sunshine for these sites is collected from the National Meteorological Agency, Bahir Dar Branch Office. The data is prepared and used to calculate the mean global horizontal solar radiation using Angestrom-Prescott (AP) Model. An AP model for the four study sites was developed. The model regression coefficients, a and b, are estimated for each study site for respective latitudes, average hours of sunshine and day length. According to the models, the annual mean daily global horizontal radiation for Debre Markos, Debrewerk, Mota, and Yetnora is 5.88, 6.52, 6.28, and 6.31 kWh/m2/day, respectively, and 6.30kWh/m2/day for East Gojjam Zone, which is actually a very good solar energy potential. According to the monthly average global horizontal solar radiation profiles, the study sites receive the highest solar radiation in April and lowest solar radiation in July and August. The radiation in Debre Markos varies between 3.97 and 5.88kWh/m2/day, but Debrewerk receives more uniform solar radiation throughout the year. By considering intermittency and average solar energy potential of the four sites, Debrewerq and Debre Markos are the best and the worst sites, respectively, for large solar energy projects.

The climate of Surtsey

The first meteorological measurement in Surtsey were conducted before the eruption ended in 1967 and since 2009 there have been continous automatic measurements on the island. Here we give the first comprehensive analysis of the climate of Surtsey, based on these observations, and compare it to the climate at the two other stations in the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago, Vestmannaeyjabær and Stórhöfði. Surtsey experiences a relatively mild but windy climate, with monthly mean temperature above freezing during all calendar months and wind speed exceeding 20 m/s on average 30 days a year. Precipitation measurements are challenging but show, as expected, the summer months to be the driest and October to be both on average the wettest month but also the most variable month. The measurements show the climate of Surtsey to be similar to the climate of the other two stations in the archipelago with the largest difference in wind speed, where Vestamannaeyjabær is sheltered while at Stórhöfði strong winds are enhanced by the orography.

In situ airborne measurements of atmospheric and sea surface parameters related to offshore wind parks in the German Bight

Between 6 September 2016 and 15 October 2017, meteorological measurement flights were conducted above the German Bight in the framework of the project WIPAFF (Wind Park Far Field). The scope of the measurements was to study long-range wakes with an extent larger than 10 km behind entire wind parks, and to investigate the interaction of wind parks and the marine atmospheric boundary layer. The research aircraft Dornier 128 of the Technische Universität (TU) Braunschweig performed in total 41 measurement flights during different seasons and different stability conditions. The instrumentation consisted of a nose boom with sensors for measuring the wind vector, temperature and humidity, and additionally sensors for characterizing the water surface, a surface temperature sensor, a laser scanner and two cameras in the visible and infrared wavelength range. A detailed overview of the aircraft, sensors, data post-processing and flight patterns is provided here. Further, averaged profiles of atmospheric parameters illustrate the range of conditions. The potential use of the data set has been shown already by first publications. The data are publicly available in the world data centre PANGAEA (https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.902845; Bärfuss et al., 2019a).

Research on the Design and Implementation of Detection System of Nutz Framework Meteorological Metrical Device

In people's daily life, the role of weather forecast is self-evident. However, the accuracy of forecasting is based on the accuracy and reliability of meteorological data which depends on the sensitivity of meteorological device. Therefore, an important duty of the detection institution of meteorological metrical device is to have the effective detection of meteorological device, so as to ensure a high sensitivity of the device. However, the meteorological device used by some meteorological bureaus is not technologically advanced and the device detection mode is too old, which cannot meet the new regulations issued by the China Meteorological Administration. So it is necessary for the meteorological bureau to develop a set of devices that can easily meet the new meteorological measurement requirements, which is of great significance to ensure the accurate measurement of meteorological data.

Development of IoT Based Meteorological Measurement System

The atmospheric parameter sensing is pivotal in the forecasting of the weather. The meteorological parameters like temperature, humidity and pressure are measured with the usage of sensors. The DHT11 sensor is employed for measurement of humidity where as the BMP180 sensor is used for the monitoring of temperature and atmospheric pressure. The sensors are interfaced to NodeMCU ESP-32S module. The humidity sensor is interfaced with the single-wire two-way serial protocol and the pressure sensor is interfaced with the I2C protocol. The Arduino IDE is employed for scripting the software of the system. The developed prototype is connected to IoT with the help of inbuilt Wi-Fi module in the NodeMCU EPS-32S. The data collected is portrayed on a web page developed in the IDE. The system is compact and easy to use with its plug and play nature. The prototype can be deployed over various areas such as home automation, industries, healthcare centers.

In-situ airborne measurements of atmospheric and sea surface parameters related to offshore wind parks in the German Bight

Between 6 September 2016 and 15 October 2017, meteorological measurement flights were conducted above the German Bight in the framework of the project WIPAFF (Wind Park Far Field). The scope of the measurements was to investigate long-range wakes with extent larger than 10 km behind entire wind parks, and to investigate the interaction of wind parks and the marine atmospheric boundary layer. The research aircraft Dornier 128 of TU Braunschweig performed in total 41 measurement flights during different seasons and different stability conditions. The instrumentation consisted of a nose boom with sensors for measuring the wind vector, temperature and humidity, and additionally sensors for characterizing the water surface, a surface temperature sensor, a laser scanner, and two cameras in the visible and infrared wavelength range. A detailed overview of the aircraft, sensors, data post processing and flight patterns is provided here. Further, averaged profiles of atmospheric parameters illustrate the range of conditions. The potential use of the data set is shown by first publications. The data are publicly available in the world data center PANGAEA (https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.902845, Bärfuss et al., 2019).