It is tempting these days in meteorological education to skip over some “old fashioned” topics and get on to the “good stuff”. Even at the elementary level, it is tempting to forego basic instruction about weather instruments and measurements and instead jump onto the Web and browse the countless awesome sites. The fact remains, however, that data remain the central resource of any meteorologist. Forecasting, analysis, education, research and climate applications all rely on consistent, accurate and accessible data.
The collection of basic weather data such as temperature, precipitation, humidity and wind is largely taken for granted today. Students of all ages have come to expect to find data of all sorts instantly available free over the Internet and presented colorfully and creatively. But the reality is that data collection is not free, not easy, and data collection challenges that haunted conscientious weather observers during the 19th Century still have not been solved. For example, it remains surprisingly difficult to accurately measure precipitation in all weather conditions electronically without some human assistance. Typical weather stations used for educational purposes undermeasure heavy rains and hardly work at all for winter snows. The accuracy and representativeness of temperature measurements continue, as they always have, to be greatly affected by the exact location of the instruments, their height above ground, the type and condition of the radiation shield, and to a lesser extent, the type of thermometer. Pressure, humidity and wind have their own set of problems.
In this paper, examples of ongoing data collection challenges will be given. Students at all levels should be introduced to the fun and frustration of weather observing and the challenges that must be overcome to gather representative and useful data. Learning that even the simplest of measurements still require remarkable care and consistency is an important lesson in meteorology that applies equally well to any basic science.