Purdue University uses weatherVIC to Analyze Cold Fronts

Portable weather station installed on top of a roof

Purdue Universitys Front Intercept Team (PUFIT) recently began work on a project to better understand the effects of the passage of cold fronts. The objective of this student group project was to collect data through a series of weather instruments placed throughout Indiana and Ohio.

The project sought to prove or disprove a list of hypotheses created by the Team, including the analysis of surface temperature and pressure gradients being directly proportional to surface wind speed and direction with the passage of a cold front.

The PUFIT team set up temporary weather stations at the following locations: Crown Point, IN; Muncie, IN; Indianapolis, IN; Vincennes, IN; and Dayton, OH. At each of these sites, a NexSens weatherVIC system was selected to simultaneously measure the weather parameters in question.

Using a laptop computer and NexSens weatherVIC software, data was collected during a three-week period from October 8, 2007 to October 30, 2007. The parameters recorded were wind direction (degree), wind speed (m/s), station pressure (hPa), air temperature (C), relative humidity (%), and total rainfall (mm).

At the end of the study, the weather data was brought back to Purdue University for further analysis. With this information, a detailed project report was created, and the results from the project are set to be presented at an upcoming American Meteorological Society meeting.

For more information on the latest in environmental data logging and software technology, contact Paul Nieberding at 937.426.2703.