2021 is slowly passing by. Scrolling through the articles we’ve published throughout the year reflects the trends and challenges in the meteorological community. From new airport weather guidelines to innovative sensor technologies to deep dives on wind and solar radiation measurements – these are our five most read articles of 2021.
1. Hamburg Airport meets highest safety standard ICAO GRF with OTT HydroMet systems
A new guideline standardizes the assessment of runway conditions at airports. The international Global Reporting Format (ICAO GRF) helps pilots to better assess conditions on the runway. Hamburg Airport is the first German airport to meet the safety standard with an innovative solution from OTT HydroMet. In our most read article of 2021, we discuss the changes airports are facing and an easy-to-use solution to comply with ICAO GRF with little costs and effort.
2. An Introduction to our Optical Sensors Portfolio
Optical sensors convert rays of light to electronic signals which can be utilized by different measurement principles. They offer the possibility of contactless measurement and are easy to install. In our second most read blog post of 2021, we shared a guide covering our portfolio of optical sensors by Lufft. It includes the snow depth sensor SHM31, the ceilometers CHM 15k and CHM 8k, the visibility sensors VS20k and VS2k as well as the optical road weather sensors MARWIS and StaRWIS.
3. Spectral Selectivity vs. Spectral Error: Shedding Light on ISO 9060:2018
ISO 9060 is one of the most important standards for solar radiometers. In 2018, it underwent a remarkable update that brought significant changes on the classification of solar radiation measurement quality. At first glance, ISO 9060:2018 appears to be mainly a renaming of radiometer classification launched in the original version from 1990. But, as often, the devil is in the details and still causing a lot of confusion within the solar industry. In this article, we shed light on the update and explain the difference between the spectral selectivity and the newly introduced spectral error.
4. Retrofitting Caltrans’ Road Weather Stations using existing infrastructure
Already one year old but obviously still relevant is our story about retrofitting road weather stations in California. With winter approaching, road maintenance services prepare and check their equipment for the challenging season to come. Typical work consists of calibrating sensors and exchanging single modules, but after some years in operation, the whole station needs to be renewed. Caltrans, the California Department of Transportation, used this opportunity to choose devices and services from OTT HydroMet.
5. Wind gust measurement with Lufft Ventus and V200A
The fifth article is the oldie of this list. Dating back to early 2020, reliable measurement of wind speed and direction seems to be a topic of continuous interest. Facing increasing numbers of extreme weather events, understanding the impact of strong winds is crucial. Read in this article, what a gust of wind can do, how it is defined and how you can now measure gusts reliably and without additional accessories with the Lufft Ventus and Lufft V200A.
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Image credit: Ben White / Unsplash
