Weather Station Inspection Logger
AWS/mesonet site checks — sensor condition, siting drift, radiation shield, rain gauge, power and data integrity; offline + GPS.
New weather station inspection
Site visits quarterly; rain-gauge cleaning monthly in leaf/dust seasons; calibration per sensor schedule (annually typical).
Field guide: Weather Station Inspection Logger
A weather station doesn't fail like a pump — it fails like a witness, drifting into confident falsehood: the dirty radiation shield that adds a degree to every afternoon, the half-clogged rain funnel that under-reports the storm that flooded the road, the anemometer bearing that retires the breeze below 2 m/s. Data consumers downstream (irrigation models, road-weather, climate records) inherit every untreated defect, which is why this logger pairs physical checks with a data-sanity comparison against neighboring stations — the cheapest calibration instrument that exists.
Siting drift is the career-length failure mode: the station was perfect in 2015, then the hedge grew, the lot next door got paved (urban heat bias arrives with the asphalt), and the sprinkler system started misting the hygrometer at 5 a.m. None of that appears in telemetry. WMO siting-class language gives the findings their vocabulary, and the GPS-pinned photo record builds the metadata trail climate-quality data demands.
Field tips
- Run the drip-bottle calibration on tipping buckets annually — field gauges drift 5–10% and nobody notices without the test.
- Photograph the horizon in 8 directions yearly from the sensor position; exposure change becomes measurable, not anecdotal.
- Check what the irrigation does at dawn — sprinkler-wetted sensors produce beautifully plausible wrong data.
Records are stored only in this browser (localStorage) — export regularly. This tool aids field documentation; it does not replace your agency's official inspection procedures or engineering judgment.
Weather Station Inspection Logger — AWS/mesonet site checks — sensor condition, siting drift, radiation shield, rain gauge, power and data integrity; offline + GPS. Free, offline-first and GPS-aware: open it on any phone, log in seconds, and hand your GIS team clean GeoJSON.
About Weather Station Inspection Logger
A weather station doesn't fail like a pump — it fails like a witness, drifting into confident falsehood: the dirty radiation shield that adds a degree to every afternoon, the half-clogged rain funnel that under-reports the storm that flooded the road, the anemometer bearing that retires the breeze below 2 m/s. Data consumers downstream (irrigation models, road-weather, climate records) inherit every untreated defect, which is why this logger pairs physical checks with a data-sanity comparison against neighboring stations — the cheapest calibration instrument that exists.
How to use Weather Station Inspection Logger
- 1Enter the station id and tap 📍 GPS to pin the weather station's exact location (or type coordinates).
- 2Work through the weather station checklist — every field matches what a real inspection program records.
- 3Pick a condition on the Data trustworthy / Maintenance item / Data suspect — flag / Station down ⚠ scale; actionable findings are tallied automatically.
- 4Add notes and log the inspection — it saves instantly to your device, even with zero signal.
- 5Export the round as CSV for your asset system, GeoJSON for the GIS, or print a clean report.
Why use Weather Station Inspection Logger?
- ✓100% free, no sign-up — built for crews, not per-seat licences
- ✓Offline-first: records save to your device instantly and survive dead zones
- ✓One-tap GPS tagging with accuracy capture on every record
- ✓Exports CSV for asset systems, GeoJSON for GIS, and print-ready reports
- ✓Checklist and guidance aligned with WMO Guide No. 8
Frequently asked questions
How much error does a dirty radiation shield cause?+
Naturally ventilated shields with dirty/degraded plates can read 0.5–2°C high in calm sun — enough to corrupt degree-day sums and frost warnings. Aspirated shields fail differently: a dead fan converts them to a worse-than-passive shield. Cleaning plates and verifying the aspirator is the highest-value 5 minutes at the site.
Why do rain gauges under-report?+
Partial funnel clogs delay and evaporate catch; sticky tipping mechanisms skip tips at high rates; off-level gauges bias systematically; wind exposure steals 5–20% (why shields exist at windy sites); and unheated gauges miss frozen precipitation entirely. The 'low vs radar/neighbors' sanity check catches what each visit's cleaning prevents.
What does WMO siting class mean?+
A 1–5 rating per sensor of how well the site meets exposure ideals (distance from obstacles/heat sources, surface type, fetch). Class drift — vegetation, construction, paving — is logged metadata, because a station's record is only interpretable alongside its siting history. Your photos-and-findings trail IS that history.
How is anemometer bearing wear detected?+
Starting threshold rises: the cups need more wind to begin turning, so calm periods stretch and low-wind statistics die quietly. Field check: spin by hand and listen, compare overnight calm percentage against a neighbor station. 'Suspiciously calm' in the data panel is usually this finding wearing a disguise.
Embed Weather Station Inspection Logger on your website
Want Weather Station Inspection Loggeron your own site? Paste this snippet into any HTML page — it's free, with no API key or sign-up. The tool loads in an iframe and keeps working exactly as it does here.
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