Sunshine is recorded with a simple, yet clever device, called a Campbell-Stokes recorder, the design of which goes back to 1879. In this device a glass sphere concentrates sunlight onto a card and the amount of scorching on the card records the amount of sunlight that had fallen on it.

What does the Campbell sunshine recorder measure?

The Casella Campbell Stokes Sunshine Recorder is manufactured to a design based on British Meteorological Office (BMO) specifications. It is designed to measure the duration of visible sunshine for one day and uses the intensity of the Sun’s rays to burn a trace on to a recording card.

What is the Campbell-Stokes recorder made of?

optical glass The sphere, made of well-annealed colourless optical glass is securely clamped on a semi-circular metal arc by means of two bosses attached precisely across a diameter and located by an adjusting screw onto the ball ended boss.

How does a Campbell sunshine recorder work?

A Campbell-Stokes sunshine recorder concentrates sunlight through a glass sphere onto a recording card placed at its focal point. The length of the burn trace left on the card represents the sunshine duration. … The focus shifts as the sun moves, and a burn trace is left on the recording card at the focal point.

What is the main advantage of sunshine recorder?

What is the main advantage of sunshine recorder? Explanation: The main advantage of a sunshine recorder is that it is inexpensive. However, it is less accurate as well. Also, it is not as sophisticated as pyranometers and pyrheliometers.

Where is a sunshine recorder placed at a weather station?

It is important to place the unit in an area where the sun will not be blocked by buildings, trees or flagpoles. A modification to the standard unit for polar regions is the addition of a second, north facing, sphere and card, to record the sunlight during the summer when it remains in the sky for 24 hours.

Which instrument is not used for solar radiation measurement?

Choose an instrument

MEASURAND INSTRUMENT
solar radiation on a tilted plane pyranometer
irradiance in the ‘plane of array’ pyranometer
direct solar radiation pyrheliometer on a solar tracker
diffuse solar radiation pyranometer, shaded

What does a sunshine recorder measure in units?

Units and scales The physical quantity of sunshine duration (SD) is, evidently, time. The units used are seconds or hours.

What is Sun duration?

If the Sun were to be above the horizon 50% of the time for a standard year consisting of 8,760 hours, apparent maximal daytime duration would be 4,380 hours for any point on Earth. However, there are physical and astronomical effects that change that picture.

Who made the sunshine recorder?

In 1853, John Francis Campbell devised the first sunshine recorder. Sir George Gabriel Stokes then modified it in 1879. Campbell devised the idea of a glass sphere filled with water to act as a lens to focus sunlight and scorch a wooden surface.

What is the instrument used to measure sunshine?

Campbell-Stokes sunshine recorders Sunshine is measured using either Campbell-Stokes sunshine recorders or modern sunshine sensors. A pyranometer is used for measuring global radiation.

What does a Solarimeter measure?

A solarimeter is a pyranometer, a type of measuring device used to measure combined direct and diffuse solar radiation. An integrating solarimeter measures energy developed from solar radiation based on the absorption of heat by a black body.

What does a sunshine recorder measure sunshine in?

sunshine duration A sunshine recorder is an instrument used to measure sunshine duration. The Campbell-Stokes recorder is used by observation stations worldwide before data is used by the Met Office and later accumulated in the MIDAS dataset.

Which cards used in winter season?

The short curved are used for winter season, long curved card for summer season and straight cards in equinoxes are used. … …

How do wet clothes laid on wired lines dry under sunlight?

How do wet clothes laid on wired lines dry under sunlight? … As the sun evaporates water from the clothes, moisture content in the surrounding air increases. Wind blows away this moisture saturated air and exposes to the clothes to fresh air and sunlight. The process repeats thereby drying the wet clothes over time.

What is the difference between a Pyrheliometer and pyranometer?

Where comes the difference between Pyrheliometer and the pyranometer? Pyrheliometer is for measuring direct sunbeam whereas pyranometer is for measuring diffused sunbeam.

What happens when solar radiation falls on the water bodies?

Reflection occurs when solar radiation simply bounces off the water 1. This reflection is due to water’s albedo, or reflectivity. The amount of sunlight reflected depends on the sun’s angle, wavelength, and weather conditions. Of the light that reaches the water’s surface, approximately 5-10% is reflected 1.

What do the burn marks show on the sunshine recorder?

Each day an observer slots a new card into the device. Later, the half-hour hash marks on the burned card are used to estimate the minutes of bright sunshine for that day. The observatory reports the number to the National Weather Service as a percentage of the time from sunup to sundown.

What does Oktas stand for?

In meteorology, an okta is a unit of measurement used to describe the amount of cloud cover at any given location such as a weather station. Sky conditions are estimated in terms of how many eighths of the sky are covered in cloud, ranging from 0 oktas (completely clear sky) through to 8 oktas (completely overcast).

What is a rain gauge used for?

A rain gauge basically collects water falling on it and records the change over time in the rainfall depth, which is usually expressed in mm. You can get much more detailed information with disdrometers.

How do you record solar radiation?

There are two important types of instruments to measure solar radiation:

  1. Pyrheliometer is used to measure direct beam radiation at normal incidence. There are different types of pyrheliometers. …
  2. Photoelectric sunshine recorder. The natural solar radiation is notoriously intermittent and varying in intensity.

What are the drawbacks of the solar cooker?

Disadvantages of solar cooker

How do you calculate solar radiation?

The solar declination angle varies from + 23.5 deg on summer solstice to -23.5 deg on winter solstice, and 0 deg on the vernal equinox and autumnal equinox. Solar insolation (I) can be calculated using the following formula: I = S cosZ.

How is sunshine recorder used?

A sunshine recorder is a meteorological instrument used for recording the amount of sunlight that a particular location receives throughout a day. … If the sky is clear, the paper is slowly burned as the sun moves across the sky. If there are clouds, the focused light will not be strong enough to burn the paper.

Which element of the weather would you measure with a hygrometer?

Hygrometer, instrument used in meteorological science to measure the humidity, or amount of water vapour in the air. Several major types of hygrometers are used to measure humidity.

What weather instrument is used to measure humidity?

hygrometer A hygrometer is another instrument used to measure weather. This instrument is used to measure humidity. It consists of two thermometers with a bulb in each of them.

Where on earth gets the most sunlight?

Yuma Yuma (USA) According to the World Meteorological Organization, Yuma (Arizona) is the sunniest place on earth. It has a total of 11 hours of sunlight in winter and up to 13 in summer. This means Yuma experiences an average of 4,015 hours of sunshine per year. At first this sounds fantastic.

How much sun do I get at my house?

How many sun hours your area gets can vary, but the average is around seven per day. You can use a solar radiation meter for a more accurate way to measure sun hours at your home.

What is the darkest day?

It’s the northern hemisphere’s shortest day and longest night, set to occur on Monday, December 21, 2020. This solstice occurs when the earth tilts on its axis, pulling the northern hemisphere away from direct sunlight.