Measuring weather data with a self-build low-cost sensor

Citizens as voluntary weather observers have long contributed to weather and climate science. The density of the professional observation network is enriched by lay observations of weather phenomena and their impacts. Some statements about the impact of climate change on the environment and people would not be possible without them. A better public understanding is also particularly interesting in order to build up decision-relevant knowledge about climate change, as citizens not only gain key scientific insights, but also increase their understanding of the topic and gain a growing interest in the research process. 

In two projects in Germany  (in Brandenburg, within the FESSTVaL (Field Experiment on submesoscale spatio-temporal variability in Lindenberg) measurement campaign initiated by the Hans-Ertel-Center for Weather Research, and in Bavaria, in the KARE-Citizen Science  project), we use a weather station to be assembled by pupils as a participatory vehicle to increase interest in and understanding of weather and climate, as well as of weather forecasting, and to generate high resolution data for research. The pupils measure weather data such as temperature and precipitation with self-built weather stations out of a 3D-printer. They also report weather impacts such as observed damages. These data are evaluated in workshops involving the students, their teachers, local partners and scientists. Interesting meteorological phenomena were discovered in the dataset, e.g. a cold pool that can form during a thunderstorm and trigger new ones. Thus, our network of higher spatial and temporal resolution data collected by the pupils has the potential to study these small-scale phenomena in more detail than with professional networks of about 25 km spacing.