Behrend

Station helps region keep a close watch on the weather

Erie, Pa. -- Like most other Americans, Lisa Harrington keeps a close watch on the weather, and for a practical reason. Her son, Michael, owner of Harrington Landscaping, does landscaping and snowplowing year-round, so she monitors the weather to see what he's going to face for the coming day.

She's a longtime administrative specialist in the School of Science at Penn State Erie, where WJET-TV weatherman Tom Atkins teaches meteorology, so Harrington's got an expert available to answer her weather questions, but she wanted more.

"I thought it would be neat for the students at Penn State Behrend to have their own weather station," said Harrington. Working with Atkins, the two came up with a plan to add a weather station to the School of Science, with information being downloaded to Harrington's computer for distribution. As a result, the college now shares the outside temperature, heat index, wind chill, humidity and other measurements with all three Erie television stations.

Why is there such a focus by Americans on the weather? "The weather is a safe topic," said Colleen Kelley, associate professor of communication. "It affects every person, but you don't get into any trouble discussing it. Weather is much more widely reported than it used to be, and it makes good drama." She agreed that technology plays a role, too.

"Because of the Internet, so much information on the weather is available to anyone any time of the day. And there's the Weather Channel. When Lisa wanted to place a weather station at Penn State Behrend, I thought it was an awesome idea. It's halfway up the hill to Interstate 90, so it's a great location," said Atkins.

"The technology for measuring weather has grown by leaps and bounds, too," he added. "I get information from more than 50 people in the tri-state area who have weather stations similar to the one at Penn State Behrend. When I get good data from a variety of sites, I get to know the climates of every area, resulting in a more reliable forecast." He said that his meteorology classes always are filled -- sometimes even overflowing -- with students, some looking for science credits, some with a real interest in weather and the environment and even a few who want to become weather forecasters.

Harrington said the School of Science purchased a solar-powered weather station that uses frequency-hopping, spread-spectrum, radio technology. The station transmits weather data wirelessly from its location on top of the college's Hammermill Building to a receiver in Harrington's office that registers barometric pressure, temperature, humidity, rainfall, wind speed, solar radiation, UV index and more. The data is downloaded regularly to Harrington's computer, and special software sends the information to the television stations hourly.

"The station was up and running Jan. 31, but like most newer technology, there were some bugs to be worked out," said Harrington.

As material is downloaded to Harrington's computer it is being placed in a database, which can be accessed by faculty in the School of Science to determine the best times for outside classes and labs.

"We would eventually like to have the weather station's information on the Penn State Behrend Web site," said Harrington. "With today's technology we can provide weather forecasting at the click of a mouse. This new weather station is great for our students and great for the community."

Last Updated March 20, 2009

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