2
Reliable, Accurate and Quality Information to Ensure Better Weather Monitoring and Study of Climatology [email protected] - www.adasasistemas.com Abstract The Meteorological Service of Catalonia (SMC) ( www.meteo.cat ) is responsible for managing weather observation and forecasting in Catalonia. These systems include the Automatic Weather Stations Network, integrated throughout the territory and which, at present, consists of 185 automatic weather stations (EMA). The EMA is an essential tool in the field of meteorology and climatology, and is also necessary for a wide variety of applications that require the data they generate. Some of these applications and most common thematic areas are weather monitoring, climate studies, snow study applications - for forecasting the risk of avalanches-, agrometeorological applications - as a support tool in farm management: irrigation, pests, diseases, etc.-, forest activities – for the periodic calculation of fire danger, or air quality control. The EMA does not require the presence of any observer, unlike manual weather stations, enabling installation in remote locations, as well as the possibility of taking records at a time when there may be hail, poor visibility, sleet or other adverse conditions. It also allows continuous data collection 24 hours a day, as this is objective data, without human intervention. “Thanks to the maintenance of the weather stations, SMC achieves a high percentatge of valid and quality data, very useful for climate studies and weather monitoring.” Provide the reliability, accuracy and quality of weather data is key to carry out optimum preventive and corrective maintenance. Specialised technical staff is responsible for carrying out this maintenance, for calibrating equipment and performing thorough quality control of the data. Ensure proper, continuous operation throughout the year and efficient time resolution of incidents are important objectives. The maintenance carried out at SMC weather stations guarantees a high percentage of valid and quality data, corroborating the quality of service they offer. The data generated by the automatic weather stations network are automatically posted to the website www.meteo.cat to be consulted by the public, in a quick and easy way.
