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KAUST Weather stations provide the exceptional value of being located within KAUST and as such providing a local weather data. HSE manages two commercial scientific grade weather stations that continuously monitor local weather conditions at KAUST. These stations use industry accepted practices for data collection, validation and overall QA/QC protocols.
KAUST is home to two weather stations; Island Weather Station and Oasis Weather Station.
| KAUST Weather Station 1 | KAUST Weather Station 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Data Monitoring | Continuous | Continuous |
| Manufacturer | mlu-recordum Environmental Monitoring Solutions GmbH | ThermoFisher and Chromatotec |
| Monitoring Capabilities | ||
| Ozone (O₃) |  |
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| Nitrogen Oxides (NO/NO₂/NOX) | |
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| Sulfur Dioxide (SO₂) | |
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| Hydrogen Sulfide (H₂S) | |
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| Carbon Mono oxide (CO) | |
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| Methane & Non-Methane Hydrocarbons | |
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| BTEX | |
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| Particulate Matter with 10 micron size or greater (PM₁₀) | |
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| Particulate Matter with 2.5 micron size (PM₂.₅) | |
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| Particulate Matter with 1 micron size or greater (PM₁) | |
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| Wind Speed | |
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| wind Direction | |
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| Temperature | |
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| Relative Humidity | |
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| Precipitation | |
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| Solar Irradiance | |
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| Air Pressure | |
Image adopted from vendor website (MLU-recordum) for illustration purpose
| MODULE | MEASUREMENT PRINCIPLE | DYNAMIC RANGE | PRECISION |
|---|---|---|---|
| CO Module | Nondispersive Infrared (NDIR) | up to 10.000ppm | +0.1 ppm |
| O₃ Module | Ultraviolet Photometry | up to 200ppm | 1ppb |
| NOx Module | Chemiluminescence | up to 20ppm | 1% of reading or 1 ppb (whichever is greater) |
| SO₂ Module | Ultraviolet Fluorescence | up to 10ppm | 1% of reading or 1 ppb (whichever is greater) |
| Particulate Matter | Nephelometry | up to 2500 µg/m³ | 1 µg/m³ |
| Meteorological sensors |
Includes the following sensors; Wind speed, wind direction, precipitation, Temperature, Relative Humidity, solar radiation |
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The wind meter uses 4 ultrasonic sensors which take measurements in all directions. This is used to determine net wind speed and direction.
The rainfall or precipitation sensor works with a 24GHz Doppler radar, which measures raindrop speed and calculates rainfall intensity.
Temperature is measured by way of a highly accurate NTC-resistor while humidity is measured using a capacitive humidity sensor. In order to keep the effects of external influences (e.g. solar radiation causing higher readings) as low as possible, these sensors are located in a ventilated housing with radiation protection. In contrast to conventional non-ventilated sensors, this allows significantly more accurate measurement during high radiation conditions ie. sunny days.
Solar radiation from the sun is measured by a pyranometer mounted in the top cover of the Smart Weather Sensor.
# Equipment details adopted from manufacturer manual. Average values displayed on the KAUST Weather webpage are transmitted from the Smart Weather Sensor every 15 minutes, and comprise the last 5 minutes of averaged data.
Gas Analyser inside the station
| MODULE | MEASUREMENT PRINCIPLE | DYNAMIC RANGE | PRECISION |
|---|---|---|---|
| CO Module | Gas filter correlation | 0-1 to 10,000ppm | +0.1 ppm |
| O₃ Module | Ultraviolet Photometric | 0-0.05 to 200ppm | 1ppb |
| NOx Module | Chemiluminescence | 0-0.05 to 100ppm | +/-0.4 ppb (500 ppb range) |
| SO₂ Module | Pulsed fluorescence | 0-0.05 to 100ppm | 1% of reading or 1 ppb (whichever is greater) |
| Particulate Matter (PM10, PM2.5) | Beta attenuation | 0 to 0.1 mg/m³ | ± 3.0 µg/m³ < 80 µg/m³; 4-5 µg/m³ > 80 µg/m³ (24-hour) |
| Particulate Matters (PM1) | Beta attenuation | 0 to 0.1 mg/m³ | ±2.0 µg/m³ < 80 µg/m³, 4-5 µg/m³ > 80 µg/m³ (24-hour average) |
| Methane & Non-Methane HC | back-flush gas chromatography | 0-5, 50, 500 ppm | 2.0% of reading or 50 ppb (whichever is larger) |
| BTEX | gas chromatography | 0.032 to 32.5 µg/m³ | Better than 2% over 48 h on 1 ppb (Concentration) |
The Thermo Scientific™ Model 48i Carbon Monoxide (CO) Analyzer utilizes gas filter correlation technology to measures the amount of carbon monoxide in the air. The Model 48i Analyzer is based on the principle that carbon monoxide (CO) absorbs infrared radiation at a wavelength of 4.6 microns. Because infrared absorption is a nonlinear measurement technique, it is necessary for the instrument electronics to transform the basic analyzer signal into a linear output.
This state-of-the-art gas analyzer offers features such as an Ethernet port as well as flash memory for increased data storage.
The Thermo Scientific™ Model 49i Ozone Analyzer utilizes UV Photometric technology to measure the amount of ozone in the air from ppb levels up to 200ppm. It is a dual cell photometer, the concept adopted by the NIST for the national ozone standard. Because the instrument has both sample and reference flowing at the same time, a response time of 20 seconds can be achieved.
The Thermo Scientific™ Model 42i NO-NO2-NOx Analyzer utilizes chemiluminescence technology to measure the amount of nitrogen oxides in the air from sub-ppb levels up to 100ppm. It is a single chamber, single photomultiplier tube design that cycles between the NO and NOx modes. The 42i Analyzer has independent outputs for NO, NO2 and NOx and each can be calibrated separately.
The Thermo Scientific™ Model 43i Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) Analyzer utilizes pulsed fluorescence technology to measure the amount of sulfur dioxide in the air up to 100 ppm. The pulsing of the U.V. source lamp serves to increase the optical intensity whereby a greater U.V. energy throughput and lower detectable SO2 concentration are realized.
The Thermo Scientific™ Model 5028i and Model 5014i Continuous Particulate Monitor uses beta attenuation technology in combination with the established iSeries platform design. A known volume of air is drawn through a size-selective inlet, which can be configured to measure PM-10, PM-2.5, PM-1 or TSP, and deposited onto the auto-advancing fi lter tape. The combined measurement of mass and air volume are used to obtain the mass concentration readings.
The Thermo Scientifi c™ Model 55i Methane & Non-Methane Analyzer is a back-fl ush gas chromatography (GC) system is designed for automated measurement of methane and nonmethane hydrocarbons. It provides a direct measurement of nonmethane concentrations. This allows accurate and precise measurement of low levels of non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHC), even in the presence of methane at much higher concentrations.
The BTEX analyzer is manufactured by Chromatotec. Using gas chromatography, the model airTOXIC BTX PID measures the amount of Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, Cyclohexane, Styrene, Oxylene and Xylenes in the air from sub-ppb levels up to 1,000 ppb.
