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		Davis Instruments Weather Club April 2000 ===== Here's a quick preview of this month's contents: ===== New! The Davis Weather Echo and Weather Echo Plus put your weather data where you want it...Wind chill vs. apparent temperature ... Davis stations and Space Sciences ...and Building an Education Network. Enjoy! ====== Davis: Welcome to Weather Echos ====== We've heard that many of you'd like to easier access to your weather data. Now, with our new Weather Echo, you can view the weather in as many locations as you'd like--all without running cables! Weather Echo is a compact wireless unit. It displays data from any Weather Monitor II or Weather Wizard II, II-S, or III. Setup is a snap -- just pop in the battery, set the station ID, and you're ready to go! For most installations, you'll also need to add ConsoleLink. It's a wireless transmitter that fits into the mounting base of your Weather Wizard or Weather Monitor. Like Echo, ConsoleLink is easy to install. Now, here's the really great part. Despite its small size, Weather Echo displays multiple weather conditions at the same time. No more pushing buttons to display outside temperature, then wind speed, then barometric pressure. With Weather Echo, you can see all these conditions--and more--on one screen. Weather Echo is available in two models--our standard Weather Echo and our Weather Echo Plus. For more information on these and on ConsoleLink, see http://www.davisnet.com/weather/products/weather_product.asp?pnum=07602. We're offering each of our new items at special introductory prices until June 15th. For Weather Club members only, we're also offering free shipping. If you order by phone (800 678 3669), just tell your customer service representative that you're taking us up on our e-newsletter offer. Or, if you order through our website, just write "Weather Club Member -- Free Shipping" in the special comments section of the shopping cart. ===== Fun Information: Wind chill vs. Apparent Temperature ===== During the winter, meteorologists often cite wind chill factor in addition to temperature. In the summer, we may hear about apparent temperature. What exactly is wind chill or apparent temperature? Where does wind chill end and apparent temperature begin? Basically wind chill and apparent temperature (also known as heat index) tell us what temperature our bodies are feeling. And surprisingly, neither index is very old. Antarctic explorers Paul Siple and Charles Passel developed the wind chill index in the 1940's. They measured the amount of time it took for a pan of water to freeze. From this, they developed a formula describing the rate of heat loss from human skin when exposed to wind. The resulting Wind Chill Index spans a temperature range of -135 degrees F to 91 degrees F (-93 degrees C to 33 degrees C). Apparent temperature applies to temperatures at or above 68 degrees F (20 degrees C). Two heat indexes are currently in use. The National Weather Service index was developed in 1979 using combinations of temperature and humidity. The US military relies on the older Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) index that combines three different temperature measurements. It was developed after the US Marine Corps suffered significant casualties due to heat stroke in early 1950's. In 1989, WBGT was suggested as an international standard, but it wasn't adopted. There is a push to implement one single year-around index incorporating wind, humidity, and sun for all air temperatures that would describe temperature as it "truly" feels like. However some people argue that indexes based on human sensation are nonscientific and thus should be abolished. In May, researchers will present various new indexes and will try to pursuade the U.S. National Weather Service to adopt these new formulations. We'll see what happens. For information on exercise and heat, see http://zunis.org. To calculate wind chill or the heat index, see http://www.srh.noaa.gov/FTPROOT/FFC/html/metcalc.htm. For wind chill and heat index in table form, see http://www.nws.mbay.net/glossary.html#Chill. ===== Cool Application: Berkeley Ground Station ===== "Space, the final frontier" sends us all dreaming about space travel. While few of us will ever ride a rocket, manned and unmanned spacecraft are constantly transmitting data to unravel the mysteries of space. These spacecraft require ground support stations to maintain contact and archive data. The Berkeley Mission and Science Operations Center in Berkeley, California is one such station. They recently installed a a 36 ft (11 m) antenna to receive data from a satellite studying solar flares. They also installed one of our Weather Monitor II's to keep track of wind speed at the site. When the wind speed reaches 35 mph, the antenna is automatically locked down, and the Space Emergency Response Team is notified. The Weather Monitor II is not alone. While it watches conditions outside, a Davis Perception watches conditions inside the facility, monitoring variations in temperature that might affect the station's sensitive computer system. We think it's pretty incredible that our products are contributing to space exploration in even a small way. To see pictures of the antenna installation and Weather Monitor II, see http://hessi.ssl.berkeley.edu/ground_systems/antenna_install.html. ===== Just for Fun: Building an Education Network ===== Praxis Software, a maker of high-end weather software used in broadcasting and large weather networks, has created an interface to our weather stations. As a way of spreading the word and building their educational network, they are offering their software for FREE to the first 100 qualified applicants. With this software, you will be able to add your data to the weather network, view weather information from other connected stations and place live weather data on your web page. To receive the free software, you must have a PC and a continuous connection to the Internet. Also, you'll need our WeatherLink, which makes the connection to their software possible. For more information, visit the Praxis website at www.praxsoft.com/edc.htm or contact Amy Boomershine at amyb@praxsoft.com.