Site Selection
DYACON Quick-start Guide
7.0 Site Selection
7.1 General Principles
If you are following this guide sequentially, you have probably placed your weather station in
the wrong location. However, the real geeks will read this before staking their tripod to the
ground and can now pat themselves on the back.
Weather station placement is dependent upon the role it will play. A weather station intended to
monitor an outdoor storage facility will be placed differently than one intended for
meteorological, aviation, or agricultural purposes.
Wind
While the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) specifies a height of 10 m, many
installations do not require this height.
Shrubs, trees, terrain, and structures will cause turbulent conditions that will affect the measured
wind speed and direction. Depending on the application, it may or may not be desirable to
measure this condition.
The wind sensor should be positioned at a height above the ground that captures the wind
exposure of the critical asset. For example, agricultural growers may chose to place the wind
sensor at a height that represents the crop exposure.
Aviation applications have unique requirements, see the Airport Siting section.
Air Temperature
Installers should recognize that radiant or reflected energy sources will affect the temperature
sensor. Buildings, roofs, ground surface, vegetation, and water ways will affect the measured
temperature.
The WMO standard for temperature and humidity measurements is 2 m above the ground
surface.
Similar to wind, the temperature sensor should be placed to capture the conditions of the desired
asset.
Locations that must measure still air while exposed to the sun or other radiating sources may
benefit from Dyacon's aspirator option. The aspirator is available as an upgrade kit.
Soil and Liquid
Soil temperature and soil moisture probes are placed at the desired depth for the purpose.
Measurements of seed germination characteristics would require different depths than irrigation
monitoring or seepage detection.
Dyacon's stainless steel temperature probe may be used for liquid submersion and surface
contact applications, such as evaporation ponds, watering troughs, and surface temperature.
Insolation
Solar sensors are typically positioned to capture unimpeded sunlight. This type of placement
may be appropriate for modeling solar power generation. However, other application may
require sensor placement within a shaded area, such as within the canopy of a crop.
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