3D Printed Weather Station
Kelly Sponberg,
The 3D-printed weather stations are a collaboration between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and USAID. Printers make most of the parts, which makes it easy to locally build replacement parts when something breaks. The stations include a , as well as radiation shielding to prevent sunlight from damaging the equipment. The information recorded by the sensors is sent to ultra-cheap computers. The computer will do some data analysis on the spot, and can be set up with a tablet to display the information for a station operator to see. The information can also be sent beyond the station for analysis by meteorologists elsewhere.
In a blog post discussing the project, USAID notes that commercial weather stations can . retail for almost $7000, and Columbia Weather Stations’ starts at $7020. Home weather stations can easily run from hundreds to thousands of dollars, and only when looking at toy weather stations do we consistently see cheaper prices than USAID’s $200 3D-printed units. (NOAA also has a for making a rudimentary DIY weather station from paper cups, pencils, and other home goods, by the way).
The technology will be demonstrated at the United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction this week. Last summer, researchers began testing the station in Boulder, Colorado, and since then they’ve been to the project. USAID plans to set up pilot studies in one or two countries before deploying it over a wider scale.
A low price combined with easy repair and simple data recording means these weather stations could greatly expand the ability to predict and prepare for natural disasters.