Vaisala News174 / 2007

Urban air quality - A signiﬁ cant threat to human health? Going back in time - Upper-air observations in Antarctica in 1969 Vaisala AviMet® - Weather at your service Seeing is believing - Vaisala weather camera service pilots Contents Vaisala in Brief – We develop, manufacture 3 Where there’s a will, there’s a way and market products and services for environmental and 4 Urban air quality industrial measurements.

8 Dr. Walter F. Dabberdt wins the – e purpose of these measurements is to provide a post of AMS President-Elect basis for a better quality of life, cost savings, environmental 9 Going back in time protection, improved safety

Urban air pollution poses a signi - ® and better performance. cant threat to human health, the 12 Vaisala AviMet – Weather at your service environment and the quality of life – We focus on market seg- 14 In a (hydro)class of its own of millions of people in some of the ments where we can be the world’s largest cities. Page 4 world leader, the preferred 17 Professor David Schultz is a supplier. We put a high pri- mesoscale meteorology expert ority on customer satisfac- tion and product leadership. 18 Power station facelift We secure our competitive advantage through econo- 20 “Casablanca-style” mies of scale and scope. 22 This is rocket science

Johan van der Merwe looks back to 24 Seeing is believing Cover photo: his experiences in Antarctica in 1969. Shutterstock® Page 9 26 With experience comes perspective Editor-in-Chief: 27 Wind measurement for the pros Marikka Metso 28 Brieﬂ y noted Publisher: Vaisala Oyj P.O. Box 26 FI-00421 Helsinki FINLAND

Phone (int.): Vaisala has started a pilot weather + 358 9 894 91 camera service with its rst pilot customers. e service consists of high resolution picture and Telefax: weather information delivered to the + 358 9 8949 2227 customer’s Internet site. Page 24

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2 | Vaisala News 174 / 2 0 07 Vaisala equipment is at the center stage center the at Vaisala is equipment America, and the list continues. One One continues. list the and America, As I’m writing this, the fourth assessment Understanding climate ofchange part is Where there’s a will, there’s away Levels of particles and substances detri- substances and particles of Levels u tee s uh oe i te air”. the “in more much is there But in Asia, heat waves inin EuropeAsia, and North n eea lctos Mntrn and Monitoring locations. several in here. We provide the means for the experts mental mental to health are far too high at times the are time of periods long over ments to accept. it’s“Anargue Truth” might Inconvenient the major force behind climate change. climate behind force major the to accurately assess what is happening. is what assess accurately to foundation foundation for observing climate change. report of the Intergovernmental Panel Intergovernmental the of report long, long, from droughts in Africa to flooding levels are rising. levels released. released. The previous report stated that predicted, glaciers are melting and sea and melting are glaciers predicted, pretty grim reading. The list of effects is effects of list The reading. pretty grim quences of climate change. It makes for makes It change. climate of quences on Climate Change has (IPCC) just been our mission statement. global global warming is happening faster than The new report deals with the conse- the with deals report new The cuae n cmaal measure comparable and Accurate Greenhouse gases are believed to be be to believed are gases Greenhouse - - and London is certainly not the most the not certainly is London and - weather information in terms of time time of terms in information weather variations, and people are getting more getting are people and variations, is involved in air quality matters, please please matters,quality air in involved is information. in the IPCC. Air quality is perhaps more perhaps quality Airis IPCC. the in health. On a day-to-day level, weather is is weather day-to-daya On level, health. best possible tools tobest possible tools help address these to the Economist magazine, foul air kills According pollution. of levels critical to them. polluted city in the world. citypolluted world. in the for vital preserving health and becoming avoiding exposure is quality air predicting n pae W blee ht i quality air that believe We place. and at Vaisalaat the hard provide to very work affecting air qualitygreat to a extent. on effects its about conscious more and n vrf te at, n t at upon act to and facts, the verify and challenges. Let’s join forces to establish to forces join Let’s challenges. aa hud e noprtd n this in incorporated be should data easy to perceive, due to its drastic local local drastic its to due perceive, to easy co-operation UN-based the hence enon, see Dr. Talvitie’sDr.We see issue. this in article seeks seeks to enable the use of more accurate annually London in people 1,000 some Vaisala’s precision weather effort effort weather precision Vaisala’s If you would like to know how Vaisala - phenom global a is change Climate n Kjell Forsén CEO 174 / 2007 News Vaisala | 3

President’s column Hannu Talvitie Research Manager Vaisala Helsinki, Finland Urban air quality – A signiﬁ cant threat to human health?

Urban air pollution poses a signifi cant the risks that air pollution poses to their diseases. According to the World Bank, threat to human health, the environment citizens. every year an estimated 800,000 people and the quality of life of millions of people On the other hand, such countries die prematurely from lung cancer, in some of the world’s largest cities. (e.g., still face the problem of polluted air even cardiovascular and respiratory diseases New Delhi, Hong Kong, Beijing, Jakarta, though air quality has been improving caused by outdoor air pollution. In Hong Los Angeles and Mexico City). Urbaniza- gradually over the last two decades. For Kong, for example, it is estimated that tion and the associated growth in indus- example, many large cities in Europe still by improving the air quality from the trialization and traﬃ c have resulted in exceed the specifi c air quality standards existing “average” level to “good” level, the increase of air pollution in densely for ambient pollutants. Th e Helsinki 64,000 hospital days would be saved. populated areas, causing deterioration metropolitan area in Finland, for example, Th ese severe health eff ects are the in air quality. Many cities will need to is one of the cleanest cities in Europe but reason that most countries have already take action to enhance their institutional still the daily limits are exceeded every taken preventative measures to limit and technical capabilities to monitor year. emissions and set limits (called standards) and control air quality and implement for urban air pollutants. City authorities preventive actions in order to reduce How can air pollutants focus on eff orts to reduce emissions and affect human health? monitor levels of air pollutants. A number of epidemiological studies have shown that ambient air pollutants, espe- What are the main cially fi ne and ultra fi ne particulates, pollutants in urban air? have an adverse eff ect on human Scientists have defi ned the main air health. Th is is due to the fact pollutants that pose a health risk for that these tiny particulates humans in urban areas. Th ese pollutants can penetrate deep into are: inhalable particulates (PM10) and the lungs and even be fi ne particulates (PM2.5), nitrogen oxides dissolved in the blood. (NOx), sulphur dioxide (SO₂), ozone (O₃), Th e health eff ects can be carbon monoxide (CO), and lead (Pd). especially hazardous for For each of these pollutants, the World sensitive groups, like Health Organization has defi ned air children, senior citi- quality guidelines for protection against zens, and people with harmful health eff ects. Th e guidelines asthma, obstructive defi ne the specifi c limits or concentra- lung disease (chronic tions that should not be exceeded. Coun- obstructive pulmo- tries often have their own standards that nary disease are similar but the specifi c levels can vary - COPD), and slightly. cardiovascular To measure air quality, networks of monitors record the concentrations of the major pollutants at more than 3,000 locations in the world each day, mostly in developed countries. Th ese raw measurements are then converted into Air Quality

City authorities focus on e orts to reduce emissions and monitor levels of air pollutants.

4 | Vaisala News 174 / 2 0 07 800 1000 700 900

600 800 700 500 600 400 500 300 400 Altitude (meters) 200 300 200 100 100 0 00 06 12 18 24 Figure 1. Th is picture shows a 1-day measurement of aerosol profi le using the Vaisala Ceilometer CL31 on Nov 22, 2005, in the Helsinki area, Finland. During this day there was a strong inversion that lasted almost the whole day. A high concentration of low level aerosols (particulates from traﬃ c) can be seen below 100 m, increasing rapidly after 7:30 in the morning.

Index (AQI) values. Th e AQI has been to remove it in energy production are that are diff erent from those formed in developed to make it easier for people available and already in common use in burning processes. to understand the signifi cance of moni- most developed countries. (Note: carbon tored and forecast air pollution levels. It dioxide is not counted as a pollutant but How does weather focuses on health eff ects that can take the main greenhouse gas.) affect air quality? place within a few hours or days after Pollution from traffic consists of Changes in day-to-day weather are the breathing polluted air. particulate matter, NOx, CO, volatile greatest factor in controlling the changes An AQI value is calculated for each organic compounds (VOCs), and also in air quality. Weather determines how of the individual pollutants in an area other compounds in small amounts, quickly pollutants are dispersed away (ground-level particulate matter, carbon like polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). from an area and also the thickness of monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen Lead emission from traﬃ c has reduced the atmospheric layer (called the mixing dioxide, and ozone). Th e pollutant with dramatically after moving to unleaded height) where the emissions are diluted the highest AQI is used as the overall AQI fuels. Particulates come from the exhaust in a vertical direction. Normally, pollut- reading for that day and is listed as the emissions, especially from diesel engines, ants are mixed with the help of convec- principal pollutant. but also from dust and dirt from roads tion or blown away by wind from their Various agencies around the world and tires. Other fi ne particulates are sources without building up to unsafe measure such indices, though defi ni- formed by chemical reactions in the amounts. But the pollutants can also be tions may vary. Th e index is defi ned so atmosphere. Formation of ozone (O₃) in trapped close to the surface. Th ey cannot that it gives a value of 100 at the specifi c urban areas is mainly caused by traﬃ c escape, and after a while they may build value of each pollutant. Th e United States pollutants in a photochemical reaction up to unhealthy levels. Th is trapping can Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with UV radiation from the sun. happen when winds are weak or calm, has determined the AQI scale and health Some of the pollutants also come and when the air close to the ground cools classifi cation as: from natural sources. For example, forest down and warm air moves over, creating fi res emit particulates and VOCs into the a stable condition that keeps pollutants

301 – 500 Hazardous Maroon atmosphere. Volcanoes spew out sulfur close to the surface. Th ese so-called inver- dioxide and large amounts of volcanic sions frequently occur on clear nights. 201 – 300 Very unhealthy Purple ash. Sand storms can also mix particu- Poor air quality can also result from 151 – 200 Unhealthy Red lates into the air from the underlying summer heat. In hot, sunny weather 101 – 150 Unhealthy for sensitive groups Orange ground surface. Vegetation emits VOCs photochemical smog can form 

51 – 100 Moderate Yellow

0 – 50 Good Green Particulate Matter (PM) can be divided into four size classes: 1. Large particulates are over 10 microns (>10 µm) in diameter. What are the main 2. PM10 — Particulates under 10 microns (0 – 10 µm) can be inhaled below sources of emission? the nasopharynx area (nose and mouth) and are thus called inhalable Most air pollution comes from human particulates (PM10). activities: burning either fossil fuels (coal, 3. PM2.5 — Particulates that are under 2.5 microns (0 – 2.5 µm) are called oil or natural gas) to power motor vehi- fi ne particulates (PM2.5) and they travel down below the tracheobron- cles and industrial processes, or burning chial region (into the lungs). of biomass to heat houses or produce 4. UFP — Th e smallest particulates are under 0.1 microns (0 – 0.1 µm) and energy. Th e burning processes release are called ultra fi ne particulates (UFP). Th ey can travel in the deepest particulate matter, carbon monoxide, parts of lungs and be dissolved into blood. carbon dioxide (CO₂) and partially burnt hydrocarbon compounds into the atmo- Th e most hazardous size classes to humans are PM2.5 and UFP as they pene- sphere. Depending on the origin of the fuel, trate into the lungs and can even be dissolved into the blood. SO₂ concentrations released in combus- tion vary considerably. Technologies

174 / 2007 Vaisala News | 5 Altitude (Meters) 400

300

200

100 Warmer air Inversion layer

Cooler air 0 –20°C 0°C +20°C Temperature through complex chemical reactions tasks is to get more dense and accurate Vaisala radiosondes off er the highest involving NOx, O₃ and VOCs. Photochem- observation data on the mixing height level of temperature, humidity and wind ical smog has a light brown color and can across urban areas to better determine measurement performance for synoptic reduce visibility and aff ect breathing. the air volume where the surface pollut- soundings all over the world. Th ere are Wind can also transport pollution ants are mixed. also special sensor options to measure over long distances. For example, in the Modern air quality models can take ozone and radioactivity profi les in the Helsinki metropolitan area, more than half a variety of data as input: inventory and atmosphere. of the fi ne particulates (PM2.5) are trans- models of emission sources, local disper- Vaisala’s boundary layer profi ler uses ported from outside the country, mainly sion and mixing, weather model and fore- radio frequency (RF) Doppler technique from Central and Eastern Europe. cast, long-range transportation of pollution, to provide continuous data on wind Air pollutions are fi nally washed out chemical reactions and deposition. speed and direction at diff erent alti- of the sky by rain, fog or snow. Th is is tudes up to several kilometers. With an called “wet deposition”. When air pollu- What does Vaisala offer? optional acoustic system (Radio Acoustic tions deposit without the benefi t of rain, Th e major needs for atmospheric weather Sounding System, RASS), it can also it is called “dry deposition”. parameters for air quality forecasting measure the virtual temperature profi le include both surface and vertical profi le that can be used to determine stability How can air quality be measurements. Th e main parameters are conditions. Th e RF signal (intensity and estimated and forecast? wind speed and direction, turbulence, spectrum) can also be used to determine Air quality can today be forecast for a vertical wind and temperature profi les the mixing height as turbulent structure few days based on the weather forecast (to determine the layered atmospheric at the top of the mixed layer provides and a corresponding “chemical transport” air structure), visibility, cloud height and higher refl ectivity and a broader spec- model. Unfortunately the normal weather cover, rain, and solar radiation. trum for the RF signal. forecasts do not fully serve the needs of Vaisala can offer the latest tech- Measurements near the surface level air quality forecasting. Measuring and nology for the measurement of atmo- are also essential to estimate, for example, forecasting atmospheric conditions is spheric weather conditions relevant to mixing and transport of surface emis- critical for understanding the forma- the air quality estimation, dispersion and sions. Vaisala off ers a number of instru- tion, transformation, dispersion, trans- forecasting. Th e instruments include: ments to measure the principal weather port, and removal of the pollutants. More radiosondes, boundary layer profi lers, parameters, like wind, temperature, specifi c data on atmospheric conditions ceilometers, wind sensors and a number humidity, pressure and rain. All these is needed for better forecasts. One of the of surface weather sensors and stations. parameters are also packed into a single

6 | Vaisala News 174 / 2 0 07 IIASA - RAINS 7.5 120

112

104

48 instrument, the Vaisala Weather Trans- 0 mitter WXT510, which offers a compact 40 1 2 solution for the purpose. In some areas, 4 32 visibility is used as an indicator for the 6 air quality. Vaisala has an optical visibility 9 24 12 DENAT_C sensor suitable for this purpose. 36 Ceilometers are designed 16 for the measurement of cloud 8 height and cover utilizing optical lidar technique (light detection and 0 ranging). These devices, however, have also turned out to be outstanding for air quality measurement purposes due to the principle of measure- 10 ment.Uni Theyt: measure optical scattering of aerosols and ice crystals to see the clouds. 20 As the performance and sensitivity has

increased 0over.00 the years, 30 they can also measure 1 .the00 low levels of pollutant aero- 2.00 sols - particulate matter. 4 0 This can be 4.00 used 6.00 to determine the real profile and 9.00 05/04/06 50 mixing height of theno aerosols.short descrip Thetion: NoVaisala full desc ription of a file 12.00Ceilometer CL31 has been successfully 36.00 used for this purpose to provide impor 60 - Loss in statistical life expectancy that can be attributed to the identified anthropogenic tant continuous data on the hour-to-hour contribution to PM2.5 (months), for the emissions of the year 2000. Calculation results for the and day-to-day variation of the aerosol 7meteorological0 conditions of 1997. Source IIASA. profile. In addition to supplying a variety 80 of instruments, Vaisala can also offer atmosphere can also be calculated from national meteorological institutes to

weather observation network solutions the vertical 90 temperature gradient. The improve their estimations, forecasts and services to support the needs for air dense network also includes five Vaisala and warnings on air quality for decision- quality monitoring and forecasting. ceilometers that100 measure the aerosol makers and the public. The most impor- Vaisala has built a dense observation profile and mixing height. The aim is tant users of air quality information are network in the Helsinki metropolitan to use this dense data11 0set for air quality the sensitive groups who can avoid bad . area in collaboration with the Finnish modeling to improve the real-time esti- outdoor air and take precautions in Meteorological Institute. Its goal is to mation and forecasting of12 0 spatial and advance. Good overall estimates of urban serve the purpose of air quality measure- temporal variations in air quality. air pollution - identification of sources, ment, among many other applications. effects on mixing, transformation and This Helsinki Testbed observation What to do with the transportation - help in making decisions network (http:\\testbed.fmi.fi) is based on air quality information to control air quality and implement a number of mast measurements using and forecasts? preventive actions to reduce emissions. Vaisala Weather Transmitters WXT510 Vaisala, as a weather observation equip- Everyday choices we make, about how at several altitudes. In addition to wind ment and solutions provider, can provide we get to work, how we heat our homes, profile information near the surface, real-time observation instruments and and what we consume, for example, all the vertical mixing conditions of the systems for air quality agencies and influence air quality in our region. n

Table 1. Candidate meteorological observing systems for dispersion applications

Dispersion variables Meteorological variables (not all required; algorithm dependent) Candidate measurement systems Transport Three-dimensional fields of wind speed and wind direction Profilers; Doppler weather radar; RAOBs; aircraft; tethersonde; Doppler lidar Diffusion Turbulence; wind speed variance;wind direction variance; stability; lapse 3D sonic anemometers; cup & vane anemometers; RAOBs; profilers; rate; mixing height; surface roughness RASS; scanning microwave radiometer (maybe); tethersonde Stability Temperature gradient; heat flux; cloud cover; insolation or net radiation Towers; ceilometers; profiler/RASS; RAOBs; aircraft; tethersonde; net radiometers; pyranometers; pyrgemeters Deposition, wet Precipitation rate; phase; size distripution Weather radar (polarimetric); cloud radar; profilers Deposition, dry Turbulence; surface roughness See turbulance Plume rise Wind speed; temperature profile; mixing height; stability Profilers/RASS; RAOBs; lidar; ceilometer; tethersonde; aircraft

RAOB – rawinsonde observation RASS – radio acoustic sounding system Source: Advances in meteorological instrumentation for air quality and emergency response, W. F. Dabberdt, G. L. Frederick, R. M. Hardesty, W.-C. Lee, and K. Underwood. Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics (2004).

174 / 2007 Vaisala News | 7 Marikka Metso Editor-in-Chief Vaisala Helsinki, Finland

Dr. Walter F. Dabberdt wins the post of AMS President-Elect

Vaisala is proud to announce that 15 years at Stanford Research Insti- e sub-themes under the Urban Weather Dr. Walter F. Dabberdt, better known tute (now SRI International) as Senior and Climate umbrella include: as Walt among his colleagues at Vaisala, Research Meteorologist and another 15 ● Measurements in the urban has won the post of AMS President- years at e National Center for Atmo- environment Elect. The American Meteorological spheric Research (NCAR) as Scientist, ● Modeling and forecasting for urban Society’s leadership position is a four- Facility Manager, and Associate Director. areas year commitment, including year 2007 Most recently, Walt has spent just over ● Observations/studies of high-impact as President-Elect, 2008 as President, six years as the Director of Strategic weather in urban environments 2009 as First Past President, and 2010 as Research for Vaisala. He serves on and ● Geographical-induced e ects on Second Past President. e AMS Presi- chairs numerous national and interna- urban weather and climate dent serves as Chair of the AMS Council tional committees and boards and has ● Human and environmental impacts and its Executive Committee, which contributed to various scienti c publi- (on, by and/or in the city) function as the governing body of the cations, most recently the 2007 UN book ● Urban implications of climate 13,000-member Society. Elements for Life. change and population growth The duties and functions of the AMS President are many. ey include President’s theme for the “In many ways, we are experiencing a numerous committee and board meet- AMS 2009 Annual Meeting golden age for the atmospheric sciences. ings, participation in the Annual Meeting Walt has chosen Urban Weather and An evolving global atmospheric observing Oversight Committee, selection of the Climate as the theme for the 89th system has been created, and prediction recipients of various Graduate Fellow- AMS Annual Meeting, which will be models have become increasingly skillful. ships and Awards, nomination and held January 11 – 15, 2009, in Phoenix, Measurement applications and tools appointment of candidates to many Arizona. “Recent events like Katrina, are becoming more and more sophis- prestigious roles and awards, and plan- urban oods in Europe, heat waves ticated. While recognizing how much ning the theme and organization of the in London and Chicago, to name only has been achieved, we need to concen- Annual Meeting held at the end of his a few, point out the vulnerability of trate our e orts on unmet needs and year as President, to name but a few. urban populations to high impact opportunities.” Walt’s merits in the eld of meteo- weather. Furthermore, climate change “As important as weather observa- rology are impressive. He received his and population projections suggest tions and forecasts are today, they will B.S. from the State University of New that urban vulnerabilities are likely to be even more critical in the future, as York Maritime College and his M.S. and increase in the future. ese issues call urban population growth contributes to Ph.D. (meteorology) from the Univer- for special attention from the interna- changes in global and regional climates,” sity of Wisconsin-Madison. He spent tional community,” says Walt. says Walt. ■

8 | Vaisala News 174 / 2 0 07 Johan van der Merwe just in from a snow storm. The orange Johan van der Merwe goggles were supposed to improve vision but didn’t make much Antarctica, Islands & Drifting Weather Buoys of a difference – with or without them he could see nothing. South African Weather Service Pretoria, South Africa

Going back in time Upper-air observations in Antarctica in 1969

I was one of three meteorologists in the had sufficient balloons for a month. Even There are probably not tenth South African team to Antarctica today, almost 50 years later, the same in 1969. Our base was on the ice shelf problem persists; we always seem to have many readers who in Queen Maud land, at about 70S and a shortage of radiosondes. remember the lengthy 01W. The base was 12 meters below the We used the (then) new transistorized surface because of the accumulation of Vaisala RS13 radiosondes and were very preparation procedure for snow. As South Africa is generally a hot proud that we were not using RS12s with radiosondes in those days. and dry place, living on ice for a year with old-fashioned valves any more. temperatures down to –50C was a new calibration curve. Calibration curves for and fascinating experience for us. We Not for the impatient pressure and temperature were provided were enchanted by ice bergs, penguins, Pressure, temperature and humidity were by the factory. After at least two tests for aurora, crevasses, overland expeditions, recorded by a Vaisala AR13 receiver. pressure and temperature, a scale was going out with the huskies, blizzards, There are probably not many readers drawn on the plotting aerogramme for and so forth. As meteorologists, our task who remember the lengthy preparation the three (PTU) elements. Each instru- was obviously to make meteorological procedure for radiosondes in those days. ment had its individual aerogramme on observations. A few days before the release, the humidity which the data was plotted, and where We carried out routine surface obser- hair element had to be conditioned by all the computations were made during vations, and an upper-air sounding every placing a damp cap over the humidity the sounding. night at 00:00Z. Upper-air observations sensor. Then the sensor was repeatedly Winds were received by an RT16 radio made by our first team on the ice in tested in a mixing hygrostat at different theodolite. The less said about this – the 1959 got off to a bad start – they only percentages of humidity to obtain a better. The RT16 had a small CRT 

174 / 2007 Vaisala News | 9 Looking from the bottom 12 m up to the science hatch. screen with a flashing circle which had to chips into the generator, and slowly and welding. When the mechanics be tuned until it was flat and quadrants fed some water into the monster. This fixed things in the cold, sparks usually were plotted and, well, make one mistake usually produced hydrogen which filled flew around with great abundance. Just and you struggled for the rest of the the balloon. When the balloon reached outside the door of the balloon room were night. Sometimes winds were recorded the required filling weight, the mixture 400 drums, which contained the base’s by optical theodolite observations, but inside the generator was simply dumped supply of diesel. All this while there was this was not really a feasible option. One on the ice through a hole in the floor. The an active chemical reaction producing could not stand outside, track a balloon still active and very hot mixture would hydrogen into the atmosphere - and we and write down azimuth and elevation simply melt a hole for itself into the ice – were concerned about crossing crevasses every minute for very long. And we could still producing hydrogen on its way down. on field expeditions... only track the balloon optically during This hole in the ice never filled up. One of Second and third soundings provided the few summer months when it wasn’t the observers said that it will eventually exciting times because then the gener- dark at night. melt through 200m of ice to the sea below ator was hot and the reaction took place and we will be able to catch fresh fish in very quickly, with a very fast increase in Safety officers’ nightmare the balloon room every morning. pressure inside the tank. Happily – and Our balloon room was a grotto which Now; enter Mr. Safety inspector. He miraculously – there was never a serious would have made the hair of any self-re- would have found no “Danger Hydrogen incident. specting safety officer stand up straight. Flammable” or “No open flame” notices. This situation was rectified when The balloon room was also about 12m There was a fire extinguisher which did a new base was built in the late 1970s. below the surface, just like the rest of not work because it was frozen. There The upper-air facility was then made a the base. The temperature inside varied was no first aid kit, and it never occurred stand-alone building away from the main between –10C to –15C. to us to use protective gloves or goggles. buildings of the base. Just as well - just Hydrogen was produced by a low pres- Nor was there any fire alarm. We did not before this base was due to be decommis- sure hydrogen generator. About an hour even know of the existence of a hydrogen sioned in the late 1990s, static between before launch we had to check that there alarm. the observers’ anorak and the balloon was water available and that the water Heat for the balloon room was caused an explosion. The 20-year-old pipes were not frozen. The balloon was provided by a ventilator from the gener- walls of the balloon room simply folded soaked in a bucket with warm diesel, ator room right next to the balloon room. outwards, and the roof went through with the belief that it would make the So air containing hydrogen could move the hole in the ozone – it was never seen rubber soft and pliable, and hopefully freely between the two rooms. The diesel again. The observer was protected from achieve better heights. We poured a mechanics next door, as we know, love to the flames by his protective Antarctic mixture of caustic soda and aluminum do things that make sparks like grinding clothing. The only injury he suffered

10 | Vaisala News 174 / 2 0 07 was that his year’s growth of beard was instantly burnt away. Releasing the precious balloon But returning to 1969, and the fi lling of the balloon: with the balloon now fi lled, it required three people to get it and the attached radiosonde into the air in one piece. One guy was down below inside the balloon room and he would slowly let it rise attached to a string up the 12m high shaft. Th e top of the shaft was covered by two large horizontal sliding doors which had to be opened manually. Outside, one guy would take control of the balloon and the other would take the radiosonde. Meantime, the person at the bottom would rush to the met offi ce to check the signals and start the receivers when the balloon was released. After releasing the balloon, the two guys outside had to shut the sliding doors properly, otherwise the whole shaft could Th e AR13 receiver, ground check test chamber and PTU plotting table. have fi lled with snow. Th at’s a mistake you don’t want to make. Th e RS13s had, I believe, a 12 meter antenna, which made launches in strong winds a very chancy business. When winds reached 35 – 40 knots we did not even try. Th e balloon would simply stay low and our precious radiosonde would be destroyed against the sastrugis. Careful manual work Two guys were needed to carry out the sounding, one to track and calculate PTU and the other for tracking and calculating winds. Th ey tracked, plotted and calculated all the values by hand and by using various slide rules and tables. Th en, when the balloon burst and the calcula- tions were done, the two guys changed positions – each one checked the calcu- lations of the other. Th e upper-air codes were also compiled manually and it was typed on a telex paper punch tape to be sent out during the next radio schedule. Th e duration of the sounding from release until coff ee time was a very busy two hours. The average heights we achieved Our balloon room with hydrogen generator. varied between 22 hPa in summer, drop- ping to 76 hPa in winter, which was better than most of the other nine South African upper-air stations at the time. Compared to what we had in 1969, the modern upper-air receivers and radiosondes are a joy to use. But what great memories and stories have the old nuisances provided me with! ■

174 / 2 0 07 Vaisala News | 11 Hannu Katajamäki Business Unit Manager

and

Katri Heikkilä Marketing Specialist Vaisala Helsinki, Finland

Vaisala AviMet® – Weather at your service safety is the key priority in aviation. that planes can take off and land safely Accurate weather information is vital in in various weather conditions. ensuring the safety of airport operations. With the ongoing increase in air traffi c, Properly managed weather information airports are under pressure to enhance can also signifi cantly improve airport their effi ciency. Airport weather measure- operations and may have a consider- ment systems are no exception. recent able impact on an airport’s capacity and studies show that weather contributes to effi ciency. more than 40% of all airline delays in the in the future, weather information usA. to minimize the eff ect of weather on will be used even more extensively to airport operations, the weather systems support all activities and all phases and solutions should ensure the users get A customer-speciﬁ c controller’s display was of aviation operations at airports. in a complete picture of the weather and designed for the FAA Runway Visual Range the weather systems fi eld, this means its impacts. Th e weather information System using Vaisala AviMet®’s new display a change from automated weather provided should also support each user’s development tools. observing systems to total weather specifi c needs. Weather data should information solutions. to be prepared move freely between aviation weather environments. Vaisala AviMet® is a for the upcoming challenge, Vaisala service providers, airlines, air traffi c weather management system that introduces the Vaisala AviMet® - a total management operators, and airports. supports customers’ decision-making aviation weather management solution processes and improves the airport’s ® that bridges the gap between meteo- AviMet in a nutshell performance. rological and air traffi c management Making the best use of all resources at an Th e heart of any reliable aviation communities. airport means synchronizing the actions weather system is reliable measurements of all groups. it must also be taken into around the aerodrome. Vaisala AviMet® ’s Massive increase in air travel account that weather inﬂ uences various system architecture allows the use of a Many things have changed in the past airport operations in diff erent ways. to multitude of measurements. in all cases, 30+ years that Vaisala Aviation Weather gain maximum effi ciency, weather data the specifi c measurements and measure- has been in the business of delivering should be provided in an optimal format ment locations are decided based on weather observation systems to airports. for each user group, from maintenance the user needs. for example, additional Th ere has been a massive increase in air teams to the air traffi c control tower. sensors may be placed outside of the travel in recent years. Accurate, timely Vaisala’s vast experience in all weath- aerodrome in order to off er nowcasting and reliable weather information has er-related airport activities has produced capabilities. continued to be a key factor in ensuring solutions for the most demanding

12 | Vaisala News 174 / 2 0 07 The Vaisala AviMet weather manage- Vaisala AviMet® ® display showing ment system supports a host of avia- airport weather tion applications. With meteorological information data acquisition, validation, calculation, in night-time distribution and storage capabilities, conditions. AviMet® works equally well with centralized, de-centralized and networked at the airport. airport environments – preparing the This technology airport for future expansion. All Vaisala allows airports AviMet® solutions are designed in accor- to reduce the dance with relevant icao and wmo number of recommendations and regulations. displays required, creating more Interoperability with ergonomically other airport systems designed work As the need for real-time decision- environments. making increases, requirements for the supporting tools also change. The primary We lifecycle. This is the trend we want to requirement is for seamless co-operation. are reliable continue. Meeting international standards is an The availability of weather information Traditionally, aviation weather important step in achieving interoper- is of key importance at any airport. To observations have been understood ability. Vaisala strongly supports stan- make sure that data is always available, as an icao mandated awos system dardization efforts from organizations Vaisala AviMet® solutions are designed with sensors placed along the runways. such as icao, wmo, eurocontrol, to ensure fault tolerant operations. However, weather affects all airport oper- eurocae and sae. System reliability is not enough. ations, not only air traffic control. Vaisala Vaisala AviMet® has been designed Customers pay most attention to the AviMet® solutions can be used to support from the start to work seamlessly with reliability of the total solution including de-icing decision-making, runway main- other airport systems. It is not only a the company, its offering and its services. tenance operations, and ground handling meteorological tool; it supports aftn, Vaisala is the world’s largest manufac- operations - to name but a few. Whatever amhs and other aeronautical standards turer of aviation weather solutions with the weather challenge may be, Vaisala’s including the Aeronautical Information close to 100 deliveries each year. The one approach is to work jointly with our Exchange Model (aixm) and the related thing that Vaisala people are most proud customers to find the best possible solu- Aeronautical Information Conceptual of is our spotless history of successful tion. Vaisala AviMet® is a platform that Model (aicm). Vaisala AviMet® will also aviation weather system and solution easily adapts to varying situations. support the corresponding weather infor- deliveries. We believe that our most demanding mation concept, as soon as the standard customer is also our best customer, is released. Challenge us! challenging us to improve our perfor- Another important aspect of interoper- During past years, Vaisala has taken on mance over and over again. Do you ability is the concept of single seat display. the responsibility of delivering turnkey have a challenge that would make you Vaisala AviMet® can integrate data from aviation weather solutions and main- our best customer? Please contact other airport systems and make it avail- taining these systems throughout their [email protected] n able for AviMet® displays anywhere

Weather’s share of delayed flights at major US airports (Sept 2006 – Feb 2007). September October November December January February Total Weather Delay Number of Delays 58,124 70,849 58,346 66,131 68,189 65,894 387,533 % of Total Delayed Operations 45.44% 46.29% 45.95% 42.09% 45.55% 41.68% 44.40% Delayed Minutes 3,160,988 3,787,477 3,000,199 3,664,527 3,493,291 3,623,135 20,729,617 % of Total Delayed Minutes 44.98% 45.48% 45.38% 42.12% 44.61% 40.86% 43.76% Non-Weather Delay Number of Delays 69,776 82,218 68,644 90,997 81,526 92,219 485,3880 % of Total Delayed Operations 54.56% 53.71% 54.05% 57.91% 54.45% 58.32% 55.60% Delayed Minutes 3,867,334 4,541,111 3,611,097 5,035,967 4,338,151 5,244,055 26,637,715 % of Total Delayed Minutes 55.02% 54.52% 54.62% 57.88% 55.39% 59.14% 56.24%

A flight is considered delayed when it arrives 15 or more minutes off the schedule. Delayed minutes are calculated for delayed flights only. When multiple causes are assigned to one delayed flight, each cause is prorated based on delayed minutes it is responsible for. The displayed numbers are rounded and may not add up to the total.

Source: US Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Airline Service Quality Performance 234, www.transtats.bts.gov

174 / 2007 Vaisala News | 13 Richard Passarelli Sigmet Product Line Manager In a (hydro)class of its own Vaisala Westford, MA, USA Realizing the full potential of dual-polarization radars

A conventional weather radar transmits ●● Data quality improvement by This input data is used to classify the and receives only a single polarization, elimination of non-meteorological precipitation type. The processing usually horizontal. State-of-the-art dual targets may be carried out in either of two polarization radars transmit and receive ●● Improved precipitation forecasting places depending on the customer both horizontal and vertical polarization. ●● Hydrological modeling requirements: The IRIS/HydroClass™ (Hydrometeor Classification) software makes optimal Data acquisition 1) RVP8 HydroClass ™ Processing: in use of these dual-channel measurements and processing this case the processing is done to deduce the types of scatterers present The dual-polarization data for Hydro- directly in the RVP8 and the class in the atmosphere, such as rain, hail, Class™ is acquired by either a Sigmet assignments are output in real- snow, graupel and even non-meteoro- RVP7 or RVP8 Digital IF Receiver and time for each range bin (similar to logical targets such as insects, chaff and Signal Processor running under Inter- output of velocity or reflectivity). sea clutter. In addition to the improve- active Radar Information System IRIS/ This approach is well-suited to appli- ments in precipitation estimation that Radar or another application program. cations where IRIS software is not are achieved with a dual-polarization The measured parameters are: used since the particle type can be radar, the ability to deduce and map the displayed directly by the customer’s types of scatterers greatly enhances the ●● dBZH – the reflectivity at horizontal display software. power of a dual-polarization radar for polarization applications such as: ●● dBZV – the reflectivity at vertical 2) IRIS HydroClass™ Processing: In this polarization case, the dual polarization data from ●● Hail detection ●● ZDR – The ratio of ZHZV expressed the RVP8, or a third party processor, ●● Lightning hazard potential in dB is passed to an IRIS/Radar or an forecasting ●● RHOHV – the normalized cross- IRIS/Analysis system that is enabled ●● Highway snow removal correlation magnitude between the with the HydroClass™ features ●● Airport terminal operation H and V co-polar channels option. The results of the algorithm ●● Rain/snow line demarcation ●● PHIDP – the differential phase are color-coded maps of precipita- ●● Melting height detection between the H and V co-polar tion classification categories which ●● Weather modification for hail channels can be output to and displayed on mitigation ●● LDR – (optional) the linear other IRIS workstations and IRIS/ ●● Insurance industry claims depolarization ratio for transmitting Web clients. Output of .GIF and verification H and receiving H and V. other standard image formats is also ●● Military detection of chaff supported. 

14 | Vaisala News 174 / 2 0 07 Case 1: August 9, 2005: Helsinki summer convection with hail In this case, there is convective precipitation occurring over Finland and Estonia to the south. Rain (green) was the predominant form of precipitation. Hail (red) was detected in the more intense areas of convection along with some graupel or small hail (yellow). Note that there was extensive lightning on this day which is consistent with the detection of hail. AWS stations in the Helsinki Testbed area indicated showers of hail/ graupel mixed in with the rain. Also of note is the absence of sea clutter as the color scale has been selected not to show non-meteorological targets.

Case 2: November 14, 2005: Helsinki winter stratiform precipitation Th is is a widespread, moderate stratiform rain situation with the melting level height at about 1500 m. Rain is observed within 60 km of the radar transitioning to wet snow as the beam enters into the melting level at ranges beyond 60 km. Th is is verifi ed by the melting layer study in the next case.

Case 3: November 14, 2005: High elevation angle example of melting layer at Helsinki Th is case is an excellent example of the well-known vertical structure of stratiform precipitation. At an elevation angle of 2.7 degrees, the further ranges corre- spond to higher beam heights. At far range (high altitude), there is snow transitioning to wet snow below the 0°C layer which on this day was at approximately 1500 m. Below the melting layer, the precipitation transitions from wet snow to moderate rain. Th e wet snow transi- tion corresponds to a melting layer depth of approximately 400 m.

174 / 2007 Vaisala News | 15 Vaisala weather radar prototype in Kumpula, Helsinki. (Photo courtesy of Harri Hohti, FMI)

HydroClass™ uses a fuzzy logic approach that is based on research studies published in scienti c literature by recognized experts.

The science behind it all Th e classifi cation schemes described References: HydroClass™ uses a fuzzy logic approach by Lim et al. (2005) and Liu and Chan- Bringi V.N. and V. Chandrasekar, that is based on research studies published drasekar (2000) are used for identifying : Polarimetric Doppler Weather in scientifi c literature by recognized hydrometeor classes among signals Radar, Principles and Applications, Cambridge University Press. 636 p. experts in the fi eld such as Bringi and known to consist of hydrometeors Zrnic. D.S., J.M. Straka, A.V. Ryzhkov, Y. Chandrasekar (2000), Straka et al (2000), (“weather”). Th e algorithms can be tuned Liu and J. Vivekandan, : Testing Liu and Chandrasekar (2000), Zrnic et for diff erent locales and radar wavelength. a Procedure for Automatic Classi cation al (2000), Lim et al. (2005). Th roughout For non-meteorological targets, such as of Hydrometeor Types, J. of Atmospheric the development and testing of Hydro- ground clutter, sea clutter or chaff , the and Oceanic Tech, 18, 892 – 913. Class™, Prof. Chandrasekar of Colorado classifi cation method of Schuur et al. Liu H. and V. Chandasekar, : State University, and co-author of the (2003) is used. Classi cation of Hydrometeors Based on Polarimetric Radar Measurements: defi nitive textbook on dual-polarization In the IRIS software, alerts can be Development of Fuzzy Logic and Neuro- techniques for weather radar, served as confi gured using the WARN product to Fuzzy Systems, and In Situ Veri cation, J. of a consultant. signal the presence of specifi c targets Atmospheric and Oceanic Tech. 17, 140 – 164. Th e signatures of specifi ed hydrome- such as large hail. Th is provides the best Straka J.M., D.S. Zrnic and A.V. Ryzhkov, teor classes are quantifi ed as a set of radar method for unambiguous hail : Bulk Hydrometeor Classi cation membership functions (MBF) that take detection. In addition, non-meteorolog- and Quanti cation Using Polarimetric the measured dual-polarization param- ical targets can be “masked” in the data to Radar Data: Synthesis of Relations, J. of Applied Meteorology. 39, 1341 – 1372 . eters obtained at each bin as input. Th e exclude them from subsequent product Lim, S., V.Chandrasekar, and V.N melting layer height is also used as input, generation and analysis. Bringi, : Hydrometeor Classi cation either from an external source or deduced System Using Dual-Polarization Radar by the melting layer detection algorithm. Examples from the Measurements: Model Improvements Th e strength of each hydrometeor class Helsinki Testbed and In Situ veri cation. IEEE is then expressed as the outcome (rule Th e examples presented here are from Transactions on Geoscience and strength) of an inference function which the Helsinki Testbed radar system. Th is Remote Sensing 43, 792 – 801. Schuur T. et al. : Observations and takes the MBF values as input. Th e is a C-Band dual-polarization Klystron Classi ction of Echoes with Polarimetric membership functions and the infer- system with a 1 degree antenna beam- WSR-88D Radar NOAA, Norman, Oklahoma; ence rule strength function formalize the width. Th e STAR mode (simultaneous University of Oklahoma meteorological interpretation encoded transmit and receive of H and V) is used (report available at http://www. in the classifi cation method. to collect the other dual polarization cimms.ou.edu~schuur/jpole) Th e classifi cation results are presented parameters. Th e examples cover both by labeling each bin with the hydrometeor summer and winter precipitation. ■ class that is most compatible with the observations, i.e. by choosing the class of highest rule strength. A threshold param- eter is used to specify bins for which the class is ambiguous, e.g., for non-meteorological targets.

16 | Vaisala News 174 / 2 0 07 Marikka Metso Editor-in-Chief Vaisala Helsinki, Finland

Professor David Schultz is a mesoscale meteorology expert

Professor David Schultz is a mesoscale – to help bridge the gap between the meteorology expert from Oklahoma, forecasters and the scientists and initiate USA. He worked for the NOAA National research projects that bene t opera- Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL), which tional forecasting. is will involve seeks to improve the forecasting of severe mentoring students and forecasters weather phenomena. In November 2006, on their research projects. Dr. Schultz started his post as a Professor of Experimental Meteorology in Helsinki, New localized services thanks to ongoing cooperation activities can be created between the University of Helsinki, the Vaisala and many meteo- Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), rological experts share and Vaisala. the vision that by combining Helsinki offers great research opportunities Professor Schultz is interested in Helsinki mainly for two reasons: snow storms, which are quite frequent in Finland, and advanced the Vaisala prototype dual-polarization nowcasting and analysis weather radar at the FMI’s facilities in tools, modern observation system Helsinki. What interests him most about architectures and local observa- snow storms is what happens inside a tions, new localized services can be cloud, that is, the microphysics of a cloud. created. ese services provide bene- e Vaisala weather radar is an ideal tool ts to several user groups, including for this kind of research, as it is able to public authorities, businesses and accurately identify the amount and type consumers. Having Professor of precipitation (rain, snow, wet snow, Schultz in Helsinki is a valuable hail) from over 200 km radius, and in all opportunity for Vaisala to further atmospheric layers. Professor Schultz develop these visions with the help also appreciates the Helsinki Testbed of practical experiments. is paves tools and data available to him. the way towards more widespread Professor Schultz’s goals for his year adoption of the new capabilities (or more) in Helsinki include: enabled by these advances in obser- – to develop a program in synoptic vation and processing systems. ■ and mesoscale meteorology in Finland. He co-taught an intensive short course on the Helsinki Testbed, a unique collection of instruments placed around Helsinki to explore local scale analysis and nowcasting methods. He will also organize a summer course for graduate students from around the world on mesoscale meteorology in summer 2007.

Professor David Schultz is interested in Helsinki mainly for two reasons: snow storms and the Vaisala prototype dual-polarization weather radar.

174 / 2 0 07 Vaisala News | 17 Juha Paldanius Operations Manager Vaisala Helsinki, Finland and Vu Anh Tuan Vaisala Representative in Vietnam

Da Nhim reservoir dam. Power station facelift Hydrological measurement network delivered to Da Nhim, Vietnam

The Da Nhim power station is located a hydrological data acquisition system approximately 250 km northeast of Ho and warning network for the upgraded Chi Minh City. The station generates a facility. maximum power output of 160 MW with The turn-key project included every- four Pelton turbines. The construction thing from site surveys to installation, of the power station began in 1960 and factory acceptance testing, as well as was completed in 1964. After 38 years site acceptance testing and training. The Transporting equipment to an installation site. of operation, deterioration in reliability manufacturing and factory acceptance and performance made major upgrades testing were carried out in late 2005. necessary for the various facilities of the Delivery and installation of the systems original Da Nhim power system. took place in the first half of 2006. Training was completed in autumn 2006. Reliable partners for a comprehensive solution Challenging landscape Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) is a state- The installation landscape was very chal- owned corporation that operates in lenging. The region is mountainous and the areas of generation, transmission, has great altitude differences. Rivers and distribution and sales of electric power. steep hills make transportation difficult. They chose Vaisala, together with a Viet- Many sites are accessible only by foot. Hot namese partner, to deliver and install and humid climate tests the reliability

18 | Vaisala News 174 / 2 0 07 Site Acceptance Testing in progress. Water level station radio site. of the equipment. Local knowledge was for each measurement before releasing and control the plant processes more essential for tackling the demanding the results to further processes. accurately. environment. The data collection system for the The collected data is routed from the The project site included the Da Nhim measurement stations is installed in the data collection server to the back-up power station, its intake dam, the catch- reservoir control building from where server at the power plant via a fiber optic ment area of the intake dam reservoir the network spreads more than 30 kilo- link. The back-up server is used to back-up as well as its downstream. The hydro- meters across mountainous terrain. and display the data. It can also be acti- logical network contains 11 hydrological Measurement data from eight remote vated to take over the data collection measurement stations, a combination of measurement stations is collected auto- server’s data collection tasks. Periodical a digital UHF-radio network and a leased matically via a digital UHF-radio network. reports from data in the Oracle database line modem network for data collection, A leased line modem network is used to can be produced semi-automatically by an analog UHF network for voice, and collect data from three stations which using the Crystal Reports tool. two Vaisala MetMan™ Network Software are located at the dam. MM400 servers for data collection and Operation-critical system processing. MetMan™ WebView is used Local knowledge was requires accurate data for displaying the data. In an operation-critical system like this The measurement stations are solar essential for tackling the one, the availability of accurate data has powered Vaisala HydroMet™ MAWS 110 demanding environment. been secured in multiple ways: quality or MAWS 301. They measure the water checks are carried out at the measure- level and precipitation in two river basins A data collection server automati- ment stations, and data integrity is leading to the Da Nhim reservoir. The cally collects data in preset intervals checked with check sum algorithms. water level is measured from four loca- and downloads this to an Oracle data- The availability of radio transmission is tions: both inlet rivers, on the reservoir base. The latest observation data is continuously monitored and controlled. and on the outlet river of the reservoir. processed and stored automatically in The radio signal strength of each station Precipitation is measured from seven the MetMan™ system for daily, weekly, is available in real-time for the operator. locations around the river basins. monthly and yearly statistics. In addi- If failures are detected, the data collec- The water level of the rivers is tion to the measured values, the MAWS tion server automatically switches to measured with submersible relative pres- measurement stations provide an array of back-up radios. Back-up radios are used sure sensors. The reservoir water level is additional information to the users of the at the most critical points of the network: measured with greater accuracy with the network. Real-time information such as the data collection server at the dam and Vaisala Absolute Shaft Encoder QSE104. measurement data, access control, radio at the radio repeater station. The reliable Tipping bucket rain gauges are used for signal strength and battery voltage are Vaisala systems have ensured excellent precipitation measurement. The MAWS automatically monitored. Real-time data data availability in all environmental stations perform a set of quality checks allows the power company to monitor conditions. n

174 / 2007 Vaisala News | 19 Ouarzazate airport terminal with the IMPACT ESP™ sensor at the front. In the background, the Atlas mountain chain.

Peter Eriksson Account Director Vaisala A screen shot of real strokes detected by DMN’s lightning detection Paris, France network, and displayed in real-time. e red dots represent a thunderstorm happening on May 26th, the green ones a thunderstorm that happened the day after. “Casablanca-style” - Thunderstorm detection in Morocco

e nal scene of the famous movie the quality of its services by equip- optimizing the operational phase, when Casablanca with Ingrid Bergman and ping the northern part of the country several sensor sites were changed at the Humphrey Bogart, released in 1942, ends with a thunderstorm detection system. last moment. dramatically at an airport in a terrible DMN chose IMPACT Lightning Sensors, thunderstorm. e drama is emphasized which, through a business acquisition, Five sensors in use by the very risky situation for an airplane became part of the Vaisala product range. e ve sensors currently in use, covering to take-o . It was very di erent in those ese were combined with the versatile the northern half of the kingdom, are days when meteorological services CATS lightning operating system devel- deployed at the following stations: Oujda didn’t bene t from modern means to oped by Météorage, in which Vaisala is a in the far north-east, Fès in the north at predict or detect severe thunderstorm shareholder. the feet of the Atlas, Casablanca on the phenomena. Météorage had a long experience Atlantic coast, Ouarzazate just east of At the beginning of the 21st century, of utilizing the IMPACT sensors in the Marrakech in the Atlas mountain chain, the Moroccan National Meteorolog- French national lightning network. e and Agadir along the central stretch ical Service (Direction Météorologique company’s experience was fundamental of coastline. e complete system was Nationale, DMN) decided to enhance when setting up the system and for installed jointly between Météorage,

20 | Vaisala News 174 / 2 0 07 From left to right: M. M’Barrak (Processus), Mrs. Laurens (Météorage), M. Webb (Vaisala Tucson), M. Abeljha (Processus), M. Salama (DMN), M. Pedeboy (Météorage).

DMN, Processus from Casablanca and Vaisala. e central station and data control centre are located at the DMN headquarters in Casablanca, in the vicinity

of the old airport where the famous John Morrish movie ends. Lightning data is collected Business Unit Manager by the central station via high-speed data Vaisala communication links and then fed into Tucson, AZ, USA the CATS system, where various applica- Partnering is key to business success tion-speci c software process the data. Data is received in real-time and goes In many businesses today, the nal solution that is delivered to the end user through various quality checking proce- and customer is usually a successful result of a number of professional rela- dures before being analyzed and archived tionships. e understorm business is no di erent in that we rely on key for future statistics. organizations throughout the world to partner with us to bring the complete The IMPACT lightning sensors, solution together for the customer. together with the central computer, at is certainly the case with the understorm Lightning Detection System detect accurate and homogenous light- in Morocco, where Météorage, one of Vaisala’s partners, played a signi cant role ning impact information (date, longitude in bringing the lightning detection network to life. Météorage is a unique partner - latitude, intensity polarity, accuracy and of the understorm Business Unit, in that Vaisala shares joint ownership of the time of occurrence). company with Meteo France, and has two Vaisala members attending the Board e CATS services include real-time meetings. e Météorage relationship goes back many years to when Global alarms, observation, surveillance and Atmospherics Inc (acquired 2002). started the relationship with Meteo France. online information, as well as statis- Météorage, in addition to its CATS software application, also resells Vaisala tics feeding into the national database, understorm’s lightning solutions/products and can provide support services lightning risk-evaluation and counter, to the customer when needed. As our relationship develops, we are nding plus lightning density compared to the new ways for Météorage to work with Vaisala and provide customers with the Keraunic level. best solutions. Thanks to CATS, the DMN has In today’s environment, partnering is the key to any business success. the necessary tools for the creation of Together we can get the job done better. ■ animated images of lightning events on the web for weather forecasters and for the generation of lightning alerts. ere- fore it is able to alert local organizations of an approaching thunderstorm event and of the related risks, according to the severity detected. Action can be taken in order to minimize risks. Surely Humphrey Bogart, alias Rick Blaine, would have also appreciated such tools. ■

174 / 2007 Vaisala News | 21 Figure 2. JHU/APL rocket scientist, Charles Etheridge prepares Figure 3. Sensor carriage for Vaisala 3-inch back-fit rocketsonde for launch. A 2.5-inch back-fit rocket- Radiosonde RS92-SGP. sonde is ready on the right. Ross Rottier, Charles Etheridge, Frank Slujtner, James Mooney, Manuel Neves, Dave Drzewiecki Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory Laurel, Maryland This is rocket science USA Johns Hopkins University uses Vaisala Radiosondes in model rockets

The Johns Hopkins University Applied contaminated atmospheric wake of a RK-91 series of rocketsondes was discon- Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL), located ship. To achieve this, JHU/APL employs tinued after August 2006. As JHU/APL at Laurel, Maryland in the USA, regu- the rocketsonde or the balloon drop- is using up the remainder of the last larly deploys Vaisala radiosondes for field sonde, which is a radiosonde launched stock of these rockets, a new method test support. Most of the tests occur at on a helium balloon, with some method of achieving a rocketsonde was devised. sea and include investigations of radar to make it descend away from the ship. JHU/APL developed a back-fit rocket- and optical systems performance and This is accomplished by using either a sonde, launching Vaisala Radiosondes the physics of air-sea interaction. The burning fuse to release the balloon tether RS92 in 2.5-inch (6.4 cm) and 3-inch atmosphere over the ocean can have a or a slow leak in the balloon. Calibrated (7.6 cm) model rockets (Figure 2). The significant impact on the propagation of animal syringes are available to fit in the 3-inch rockets were used initially because energy at radar or optical wavelengths. balloon nozzle with the optimum hole they allowed the direct use of the RS92 The near surface marine atmosphere diameter. The goal is to achieve a descent radiosonde with its plastic outer hull. The is one of the most refractive arenas rate of 3 m/s (10 fps) for proper resolution 2.5-inch rockets flew more efficiently and in which to operate. For radar studies, of modified refractivity. achieved greater altitudes, but require vertical profiles of modified refractivity the removal of the outer hull to fit in the are required to model radar propagation Vaisala sensors survived sensor carriage. The removal of the outer effects over the ocean and environmental the rough ride hull, especially the hot-glue joints, must effects on radar performance. Vaisala Rocketsondes have been used be done carefully to avoid damaging JHU/APL has been using Vaisala Radio- by JHU/APL when radiosonde profiles circuits and sensors. sondes RS92, deployed from balloons were requested from fast moving ships It is important to note that the RS92 (Figure 1), and Vaisala Rocketsondes or research boats. Also, in very high seas circuits and Vaisala sensors survived the that are launched on model rockets and winds, the management of a rocket- acceleration of the rocket launch, on a and collect vertical profiles of PTU sonde is much easier than manhandling a G80-13T model rocket motor with speeds while descending on parachutes. At balloon on deck. The rocketsonde is basi- that approached Mach 0.9, and the black sea, it is important to take the vertical cally a radiosonde launched on a model powder ejection blast. The JHU/APL profile measurements away from the rocket and released on a parachute. The carriage design allowed deployment of

22 | Vaisala News 174 / 2 0 07 Altitude (meters)

T Up 900 T Down M Up M Down 800 M Standard

700

600

500

400 In very high seas and 300 winds, the management 200 of a rocketsonde is much 100 easier than manhandling

0 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 280 300 320 340 360 380 400 420 a balloon on deck. Raw Temperature (°C) Modiﬁed Refractivity (M units) Figure 4. Vertical profiles of raw temperature and calculated modified refractivity, from the JHU/ APL back-fit rocketstonde, February 15, 2007, Wallops Island, Virginia, U.S.A. the sensors without damage (Figure 3). RS92-SGP radiosondes also produced 900 This requires careful attention, especially vertical profiles of wind speed and direc- 800 to protect the thin wires that attach to tion. Figure 5 is believed to be the first 700 the capacitive temperature sensors. The wind profile measured by a Vaisala Radio- 600 JHU/APL back-fit design put the exposed sonde RS92 deployed from a rocket. This 500 sensors in the rocket nose cone to mini- profile was measured during January, 400 mize contact with other structures at ejec- 2007, near Wallops Island. 300 tion time. It is also important to make sure JHU/APL engineers noticed that 200 the sensors are properly exposed during the radiosonde altitude ended when 100 0 descent to provide proper air circulation. the radiosonde was believed to have 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 In initial designs, an apparent recircu- landed in the ocean. The range at final Figure 5. First vertical profile of wind speed lation in the carriage showed up in low transmission was short enough that the measured from JHU/APL backfit rocketsonde RH readings with differences between Vaisala DigiCORA® receiver had plenty of launched from R/V Chessie during January the two RH sensors as they swapped excess signal power and it was believed 2007 near Wallops Island, Virginia, U.S.A., measurement cycles. JHU/APL experi- the radiosonde terminated on contact mented with several designs and settled with the water. The final pressure was on intakes on the radiosonde carriage to also consistent with ending at the sea. increase air flow. Therefore it was concluded that the difference was due to the process of calcu- Figure 1. Vaisala Data collected successfully lating height from measured data on the Radiosonde RS92-SGP. The initial carriage design required the ascent. The rocket ascends quickly after radiosonde to be mounted upside-down. launch and the (P,T,RH) measurements This approach also increased airflow over are not valid inside the rocket body. A the sensors during descent. JHU/APL continuous profile of (P,T,RH) is neces- found that the GPS antennas did not sary in order to translate atmospheric work when deployed upside-down and pressure into height. Meteorologists use the radiosondes had to be mounted verti- the hypsometric equation to calculate cally to make proper satellite receptions. height from the (P,T,RH) profiles. The The goal for maximum altitude was 2500 hypsometric equation is basically an inte- to 3000 ft (0.75 to 0.9 km), which was grated combination of the ideal gas equa- achieved. The launches were successful. tion and the hydrostatic equation. Height Vertical profiles of temperature and rela- was calculated in reverse, assuming the tive humidity were collected and success- last data occurred at the surface and back fully supported field test analysis. Both calculating the height from the last data RS92-K (PTU) and RS92-SGP (PTU to the height of apogee, and this worked and winds) were successfully launched. well. n Figure 4 is an example profile of temperature and modified refractivity collected from the RS92-SGP sonde launched near Wallops Island, Virginia in the USA. The

174 / 2007 Vaisala News | 23 Irma Ylikangas Business Development Manager Vaisala Helsinki, Finland

Seeing is believing Piloting a new type of weather service

Before you set o for the day – would and companies, and you like to see a reindeer on your cross- promotes research and country skiing track? Weather at your innovation activities. For boat harbor? Tra c at a busy crossing? example, changes in local weather Vaisala weather camera captured e Vaisala weather camera service helps can be followed based on developments an image of a reindeer on the skiing you do just this, and more. in wind and temperature conditions. track on February 5, 2007. Vaisala has started a pilot weather ese parameters also enable the calcu- camera service with its first pilot lation of the wind-chill factor. “ e Oulu project is the rst weather customers. e service consists of high e weather camera service utilizes services network where di erent actors resolution picture and weather informa- Vaisala Weather Transmitters WXT510 come together to discover new ways tion delivered to the customer’s Internet and outdoor cameras. e data produced to use environmental data. e project site. e weather information includes is made available in Oulu’s unique wireless nature and scope is slightly di erent from temperature, relative humidity, wind technology environment. Project partners that of the Helsinki Testbed research speed and direction, barometric pressure, include the City of Oulu, Nokia, VTT Tech- project, where we work together with wind-chill factor and rain. In addition, a nical Research Centre of Finland, Oulu the Finnish Meteorological Institute and counter can be activated for example at University of Applied Sciences, University partners. e Oulu model for networking, cross-country skiing routes to calculate of Oulu, Vaisala, and Oulu Innovation. which brings together both research insti- the number of daily users of the track. All Many businesses and organizations tutes and companies, functions very well, data is updated every ve minutes. e use the network for research and develop- and we are convinced it will produce new pilot services are available throughout the ment purposes. Software developers are innovations to bene t both individuals year but in some applications, like cross- also involved in building applications and and businesses,” says Vaisala Business country skiing, the service is contracted services where weather data produced by Development Manager and project coor- for the duration of the skiing period. the network can be utilized. dinator Irma Ylikangas. e City of Oulu and Northern Lapland “ e goal is to harness new technol- Tourism Ltd. in Finland have been using ogies for use in both top-level product Improving customer the Vaisala weather camera services for development and the everyday lives of communications the past few months. citizens. For example, weather data avail- Saariselkä, located in Northern Lapland, able for mobile devices is so light that is a versatile tourist centre and a lively Real-time regional one does not need a 3G phone to access village o ering a wide variety of services. weather information it,” says the ‘father’ of the project, Olli The Urho Kekkonen National Park for the City of Oulu Lukkari from Oulu Innovation. extends all the way from the village to e City of Oulu in Finland, located 600 Koilliskairas, where locals and visitors kilometers north of the capital Helsinki, Innovations to beneﬁ t explore the park’s unforgettable nature. has launched a local weather camera individuals and businesses Saariselkä provides exceptionally service and weather observation network For Vaisala, the Oulu project o ers a good opportunities for cross-country in the city and its surroundings. Weather signi cant chance to pilot new weather skiing. e illuminated tracks, versa- data such as temperatures, wind speed information service concepts. e goal tile terrain in the fells and long skiing and humidity can be accessed via the is to investigate the bene ts and oppor- season offer the skiers a variety of Internet. tunities o ered by this kind of weather alternatives to choose from. e wild e weather service network o ers and environmental information to both nature of Lapland next to the Fell Resort accurate local information to citizens companies and individuals. gives cross-country skiers an excellent

24 | Vaisala News 174 / 2 0 07 An innovative weather service network bene ts the everyday lives of the inhabitants of the City of Oulu. Photo by Juha Sarkkinen. opportunity to acquaint themselves with hare on the tracks,” Ms Kortelainen says. the environment. e pilot was closed in spring 2007. Sanna Kortelainen, Managing Director of Northern Lapland Tourism Ltd., is very Close co-operation enables pleased with Vaisala’s weather camera developing future services service: “For Saariselkä, Vaisala’s weather e weather camera pilots provide a camera service has been a signi cant good example of the importance of step in improving customer communica- customer relationships. Without such tions. e holidaymakers in this area are pilot programs, it is very di cult to see often active outdoor people, particularly the strengths and weaknesses of poten- in the winter as there are a lot of cross- tial new services. Close communication country skiers.” and immediate feedback from customers e local tourism information center teaches Vaisala to respond to requests receives several calls daily inquiring even faster. is is vital information for about the condition of the 240 km skiing us when developing our services. ■ track. Also the weather at the mountain fells is of great interest. Accurate and Further information: real-time weather information is impor- Oulu weather cameras (Finnish only) - tant, because it is a matter of customer www.ouka. /index_saa.asp (click safety. Weather conditions should always the red dots on the map) be checked before a skiing trip, and precautions taken for changing weather conditions. “We were looking for a solution that would enable us to better serve our customers regarding weather information. Vaisala’s weather camera images help in luring the skiers onto the tracks. e weather camera pages are viewed almost 100,000 times per month, and we have received a lot of feedback. For example, people are thrilled to spot reindeers and

174 / 2007 Vaisala News | 25 Marikka Metso Editor-in-Chief Vaisala Helsinki, Finland With experience comes perspective With a big heart come many friends

ere are few people who know Vaisala Have you been involved in the devel- creativity and innovative product devel- as Jorma Herkonheimo does. After 38 opment of any new products or opment. Pekka Ketonen concentrated years with the company, as energetic innovations? on systematic strategic planning and and passionate as ever, this old-timer I worked as a Production Manager in process-thinking to enhance e ciency retires with fond and colorful memories. the 70s and 80s, so I was involved in the and pro table growth. Vaisala’s listing anks to his last position in the Human process whenever something was trans- as a publicly traded company in 1994 Resources team, most Vaisala employees ferred from development into production. also changed the company in that every had the pleasure of experiencing a little is is when the value of teamwork really action was now under tight scrutiny. Kjell bit of that captivating “Jorma-spirit”. We crystallized for me. Great things happen Forsén only joined Vaisala at the end of asked Jorma a few questions about his when people take the time to discuss 2006, so it’s too early to say much about experiences at Vaisala. matters together, and, most importantly, what his mark on the company’s history hear what their customers have to say. will be. My rst impression is that his When and what position did you leadership style is very interactive. start in at Vaisala? How has work at Vaisala changed I started on January 2, 1969. The through the years? What is today’s Vaisala like? company was looking for an Electronics e introduction of computers was a Vaisala is a successful international tech- Production Technician. My rst task was great change at Vaisala like everywhere. nology company that has gained a signi - to transfer the newly developed weather Vaisala was one of the pioneers in this, as cant position worldwide. is has been satellite image receiving technology to we introduced computers in production achieved through a strong commitment production. It was a rather complex processes in 1970, and in Vaisala prod- to customers; technically superior prod- system. It was also the rst product ucts in -75. ucts that contain that “little extra”, which where integrated circuits of the TTL Production has also changed in that makes them better than the competition; (Transistor-Transistor Logic) series were the company has now outsourced those and global presence. used. e most demanding component functions that can be carried out more I will now concentrate on my favorite for ne mechanics was a 35 mm camera, efficiently elsewhere, concentrating “hobby” - farming. After 38 years of moti- which was also manufactured in-house. its core competencies in-house. One vating and meaningful service, I would of Vaisala’s core competencies is the like to wish all our customers, the What was Vaisala like when you development and production of sensors. company and my colleagues the best of started in 1969? Investments in this know-how become success in the future. ■ ere were 94 personnel. Everything obvious to all those who visit our leading was done in-house. There was no edge clean room, for example. subcontracting culture back in those e orientation towards customers days in Finland. Self-e ciency was also has also changed through the years, so Jorma Herkonheimo owns a plot of land where promoted by founder Vilho Väisälä, who that Vaisala is increasingly moving away he can carry out his farming hobby. said that ”Everything that is done else- from selling ready products and towards where can also be done at Vaisala - only solving customer problems and providing better.” services.

Vaisala invested heavily in research How would you characterize the and development in the 70s (and di erent decades in Vaisala’s past? continues to do so today). How was Each Managing Director has left their this visible inside the company? own unique mark on the company’s e number of development personnel history. Vilho Väisälä’s time was greatly increased. Computers and was very product devel- microprocessors were taken into use in opment oriented, he both production equipment and Vaisala sought to provide the products, and this introduced a new best instruments for group of professionals -the software meteorological use. developers. Sensors based on the thin He was also a scien- lm technique enabled new technolo- tist to the bone. gies and professions such as laboratory Yrjö Toivola paid assistants and physicists. special attention to

26 | Vaisala News 174 / 2 0 07 Veli-Matti Miettinen Application Manager and Panu Kopsala Product Line Manager Vaisala Helsinki, Finland

Wind measurement for the pros

e new Vaisala WINDCAP® Ultrasonic Wind Sensor WS425 F/G has been launched. e sensor is a premium, Features of the Vaisala WINDCAP® ice-free model of the standard WS425 Ultrasonic Wind Sensor WS425 F/G family, designed for the most demanding ● Premium, ice-free sensor for most demanding weather conditions weather conditions. It is especially suit- ● Enhanced 150 W heating to ensure ice-free operation able for measuring wind in arctic or ● Wide measurement range up to 165 knots mountainous areas or in conditions ● Highly accurate up to 125 knots where rapid ice-buildup occurs. ● Maintenance-free e sensor has an exceptionally high ● Superior data availability secured by Vaisala patented WINDCAP ® heating power of 150 W to ensure ice-free ® technology operation. Initially, these models were ● Triangular shape prevents wind interference between transducers designed to interface with the network ● Wide operating temperature range –62 … +55 °C (–80 … +130 °F) of the Automated Surface Observing ● Large transducer heads are insensitive to rain System (ASOS), the primary surface ● Optical cable modem, RS-232 for service mode weather observing network in the United ● Field veri cation device available States. ■ ● US National Weather Service relies on Vaisala WINDCAP® technology

174 / 2007 Vaisala News | 27 Briefly noted 28

the fourth time in connection with the the with connection in time fourth the The Vaisala The Vaisala Aviation Weather Seminar www.avimet.com visit interfaces, new at the look attractedthey a lot of attention among the visitors. real-time user interfaces were also displayed at the stand and management concept which was very well received. The new Vaisala new the introduced and safety of andefficiency air traffic. the introducingworld, systems and solutions to enhance the over all from exhibitors 200 to close featured exhibition The global the for event comprehensive erlands. 13 February on held was annual 17th The Vaisala at ATC Maastricht 2007 |

News Vaisala Vaisala atc A viation Weather participated in the exhibition exhibition the in participated Weather viation A Maastricht again hosted the biggest and most and biggest the hosted again Maastricht ito Wahr eia ws ragd for arranged was Seminar Weather viation atc 174 Maastricht Exhibition and MaastrichtExhibition / 07 0 2 – 15, 2007 in Maastricht, the Neth - the Maastricht, in 2007 15, A viMet atc ® & aviation weather weather aviation atc at . m exhibition C onference industry. T o take a and C onMarch held 11 be a new name. The to move ATC Maastrichtwill ATC name and location changes Maastricht new the on presentation Vaisala A Katajamäki’s Hannu with concluded and present weather applications at airports. TheSeminar was system. Vaisala’s own experts gave presentations on lightning handling message airport new introduced the fromUbitech, Manager Misra,Development Business Sachin desert. the in developments and compliance challenges, weather aviation International Dubai at Services Meteorological of Manager Thomas, Dave conference. and ongress C viMet ® concept. enter next spring. next enter atc – Global Exhibition and 13 at the atthe 13 A msterdam and will also have also will and msterdam i ra A irport, gave an insight into insight an gave irport,

InternationalExhibition C onference will Dr. chandra worked has an advisor. as Vaisala the and where project,Weather development, radar ners. Other mutual interest areas include the Helsinki testbed program’spart- industrialthe of one is Vaisala and sphere), atmo- the of Sensing adaptive collaborative for (center the of Director Deputy the also is chandra Dr. organizations. two the between scientifi exchange c Innovation award in 2002. the example, for – work his of recognition in awards many scientifiwon numerous and publications, c to contributed has Dr.chandra processing. signal as well as meteorology,radarnetworking, ( University State colorado the for worked has he years 25 past the For meteorologist. radar and expert engineering Vaisala. and Helsinki ofUniversity the at lectures of series a give to sity of Helsinki and Vaisala. Th e mainhis of purpose tripwas experts from the Finnish Meteorological Institute, the Univer- Vantaa, Finland,in early March 2007. in Vaisala’s headquarters visited chandra Dr. atmosphere. the of observations radar polarimetric of area the in tions contribu- pioneering made has He Engineering. computer colorado University State ( the at Professor a and radars, weather dual-polarization on Dr. chandrasekar (chandra) one ofis the world’s top experts Dr. Chandrasekar visits Vaisala cSU Vaisala is a distinguished Fellow of the the of Fellow distinguished a is Vaisala radar engineer, antenna an as worked has chandra Dr. During his visit to Finland, Dr. chandra met with weather ). His main research interests include radar systems and cSU ), Department of Electrical ), & Department rF communication systems communication NaSa cSU caSa , promoting promoting , technical program solutions and services. solutions andservices. marketing of Vaisala weather measurement products, systems, use. professional demanding for services and products nology tech- of marketing and sales the in successful particularly been has Ervasti Mr. companies. technology international of versatile experience in managerial positions within leading Group. Instru- OxfordInstruments the of analytical Oy,subsidiary ments a Oxford Director, Managing was Vaisala joining before role recent most Ervasti’sMr. 2007. 15, May starting GroupManagement the of member and MarketingDirector and Vaisala’s Sales as appointed been has Ervasti Matti Sales Marketing and Director Matti Ervasti appointed as Vaisala Matti Ervasti will be responsible for the global sales and sales global the for responsible be will Ervasti Matti Matti Ervasti has an M.a. in chemistry, and over ten years 174 / 2007 News Vaisala | 29

Briefl y noted Briefl y noted 30 30 |

7 / 07 0 2 / 174 News Vaisala ness Unitness Manager, Vaisala Soundings. Measurement Systems divisions. His most recent role is Busi- Vaisala positionswithinthe various in Vaisalaand Solutions partnerships. ment develop- and research as well as trends, and developments platforms and sensor technologies, mapping new technology technology Vaisala’s ofcommon management the for sible Group May starting 1st,2007. Management the Offitechnology of chief member and cer Vaisala’s as appointed been has Meskanen ari eMBa M.Sc., Technology at Vaisala Officer Ari Meskanen appointed as Chief Manager of Vaisala’s Th understorm business. Data Vaisala’s business. of part growing a is services ofinnovative Development ties. grate current Vaisala and services to identify new opportuni- Management Group starting June 1st, 2007. His role is to inte- the of member and business Vaisalaservice the of Director as appointed been has (43) Sternberg Scott M.Sc.(Physics) Director ofVaisala business service Scott Sternberg appointed as ari Meskanen has been with Vaisala from 1998, working 1998, Vaisalafrom with been has Meskanen ari as chief technology Offi cer, ariMeskanen will berespon- Scott Sternberg joined Vaisala in 2004 as Business Unit Business as 2004 in Vaisala joined Sternberg Scott of 7%. was profit Net growth. 32% in to profit operating the increased operations, improve to actions with together sales, net in and in the Vaisala Instruments division’s product sales. Growth 2006. January in acquired Inc., Sigmet of activities business the organic growth was 7%. million. Growth was 12% compared to to the grewprevious year, sales while net and level good a on remained Demand Vaisala. for expected than better was 2006 Year exceededexpectations Vaisala’s result for 2006 Net sales grew particularly in surface observation networks Contact the Vaisala the Contact News team A dditional growth was achieved from eu eu r 26.6 million, an increase an million, 26.6 r 39.6 million, resulting million, 39.6 eu r 220.8 Thank you intrest. for Thank your [email protected] to email an by sending please Vaisalateam the contact News offeedback changes and address, For cancellations, subscriptions, 174 Marikka Metso / Editor-in-Chief 2007 News Vaisala |

Briefly noted Telefax:+33 1 3096 0858 13096 Telefax:+33 1751 48866 Telephone:+33 FRANCE Marseille 13001 Beausset de rue 2, Office Marseille SAS Vaisala 0858 13096 +33 Telefax: 2728 13057 +33 Telephone: FRANCE F-78181 Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Stéphenson rue 2, Office Paris SAS Vaisala 576 240 1638 +44 Telefax: 576 200 1638 +44 Telephone: KINGDOM UNITED 7FN CB8 Suffolk Newmarket Exning Lane Swan 9, Unit Office Newmarket Ltd Vaisala 1299 683 121 +44 Telefax: 1200 683 121 +44 Telephone: KINGDOM UNITED 7SW B5 Birmingham Road Bristol 349 House Vaisala Operations Birmingham Ltd Vaisala 6340 711 735 +49 Telefax: 057 711 734 +49 Telephone: GERMANY Stuttgart D-70563 8 Str. Pestalozzi Office Stuttgart GmbH Vaisala 7111 249 228 +49 Telefax: 9710 24 228 +49 Telephone: GERMANY Bonn D-53111 15 Adenauerallee Office Bonn GmbH Vaisala 110 03 839 40 +49 Telefax: 030 839 40 +49 Telephone: GERMANY Hamburg D-22525 41 Schnackenburgallee Office Hamburg GmbH Vaisala 849 849 0200 Sweden: in 992, 298 40 +46 Telefax.: 848 848 0200 Sweden: in 991, 298 40 +46 Telephone: SWEDEN 11S -212 Malmö 1D Drottninggatan Office Malmö Oyj Vaisala 2227 98949 +358 Telefax: 91 9894 +358 Telephone: FINLAND Helsinki FI-00421 P.O. 26, Box Oyj Vaisala Europe Telefax: +1 450 430 6410 +1 430 450 Telefax: 0880 +1Telephone: 430 450 CANADA 6B7 J7B QC Blainville Tarascon De 37 Canada Office Regional Inc. Vaisala +1 9575 692 978 Telefax: +1 9234 Telephone: 692 978 USA 01886 MA Westford 1 Unit Drive 2 Park operations Westford Inc. Vaisala +1 3895 612Telefax: 727 +1Telephone: 1084 612 727 USA 55450 MN Minneapolis, Avenue South 34th 6300 Operations Minneapolis Inc. Vaisala +1 281-335-9956 Telefax: +1Telephone: 9955 335 281 USA 77058 TX Houston, 220-E 1Suite Road Nasa 1120 Office Houston Inc. Vaisala 4557 283 1800 Toll Free U.S. +1 741 520 Telefax: 2848 7300 +1Telephone: 806 520 USA 85706, Arizona Tucson, Road Medina East 2705 Tucson Operations Inc. Vaisala 3672 578 +1 408 Telefax: 3670 578 +1Telephone: 408 USA 95119-1393 CA Jose, San 203 Suite Teresa Blvd Santa 6980 Office Jose San Inc. Vaisala 1767 +1 499 303 Telefax: 1701 +1Telephone: 499 303 USA 80027 CO Louisville, Taylor Avenue South 194 Operations Boulder Inc. Vaisala USA 43212 Ohio Columbus, Road Oxley 1372 Office Columbus Inc. Vaisala +1 8029 781Telefax: 933 +1Telephone: 4500 781 933 USA 01801 MA Woburn, Street Gill 10-D Office Boston Inc. Vaisala America North Telefax: +60 3 2164 3363 32164 +60 Telefax: 32163 3363 +60 Telephone: MALAYSIA Lumpur Kuala 50450 Ampang Jalan 142-C Dredging Selangor Wisma Block West 9, Level Malaysia Office Regional Vaisala 21 5132 0657 +86 Telefax: 21 5132 0656 +86 Telephone: China of Republic People’s Shanghai 201203 Area New Pudong Lu Cailun 780 6F address contact Shanghai Vaisala 5516 3395 755 +86 Telefax: 5998 3395 755 +86 Telephone: China of Republic People’s 518026 Shenzhen Futian Road Jintian 2222 Floor 26th Centre Anlian Centre Business Regus Office Shenzhen Ltd. China Vaisala 1155 10 8526 +86 Telefax: 1199 10 8526 +86 Telephone: China of Republic People’s 100027 Beijing District Chaoyang Beilu Dongsanhuan Road Yun 21, Xiao No. Building EAS 2, Floor Office Beijing Ltd. China Vaisala +61 39815 6799 Telefax: +61 39815Telephone: 6700 AUSTRALIA 3122 VIC Hawthorn, Street 3 Guest Office Melbourne Ltd Pty Vaisala 9610 +81 33266 Telefax: 9611 +81Telephone: 33266 JAPAN Tokyo 162-0825 Shinjuku-Ku 6-Chome Kagurazaka 42 Tokyo Office KK Vaisala Pacific and Asia +971 Telefax Telephone +971 Emirates Arab United Dubai Road Zayed Sheikh Floor 1st Building Naboodah Al Khalifa P.O.Box :9197 address contact UAE Vaisala East Middle 4 321 4 321 9113 9112

C210043EN 2007-05