1. Design and Implementation of a Low Cost Mini
Weather Monitoring System
By
Ukhurebor K. E and Azi S. O
Department of Physics, Edo University Iyamho,
Edo State, Nigeria
Presented at the 4thAnnual International Conference of the Nigerian
Geophysical Society (NGS) held at Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria
9th -12th May, 2017
1
2. Outline
Introduction
Literature review
Statement of the problem
Aim & Objectives
Materials and Method
Results and Discussion
Findings
Contribution to Knowledge
Conclusion, Suggestions for Further Studies and Acknowledgement
References
2
3. Introduction
The study of weather is as old as the creation; it has always had a significant
influence on the lives of people and shaped their cultures, habits, attitudes,
behaviour and their environments in general. Weather is mostly influenced by
the following factors:
i. Location latitude
ii. Elevation
iii. Proximity to water bodies (Karl, 2014; Ukhurebor et al., 2017).
Weather has always been a universal concern and a major force of nature that
has influenced mankind in a very authoritative approach for an elongated period
of time and the recent changes in the climate are becoming issues of great
concern (Akhilesh et al., 2015; Parvez et al., 2016).
Man has always tried to find out the causes of different weather conditions he
finds himself in and possibly monitor and forecast what the weather would be at
any given time. Taking weather and trying to forecast it appropriately can make
a difference for the survival and prosperity of the human race (Ukhurebor et al.,
2017; Karl, 2014).
3
4. Introduction (Cont’d)
There cannot be a study of the weather neither its prediction without the
knowledge of the prevailing conditions of the atmosphere (Satyanarayana and
Mazaruddin, 2013; Susmitha and Sowmyabala, 2014).
Weather measuring, monitoring and forecasting holds great importance and has
uses in several areas and for this reason man has always devise different means of
measuring the various elements or parameters of the weather.
In the ancient times before the advancement in science and technology, weather
measurements, monitoring and predictions were mostly done by human
experiences over the cloud cover and the movements of the wind. Those involve in
agricultural activities were the ones mainly affected by the atmospheric weather
conditions (Dushyant and Sanjeev, 2013).
But with the advancement of technology, new methods and equipment have been
developed to measure, collect and monitor weather information and today a whole
field of study known as Meteorology is dedicated to it (Ukhurebor et al., 2017).
4
5. 5
Introduction (Cont’d)
Meteorology is the science of the atmosphere. Its domain is the lower
atmosphere of the universe and its practice involves the daily cooperation of
every action in the atmosphere of the universe (Akpan et al., 2016).
In meteorology, the data collected are used in monitoring and forecasting the
weather; weather monitoring and forecasting which are useful in one way or the
other in the course of our daily activities (Akpan et al., 2016).
Meteorologically, weather is used to describe the momentary atmospheric
conditions at a certain place. It is the state of the atmosphere of a given place at a
particular time. Weather describes the condition of the atmosphere over a short
period of time (Dushyant and Sanjeev, 2013).
The climate of an area is known through the average weather over a long
period of time. Climate describes the average weather conditions over a longer
period of time usually calculated over a thirty year time period for a particular
region and time period (Dushyant and Sanjeev, 2013).
6. Introduction (Cont’d)
In describing the atmospheric conditions of a given place at any given time,
certain weather elements or parameters must be known, measured and
quantified (Pramod and Vaijanath, 2015; Popa and Iapa, 2011).
Some of the most crucial weather elements are temperature, relative humidity,
atmospheric pressure, wind speed and direction, precipitation, luminous
intensity. The weather and climate of any region is determined by these weather
parameters and the seasons.
Temperature is a widely measured variable and is a very critical factor in
determining the weather; because it influences and controls most of the
elements of the weather (Akhilesh et al., 2015).
There is no doubt that an accurate measurement, proper observation and
monitoring of the atmospheric conditions using standard meteorological
instruments would help guide against the occurrences of most climate induced
environmental disasters and improve agricultural productivity in our community
(Okhakhu, 2014; Ukhurebor et al., 2017).
6
7. Literature Review
Authors Year Research Result Limitation
1. Akhilesh et al 2015 Bluetooth Based Weather
Station
Temperature and
humidity were measured
using a bluetooth based
model
Light intensity,
atmospheric pressure
were not considered and
the setup is a bit costly
2. Lanre and
Umoru
2011 Design and Construction
of a Low Cost Digital
Weather Station
Low cost digital weather
station for measuring
some weather elements
was constructed
The weather station did
not considered light
intensity beside, the
microcontroller used is
less versatile
3. Kirankumar 2015 Low Cost Wireless
Weather Monitoring
System
Low cost weather
measuring system was
developed that measured
some weather parameter
Light intensity,
atmospheric pressure
were not considered also
the microcontroller used
is less versatile
4. Krejcar 2012 Weather Station with
Remote Control
The station used
temperature sensor and
other measuring sensors
using a remote control
The design and
construction setup is
comparatively complex
and is not cost effective
because of the kind of
microcontroller used
7
8. Literature Review (Cont’d)
Authors Year Research Result Limitation
5. Nisha et al 2015 Zigbee Based Weather
Monitoring System
Weather monitoring
system to measured
some weather elements
was designed using
ZigBee technology
ZigBee technology will
require more applications
to execute it in small or
medium size due to some
extra assembly required.
6. Pengfei et al 2015 Wireless Temperature
Monitoring System
Based on the ZigBee
Technology
Weather monitoring
system for temperature
monitoring was designed
using ZigBee technology
Only temperature was
considered also the ZigBee
technology will require
more applications to
execute it in small or
medium size due to some
extra assembly required
7. Singh et al 2015 Temperature
Monitoring in
Wireless Sensor
Network using Zigbee
Transceiver module
Weather monitoring
system for temperature
monitoring was also
designed using ZigBee
transceiver
Only temperature was
monitored and again the
ZigBee technology will
require more applications
to execute it in small or
medium size due to some
extra assembly required
8
9. Literature Review (Cont’d)
Authors Year Research Result Limitation
8. Lo Conti et al 2015 A Weather
Monitoring
System for the
Study of
Precipitation
Fields
The system uses X-band
weather radar that
monitors precipitation
fields with high
resolution in space and
time
It was basically designed for
precipitation also the design
and construction setup was
also considerably complex and
expensive
9. Surussavadee
and Staelin
2010 Cloud-resolving
numerical weather
prediction model
A method for
measuring, analyzing,
evaluating, predicting
and forecasting climatic
conditions via weather
satellite was presented
This concept will be quite
impractical to be implemented
in developing countries like
ours because of satellite issues.
Beside, satellites have trouble
measuring some ground
parameters; measurements are
more precise on ground
stations as a result ground
stations are more preferable in
the urban areas. Also cost
effectiveness is also an issue
here
9
10. Statement of the Problem
The motivation for this work is centred on prevailing shortage of weather
related data in most of our rural, remote and interior villages/communities in
particular. The evidence of this fact could be seen in poor weather monitoring
and forecasting that result in weather related environmental hazards that have
some negative effects on agricultural activities also the destruction of lives and
properties as a result of the unavailability in network of weather monitoring
systems dedicated for weather services in these areas.
Even in some urban areas of the country where we have these weather
monitoring systems and stations/devices, there are still some constraints; partly
due to the high cost of importation. Also, operating and managing some of these
imported weather monitoring systems and stations/devices requires high
technical expertise making their use some how difficult even for public uses let
alone private users like small-scale agriculturists/farmers, industrialists,
researchers, travellers, schools and institutions.
10
11. Aim & Objectives
The aim of this research is to design a cost effective, flexible and portable mini weather
monitoring system that will be used to measure and monitor temperature, atmospheric
pressure, relative humidity, light intensity, dew point temperature, altitude
The objectives of this research work are to:
1. Design the circuit using Arduino Mega 2560 microcontroller with some modern
reliable sensors and other components.
2. Write the code using the C++ computer programming language to program the
Arduino Mega 2560 Microcontroller with other components.
3. Use the system to log in weather data to ensure that the device measures weather data
periodically and log the data to a database.
4. Approximate the dew point temperature and calculate the altitude.
5. Compare the readings from the weather monitoring system with those from the Centre
for Atmospheric Research (CAR) and online weather reports (Accu Weather Report).
11
12. Materials and Method
The project consists of two parts; the hardware and the software.
The hardware implementation involves designing the circuit using Arduino
Mega 2560 Microcontroller, Some Modern Reliable Sensor; DHT 11 Digital
Temperature and Humidity Sensor, BMP 180 Pressure and Temperature Sensor
and TSL 2561 Luminosity Sensor/Light Sensor, Data Logger which consist of the
Real Timer (DS 1307), Memory Card, HD444780 LCD, other Circuit Elements/
Materials like Connectors, Resistors; 1000Ω Pot Resistor, Fixed 470Ω Resistor and
Power source. These components were properly selected to meet the Institute of
Electrical and Electronic Engineering (IEEE) and other regulatory bodies on
instrumentation standards for obtaining valid and accurate measurements.
The software implementation involves; writing the code using the C++ computer
programming language to program the Arduino Mega 2560 microcontroller with
other components (simulation) from Proteus 8.
Figure 1 shows the method and approach of the system, Figure 2 shows the
circuit diagram of the weather monitoring system from the simulation from Proteus
8, while Figure 3 shows the snapshot of the designed mini weather monitoring
system.
12
13. Microcontroller
Microcontrollers and Computer boards are the very heart of any electronics
project; responsible for all the major operations. Whether you are building an
intelligent robot or a simple sensor, microcontrollers are required to carry out the
necessary operations.
Table 1: Comparison of some Contemporary Microcontrollers
13
S/No Name of Microcontroller Brief Description Price
(USD)
1 Raspberry Pi 2 Model B This is one of the latest second generation controller board provided
by the popular Raspberry Pi brand. The board itself is more or less
computer not a controller.
111.64
2 BeagleBone Black The BeagleBone Black is a powerful controller board that has
enormous compatibility.
114.95
3 Nanode Winode 4 This board is designed to function like the well reputed Arduino
controller boards . It uses Atmega 328 processor like Arduino UNO
but it focuses more on internet based projects. The board requires
some assembly though.
125.81
4 Parallela Micro ServerBoard This is also a powerful computer controller board. It is more or less
in development phase, there are still a few very minor improvements
required.
155.00
5 Arduino Mega 2560 The Arduino Mega 2560 is one of the most well known compatible,
very versatile controller board presently.
It contains everything needed to support the microcontroller. The
operation process is simple compare to some of these
microcontrollers; simply connect it to a computer with a USB
cable or power it with an AC to DC adapter or battery to get started
and it is compatible with most shields.
65.00
14. Figure 1: Block Diagram of the Designed Mini Weather Monitoring System
Microcontroller
Arduino Mega 2560
Battery port
USB Port
DS1307
RTC
SD Memory
Card
LCD
Display
DHT 11
Sensor
BMP 180
Sensor
TSL 2561
Sensor
14
15. Figure 2: Circuit Diagram of the Mini Weather Monitoring System from Proteus
15
17. Results and Discussion
The components were mounted and embedded for testing to be carried out. It was
found that the system was working properly.
After which measurements was carried out to measure some weather parameters
in Benin City, Edo State Nigeria (Latitude: 6°20′17″N, Longitude: 5°37′32″E and
Elevation above sea level: 87.88 m ≈ 288 ft) between 1st March to 8th March, 2017
for validation purposes.
The weather measurements of temperature, humidity, pressure, luminous
intensity were carried out also the approximation of the dew point temperature
using the Thumb rule (Eqn. 1 or Eqn. 2) and calculation of altitude using the
Barometric Formula (Eqn. 3) were also done.
The results were analyzed and compared with weather data obtained from other
sources (the Centre for Atmospheric Research; CAR and online weather reports;
Accu Weather Report) are tabulated in Table 2 to Table 7 and Figure 4 to Figure 9
for the various weather elements respectively.
17
18. Results and Discussion (Cont’d)
The measured temperature was having percentage error of 0.87 and 1.31; the
measured relative humidity was having percentage error of 0 and 0.43; the measured
atmospheric pressure was having percentage error of 0.02 and 0.03; the light
intensity was having percentage error of 1.91 and 0.94 while the approximated dew
point temperature was having percentage error of 0.98 and 0.15 and the calculated
altitude was having percentage error of 0.06 and 0.05 for both CAR and Accu
Weather Report respectively.
Also we can use a complex formula;
18
19. Results and Discussion (Cont’d)
Where Td is the dew point, T is the temperature, RH is the relative humidity.
For the temperature range –40°C to 0°C, Tn = 272.62°C and m = 22.46 while
for the temperature range 0°C to 50°C, Tn = 243.12°C and m = 17.62. The
dew point value is calculated after receiving the air temperature and relative
humidity values from the weather station. The dew point value can be
calculated automatically from the computer using MATLAB after receiving
the temperature and relative humidity values (Dushyant and Sanjeev, 2013;
Renool, 2014).
With the measured pressure P and the pressure at sea level Ps e.g. 1013.25hPa,
the altitude in meters can be calculated with the international barometric
formula;
Attitude = 44330 { 1- (P/Ps)}1/5.255……………………….(3)
Hence, change in pressure of ΔP = 1hPa corresponds to 8.43m at sea level
(Renool, 2014).
19
20. Table 2: Temperature
Date Measured Average Temperature (o C) Source Average Temperature (o C)
CAR Accu Weather Report
01/03/2017 29 28 28
02/03/2017 28 28 27
03/03/2017 30 29 28
04/03/2017 30 30 31
05/03/2017 27 26 27
06/03/2017 28 29 28
07/03/2017 31 30 31
08/03/2017 32 33 32
Mean Total
Standard
Deviation
29.38
1.69
29.13
2.03
29.00
2.00
Mean Percentage Error (%) 0.87 1.31
20
21. Table 3: Relative Humidity
Date Measured Average Relative Humidity (%) Source Average Relative Humidity (%)
CAR Accu Weather Report
01/03/2017 70 71 72
02/03/2017 79 80 80
03/03/2017 87 87 86
04/03/2017 91 87 90
05/03/2017 99 99 98
06/03/2017 93 94 92
07/03/2017 83 83 85
08/03/2017 58 59 60
Mean Total
Standard
Deviation
82.50
13.33
82.50
12.74
82.86
12.11
Mean Percentage Error (%) 0 0.43
21
22. Table 4: Atmospheric Pressure
Date Measured Average Atmospheric Pressure
(mbar)
Source Average Atmospheric Pressure (mbar)
CAR Accu Weather Report
01/03/2017 1012 1009 1011
02/03/2017 1009 1011 1010
03/03/2017 1008 1009 1009
04/03/2017 1009 1008 1009
05/03/2017 1011 1012 1010
06/03/2017 1010 1009 1009
07/03/2017 1010 1010 1009
08/03/2017 1008 1007 1008
Mean Total
Standard
Deviation
1009.63
1.41
1009.48
1.60
1009.36
0.92
Mean Percentage Error (%) 0.02 0.03
22
23. Table 5: Luminous Intensity
Date Measured Average luminous intensity (cd) Source Average luminous intensity (cd)
CAR Accu Weather Report
01/03/2017 1700 1700 1800
02/03/2017 1500 1600 1600
03/03/2017 1400 1400 1400
04/03/2017 1300 1200 1300
05/03/2017 1100 1100 1000
06/03/2017 1200 1100 1100
07/03/2017 1200 1200 1100
08/03/2017 1300 1200 1300
Mean Total
Standard
Deviation
1337.50
192.26
1312.50
229.52
1325.00
271.24
Mean Percentage Error (%) 1.91 0.94
23
24. Table 6: Dew Point Temperature
Date Approximated Average Dew Point (o C) Source Average Dew Point (o C)
CAR Accu Weather Report
01/03/2017 23.00 22 23
02/03/2017 23.80 24 23
03/03/2017 27.40 27 26
04/03/2017 28.20 28 29
05/03/2017 26.80 27 28
06/03/2017 26.60 27 26
07/03/2017 27.60 26 26
08/03/2017 23.60 24 25
Mean Total
Standard
Deviation
25.88
2.07
25.63
2.07
25.75
2.12
Mean Percentage Error (%) 0.98 0.15
24
25. Table 7: Altitude
Date Calculated Average Altitude (m) Source Average Altitude (m)
CAR Accu Weather Report
01/03/2017 12327.24 12300 12350
02/03/2017 15645.96 15650 15640
03/03/2017 16294.96 16300 16200
04/03/2017 15645.96 15650 15640
05/03/2017 13951.94 13950 13900
06/03/2017 14856.89 14900 15000
07/03/2017 14856.89 14900 15000
08/03/2017 16294.96 16300 16200
Mean Total
Standard
Deviation
14984.35
1334.67
14993.75
1343.62
14991.25
1305.54
Mean Percentage Error (%) 0.06 0.05
25
26. 26
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Measured
CAR
On Line
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Measured
CAR
On line
Figure 4: Temperature
Figure 6: Relative Humidity
28. 28
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Approximated
CAR
On line
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
16000
18000
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Calculated
CAR
On line
Figure 8: Dew Point Temperature
Figure 9: Altitude
29. Findings
From the results of this research, the following findings were made:
1. The results and data from the designed mini weather monitoring system were
in good conformity with data obtained from other sources.
2. The temperature and relative humidity have influence on the dew point
temperature.
3. The atmospheric pressure and relative humidity have influence on the
altitude.
29
30. Contribution to Knowledge
An affordable, effective, flexible, portable and simple mini weather
monitoring system that will be use for measuring temperature,
atmospheric pressure, relative humidity, light intensity have been
designed that will be helpful in mitigating climate-induced
environmental disasters and also aid in the improvement of agricultural
productivity in our rural communities in particular.
30
31. Conclusion
In this era of global warming, research in weather measurement,
monitoring and forecasting are becoming more and more relevant; getting
the latest weather forecast and taking the necessary precaution have
become a major issue all over the world.
Weather monitoring plays an important role in human life, so the
collection of information about the temporal dynamics of weather changes
is very paramount.
This research demonstrates the design and Implementation of an
affordable mini weather monitoring system that ensures flexibility,
portability, scalability and user friendly operations which can provide data
of some weather variables including temperature, humidity, pressure,
ambient light intensity with Real Time Data Logger also the dew point
temperature was approximated for using the Thumb Rule and the altitude
was calculated using the Barometric Formula.
31
32. Suggestions for Further Studies
We conclude by outlining the following possible suggestions for future
research:
1. Addition of more sensors to monitor other weather and environmental
parameters with plans for expanding the range of weather data being
measured.
2. The power requirements should be increased. This could be catered for by
modifying the operation of the system to save energy also solar tracking,
employing backup battery and connecting an additional source of power
could also be considered.
3. Furthermore, the overall system robustness should be evaluated and
statistically weather data should also be measured, collected, analyzed and
evaluated so as to make appropriate and accurate monitoring and
prognostications.
32
33. Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the Centre for Atmospheric Research (CAR) under the
auspices of the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA)
for their assistance hitherto.
We are also grateful to the Management of Edo University Iyamho, Edo State,
Nigeria.
33
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37
38. THANK YOU FOR LISTENING AND MAY
GOD ALMIGHTY BLESS YOU RICHLY
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