Meteorological equipment specialist Biral has completed the installation of two weather stations at Cowes Harbour on the Isle of Wight.
The project was overseen by Cowes Harbour Commission (CHC) and marine data specialist OceanWise and resulted in two monitoring stations being installed on the River Medina. The tide and weather data provided by the stations will help commercial and leisure vessels to make safer and more timely navigational decisions.
Ed Walker, harbor master at CHC, said, ‘‘As a trust port, we work to ensure navigational safety remains a top priority in the harbor. The Cowes weather station is our latest stakeholder benefit project designed to help CHC, leisure and commercial stakeholders to continue to operate safely. Delivered with OceanWise’s expertise in marine data, it will also enable CHC to monitor and manage key environmental data for the harbor.”
The first weather station has been installed at Shepards Marina, providing tide height and visibility information. The second is an innovative floating weather station in the main harbor providing information on wind speed and direction, temperature, and barometric pressure. The tide and weather sensors feed data to the online Cowes weather station.
A range of monitoring instruments were used for the project including Biral’s SWS-200A visibility sensor. Data from all the sensors is collected and transmitted using an OceanWise smart telemetry modem and a data management and display system.
Mark Jonas, technical director at OceanWise, said, “Robust and integrated marine data management systems are helping our customers to improve safety, respond to changing weather patterns, and enhance decision-making.”
Biral’s sensor is specifically designed for use in harsh marine conditions. It measures visibility or Meteorological Optical Range (MOR), as well as reporting the presence of liquid and frozen precipitation.