Otter Valley Weather Station

The weather station consists of a set of Met Office approved sheathed minimum and maximum thermometers, plus a wet & dry bulb hygrometer (using a humidity calculator) housed in a Stevenson Screen. A standard rain gauge is also used. As an addition, electronic measurements are also taken using a Davis AWS which feeds directly back to a PC enabling the production of continuous 15 minute data sets. Parameters which are measured electronically are wind speed and direction, grass minimum, soil temperature at 30 and 100 cm depth, rain intensity (via a tipping bucket rain gauge) and sunshine duration (Instromet R&D type Sun Sensor). There is also a webcam (operating when computer is on) which has been placed next to the sunshine recorder and gives a view of the southern sky looking towards the sea.

The site is situated on a relatively wide valley floor of the River Otter, near the town of Ottery St. Mary and is slightly exposed in all directions, though rather less to the north and a little more to the south. The geology of the area is predominantly Otter Sandstone of Triassic age with the soils being sandy and characteristically red in colour.

The close proximity of the sea (6 miles) to the south of this weather station means that is has a strong influence on the climate here, moderating high temperatures during the summer with a sea breeze, and making severe frosts a rarity.

Home | Data | Live | Webcam | Climate | Gallery | Contact | Links