Weather Centres (Hansard, 29 January 1997)

§ Mr. Arbuthnot

This is a matter for the chief executive of the Meteorological Office. I have asked the chief executive to write to the hon. Member.

Letter from J. C. R. Hunt to Mr. Peter Hardy, dated 29 January 1997:

I am replying to your Question to the Secretary of State for Defence about the quality of measuring equipment at Meteorological Office weather centres, as this falls within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive of the Meteorological Office.

The observing equipment used at all three sites is SAMOS (Semi Automatic Meteorological Observing System), a system developed within the Meteorological Office.

Prior to acceptance for general operational use this system underwent detailed trials and evaluation to prove its viability as an accurate observing system suitable for replacing manual observations.

The sensors are calibrated in the Meteorological Office Quality Assurance laboratory before installation and as necessary in subsequent use. Leeds and Waddington are manned stations and staff there perform check climate measurements every morning against separate, calibrated sensors.

Nottingham (or more correctly Watnall) is co-located with a Meteorological Office maintenance centre. The duty technician on site checks the wet bulb reservoir and general condition/operation of the equipment, but routine caretaker observations are not carried out. Watnall and Waddington are well exposed sites giving a good representation of the local meteorological conditions. Leeds Weather Centre SAMOS is located on a roof top site within the city and may be subject to local effects particularly in respect of wind and temperature.

All data on receipt at HQ Bracknell go through automatic quality evaluation procedures.

I am confident that the equipment we use gives excellent results whilst making significant savings on the cost of a fully manned operation.

I hope this gives you the information you need.