Local weather data and research

[HansR]

Yesterday I was approached by a researcher (PhD student: Birds of prey and wind energy, [Engie - IMBE / Aix-Marseille University - University of Groningen]) who is looking into the behaviour of Montagu's harrier (Grauwe Kiekendief) in relation to wind turbines (which rapidly increase in number over here). For this the birds are equipped with a GPS-transmitter with air-pressure measurement e.g. read here (in Dutch).

The altitude needs to be calibrated against the pressure at sea level and therefore the researcher needed weather data as close by as possible.
So he found me.

I made an extract of time/pressure minute data and send him all data I had (and will in the coming periods) for him to analyse himself (he wanted temperature as well, maybe even more data), pointing to the forum and the wiki for information. It really is nice somebody really needs local (and I mean as close by as possible) weather data. Made my day!

That's a really nice purpose of the station.
Unfortunately research pays bad.

[PaulMy]

[KarlS]

I had a similar request a few years back. A PhD student from the University of British Columbia was researching winter migration patterns of moose in our area and she needed temperature (daily avg, min, max), snow fall and snow depth data. Luckily I was able to supply her with about 10 year's worth of data. I got a big "Thank you" back, but unfortunatelly no further information about the project.

[HansR]

@Paul: yes it's nice isn't it. That's what we're doing it for
@KarlS: That's a nice project too.

but unfortunately no further information about the project.

I asked him to make a reference to my site and in the report and I invited him for a coffee some time. Some do , some don't, but a report and a reference is the least to return I'd say. We'll see.

[PaulMy]

My experience was not on a research but on an environmental spill and the authorities were investigating a construction company for causing a hazardous spill in the nearby Thames River. The contractor blamed the spill on natural occurrence due to heavy rain and flooding. The authorities were referred to me by the local Conservation Authority who knew I was in close proximity and I was reporting precipitation to CoCoRaHS and had an automated weather station as well. Had a 4 hour examination about my setup and data collection, and a couple of follow ups, and then nothing since. During the hours of the spill into the river, there was very heavy rain recorded by my Davis, and also a near record in my CoCoRaHS gauge.

Enjoy,
Paul

[HansR]

@Paul: wow, legal battles! But wrt publication and follow up it is more difficult to publish legal result (might be political sensitive) than scientific research which almost by definition require publication and PR .

[mcrossley]

I had someone using data from my site in relation to an insurance claim for property damage due to high winds - they were strong