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Latest Cumulus MX V3 release 3.28.6 (build 3283) - 21 March 2024
Cumulus MX V4 beta test release 4.0.0 (build 4019) - 03 April 2024
Legacy Cumulus 1 release 1.9.4 (build 1099) - 28 November 2014
(a patch is available for 1.9.4 build 1099 that extends the date range of drop-down menus to 2030)
Download the Software (Cumulus MX / Cumulus 1 and other related items) from the Wiki
Davis vantage vue radiation shield not white enough? It looks light grey even at pictures on their website
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- Posts: 7
- Joined: Sat 16 Jul 2022 2:03 pm
- Weather Station: Davis Vantage vue
- Operating System: Windows 10 Home
- Location: Örebro, Sweden
Davis vantage vue radiation shield not white enough? It looks light grey even at pictures on their website
I'm wondering if painting the davis vantage vue radiation shield a pure white with no tones of black, blue or yellow which usually is the case will reduce heat buildup within the shield and therefore improve and flatten out solar spikes? My station is located 1,5m above grass surface and no obstacles within 6m so i don't get how the 2nd best weather station for private users have these faults.
Since the colour gray also has an albedo of 0,5-0,7 depending on the shade it must make quite a big difference if i paint it white which has an albedo of 0,8-0,9 aka 25% less radiation absorbed which is around 125w less heat from the sun during the time when the sun angle shines on the whole shield.
Has anyone tried painting the shield white and did it have any effect? The problem is only during daytime 10-18 so before and after that time my station and the nearest airport goes hand in hand basically.
Example from today during partly cloudy conditionshttp://www.bilddump.se/bilder/202208081 ... 22.173.png
Since the colour gray also has an albedo of 0,5-0,7 depending on the shade it must make quite a big difference if i paint it white which has an albedo of 0,8-0,9 aka 25% less radiation absorbed which is around 125w less heat from the sun during the time when the sun angle shines on the whole shield.
Has anyone tried painting the shield white and did it have any effect? The problem is only during daytime 10-18 so before and after that time my station and the nearest airport goes hand in hand basically.
Example from today during partly cloudy conditionshttp://www.bilddump.se/bilder/202208081 ... 22.173.png
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Re: Davis vantage vue radiation shield not white enough? It looks light grey even at pictures on their website
To me, your temperature graph looks reasonable - it is a typical trace for a day when the cloud sometimes covers the sun. You stand to gain more accuracy by aspirating your temperature screen - by setting up a fan that will keep an airflow blowing across the sensors and not allowing air to stagnate and remain stationary near the sensors.
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- Posts: 7
- Joined: Sat 16 Jul 2022 2:03 pm
- Weather Station: Davis Vantage vue
- Operating System: Windows 10 Home
- Location: Örebro, Sweden
Re: Davis vantage vue radiation shield not white enough? It looks light grey even at pictures on their website
I have already tried using a solar driven fan that blows from the side onto the shield during july but with a very slight reduce in average temperature by 0,5c, i think the heatup within the radiation shield is manly caused by the surface of the shield that is mainly grey and not white which absorbs more latent heat, it doesn't matter how much air blows onto the shield as long as it heats up too much.freddie wrote: ↑Mon 08 Aug 2022 4:11 pm To me, your temperature graph looks reasonable - it is a typical trace for a day when the cloud sometimes covers the sun. You stand to gain more accuracy by aspirating your temperature screen - by setting up a fan that will keep an airflow blowing across the sensors and not allowing air to stagnate and remain stationary near the sensors.
When this one is released and can be bought in a store it will change everything
https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/release ... ally..html
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Re: Davis vantage vue radiation shield not white enough? It looks light grey even at pictures on their website
A fan blowing on to the shield does nothing. The fan needs to be inside of the shield..I know i have to wrote: ↑Tue 09 Aug 2022 10:03 am
I have already tried using a solar driven fan that blows from the side onto the shield during july but with a very slight reduce in average temperature by 0,5c, i think the heatup within the radiation shield is manly caused by the surface of the shield that is mainly grey and not white which absorbs more latent heat, it doesn't matter how much air blows onto the shield as long as it heats up too much.
When this one is released and can be bought in a store it will change everything
https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/release ... ally..html
In all honesty, I have never seen anyone complain about the colour of the radiation shield before?! Mine isn't grey either, it is white, and it doesn't get remotely warm if I put my hand on it during warm/hot weather.
I think you're being a bit paranoid about it to be fair..
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- Posts: 7
- Joined: Sat 16 Jul 2022 2:03 pm
- Weather Station: Davis Vantage vue
- Operating System: Windows 10 Home
- Location: Örebro, Sweden
Re: Davis vantage vue radiation shield not white enough? It looks light grey even at pictures on their website
So what's the purpose for the radiation shield to have great ventilation if the effect of ventilation can't be reached if it's not blowing inside the shield? Anyways i painted the radiation shield a pure white colour without tones at 14:00 today and i can already see a big change on the fluctuations compared to yesterday with the same weather conditions.Mapantz wrote: ↑Tue 09 Aug 2022 11:11 amA fan blowing on to the shield does nothing. The fan needs to be inside of the shield..I know i have to wrote: ↑Tue 09 Aug 2022 10:03 am
I have already tried using a solar driven fan that blows from the side onto the shield during july but with a very slight reduce in average temperature by 0,5c, i think the heatup within the radiation shield is manly caused by the surface of the shield that is mainly grey and not white which absorbs more latent heat, it doesn't matter how much air blows onto the shield as long as it heats up too much.
When this one is released and can be bought in a store it will change everything
https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/release ... ally..html
In all honesty, I have never seen anyone complain about the colour of the radiation shield before?! Mine isn't grey either, it is white, and it doesn't get remotely warm if I put my hand on it during warm/hot weather.
I think you're being a bit paranoid about it to be fair..
http://www.bilddump.se/bilder/202208091 ... 22.173.png
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Re: Davis vantage vue radiation shield not white enough? It looks light grey even at pictures on their website
@I know I have to. A photo of your station might help. I wash my shields once or twice a year as I live in a suburban area. I would never paint my shields and I’m pretty certain Davis wouldn’t recommend it.
Where do you live?
Where do you live?
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- Posts: 7
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- Weather Station: Davis Vantage vue
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- Location: Örebro, Sweden
Re: Davis vantage vue radiation shield not white enough? It looks light grey even at pictures on their website
https://www.bildtagg.se/uploads/2022/22 ... 01t0yz.jpgRayProudfoot wrote: ↑Tue 09 Aug 2022 6:26 pm @I know I have to. A photo of your station might help. I wash my shields once or twice a year as I live in a suburban area. I would never paint my shields and I’m pretty certain Davis wouldn’t recommend it.
Where do you live?
It looks like this, the tree pole that the station is mounted on is also painted white so extra heat radiation from this pole is not expected, even the original stainless steel pole from davis would heat up the surroundings more than mine does.
I live in a area of Urban Climate Zone Index 7 which means it's mostly surrounded by bigger empty grasslands with smaller houses in between, typical residential area light. What's interesting is that i usually record 0,2-0,7c colder temperatures during late evening and nighttime so obviously the exposure is enough since the aiport station is surrounded by even less objects.
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Re: Davis vantage vue radiation shield not white enough? It looks light grey even at pictures on their website
Well I still don’t know where you live. Country and State/ County will be fine. UCZI 7 means nothing to me. I don’t need your road and house number.I know i have to wrote: ↑Fri 12 Aug 2022 11:33 am It looks like this, the tree pole that the station is mounted on is also painted white so extra heat radiation from this pole is not expected, even the original stainless steel pole from davis would heat up the surroundings more than mine does.
I live in a area of Urban Climate Zone Index 7 which means it's mostly surrounded by bigger empty grasslands with smaller houses in between, typical residential area light. What's interesting is that i usually record 0,2-0,7c colder temperatures during late evening and nighttime so obviously the exposure is enough since the aiport station is surrounded by even less objects.
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif)
That setup looks very close to things that can generate heat. Is it positioned over grass? A wide angle photo would help.
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- Posts: 7
- Joined: Sat 16 Jul 2022 2:03 pm
- Weather Station: Davis Vantage vue
- Operating System: Windows 10 Home
- Location: Örebro, Sweden
Re: Davis vantage vue radiation shield not white enough? It looks light grey even at pictures on their website
Sweden, Örebro. I must say that the picture does not really represent the siting location properly, it's at least 2,5m from both fences and the fence to the left never recives sunlight at all and the fence behind it for only 2-3 hours/daily and it's morning sun were talking about. I can accept heat radiation from fences to reach about 1-1,5m out but this far from it doesn't really make sense.RayProudfoot wrote: ↑Fri 12 Aug 2022 11:48 amWell I still don’t know where you live. Country and State/ County will be fine. UCZI 7 means nothing to me. I don’t need your road and house number.I know i have to wrote: ↑Fri 12 Aug 2022 11:33 am It looks like this, the tree pole that the station is mounted on is also painted white so extra heat radiation from this pole is not expected, even the original stainless steel pole from davis would heat up the surroundings more than mine does.
I live in a area of Urban Climate Zone Index 7 which means it's mostly surrounded by bigger empty grasslands with smaller houses in between, typical residential area light. What's interesting is that i usually record 0,2-0,7c colder temperatures during late evening and nighttime so obviously the exposure is enough since the aiport station is surrounded by even less objects.![]()
That setup looks very close to things that can generate heat. Is it positioned over grass? A wide angle photo would help.
It's positioned 1,5m above a regularly mowed grass area which never dries out/gets yellowish so no summer-time effect there either.
Quote from Davis vantage sensor suite guidelines "Avoid installations near fences or sides of buildnings that recives a lot of sun during the day" Which isn't true in my case either, 2-3 hours is not a lot and wouldn't have that distinctly effect we are talking about here. And as you can see it's very open above the station basically under the sky which helps ventilation.
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Re: Davis vantage vue radiation shield not white enough? It looks light grey even at pictures on their website
If you intend to post here put your location in your Profile settings please.I know i have to wrote: ↑Fri 12 Aug 2022 1:11 pm
Sweden, Örebro. I must say that the picture does not really represent the siting location properly, it's at least 2,5m from both fences and the fence to the left never recives sunlight at all and the fence behind it for only 2-3 hours/daily and it's morning sun were talking about. I can accept heat radiation from fences to reach about 1-1,5m out but this far from it doesn't really make sense.
It's positioned 1,5m above a regularly mowed grass area which never dries out/gets yellowish so no summer-time effect there either.
Quote from Davis vantage sensor suite guidelines "Avoid installations near fences or sides of buildnings that recives a lot of sun during the day" Which isn't true in my case either, 2-3 hours is not a lot and wouldn't have that distinctly effect we are talking about here. And as you can see it's very open above the station basically under the sky which helps ventilation.
I think you’ll have to accept the situation. I can’t imagine the Vantage Vue shields are of a lesser quality than the VP2’s. I have no real solution for you, sorry.