Weather instruments are vitally important to a number of industries. This is because weather is a determining factor in many different industrial sectors, from agriculture to shipping. Temperature gauges can tell a refrigerated warehouse how much it has to cool down the interior, while Doppler radars can tell the path of an airport-closing storm.
Agriculture
Agriculture is heavily dependent on weather instruments, as it tells farmers when to plant and what precautions to take. For the most profit, farmers try to sow their crops at the earliest opportunity, but if done too early the crops could fail. Temperature sensors tell the farmers when it is warm enough to plant. Furthermore, radar is used to predict whether or not storms will come that could damage the crops.
Shipping
Weather sensors are of vital importance to the shipping industry because they can be used to predict hurricanes and other storms. Even though ship construction has become advanced enough to weather strong storms, hurricanes can still damage or even capsize some ships. Furthermore, these storms make offloading and loading of cargo impossible due to the high swells of the tides.
Air Transportation
Air transportation also depends heavily on weather instruments. Temperature and air pressure can affect a plane behavior in the air as it changes the amount of lift. Radar is used to track storms that can ground aircraft or making landing impossible. Barometers and humidity sensors can also be used to predict snowfall, which is needed to then predict how much snow clearing equipment is needed.
Construction
The construction sector also depends on weather instruments. The humidity levels are very important when pouring concrete because the moisture levels have to be within a certain range. If there is too little water, the concrete will not bond properly, but if there is too much it can be weakened with possible disastrous effects. Additionally, skyscraper construction depends heavily on wind sensors to tell if it is safe for people to work hundreds of yards in the sky.
References
- Eagle: A Review of the Stability of Ship and Ocean Vehicles Conference
- Agrometeorology: Weather and Climate Forecasts for Agriculture
- RCI Online: Design and Construction vs Weather
- Department of Transportation: Weather and Aviation: How Does Weather Affect the Safety and Operations of Airports and Aviation, and How Does FAA Work to Manage Weather-related Effects?