AUTOMATION OF SURFACE OBSERVING NETWORK IN BMKG

Transcription

1 ICAWS-2017 (Initiating automation and supporting migration from manual to automated measurements) AUTOMATION OF SURFACE OBSERVING NETWORK IN BMKG Agung Saifulloh Majid 1, G.S. Budhi Dharmawan 2, Damianus Tri Heryanto 3, Untung Merdijanto 4 Agency for Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics of the Republic of Indonesia(BMKG) 1234 Phone : (6221) , Facs : (6221) agung.majid@bmkg.go.id 1, gregorius.dharmawan@bmkg.go.id 2, damianus.heryanto@bmkg.go.id 3, untung.me@bmkg.go.id 4 ABSTRACT Agency for Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics of the Republic of Indonesia (BMKG) is an Indonesian government agency responsible for providing a comprehensive meteorological information service regarding weather forecast information, early warning of severe weather, aviation and maritime weather information, and climate monitoring as well. In order to achieve those goals, BMKG maintains a network of surface observing stations (manual and automatic), radiosondes, wind profiler radars and weather radars installed across Indonesia. In terms of surface observation, BMKG currently operates 141 surface observing stations, with 59 stations are registered to the Regional Basic Synoptic Networks (RBSN) and 19 stations are registered to Regional Basic Climatological Network (RBCN).The majority of the observation equipment used at those stations is still conventional-manual type, including mercury or chart-based instruments, which are difficult to be integrated automatically. This paper describes BMKG s efforts to modernize its observations equipment and to integrate its surface observing stations network as had been set out in the BMKG s roadmap of surface observation network automation It is expected that BMKG able to support the WMO policy in eliminating the use of mercury-containing instruments gradually before 2020, and able to increase its ability in supporting the implementation of the WMO Integrated Global Observing System (WIGOS) objectives in the Regional Association (RA) V and other regional and international activities. Keywords: automation, surface observing network, integration Page 1 of 13

2 1. Introduction BMKG, as an Indonesian government institution that responsible for providing any public weather-related information, currently operates weather and climate observation network consisting of 120 meteorological stations, 21 climatological stations/posts, 3 Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW), 409 Automatic Weather Station (AWS), 44 Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS), 402 Automatic Rain Gauges (ARG), 44 Radiosonde stations, 40 weather radar, and 3 Wind Profiler Radar (WPR) installed throughout Indonesian region. Among 141 BMKG s surface observation, 59 stations are registered the Regional Basic Synoptic Networks (RBSN), an agreed selection of surface meteorological observing stations of the World Weather Watch (WWW)/Global Observing System (GOS). Most of the observation equipment used in those stations are still rely on manual-conventional instruments including mercury or chart based instruments. are: The use of manual-conventional instruments brings some limitations, those a. Operator/observer dependency, the need of observer attendance while measuring weather parameter. b. Observer subjectivity may affect the quality of measurement results. c. Observing duration in a manned station depends on the number of observer. The longer observation hours, the more staff needed. d. The weather observation results cannot be directly/automatically processed by a computer. 2. Automation Roadmap The UNEP Minamata Convention on Mercury will enter into force internationally in 2020, and all activities involving production and trading of mercurybased instruments will be banned. Following the convention, WMO recommends National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) to reduce or eliminate the use of mercury-containing instruments. In addition, International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and International Air Transport Association (IATA) regulation on dangerous goods also cause the transportation for mercury-based instrument become more difficult. BMKG has established an Observing Station Network Automation Roadmap until 2019, which is implemented gradually in accordance with the available budget, in order to maintain Page 2 of 13

3 a reliable and sustainable observation data by the use of non-mercury or automatic instruments. Table 1. The stages of the automation project FUNDING APBN* STATION YEAR GRAND TOTAL BASIC NON-BASIC CLIMATOLOGY BASIC STR-1** NON-BASIC 8 8 Total * State Budget ** Strengthening project in collaboration with Meteo France International (MFI) Activities involved in the automation project are: 1. Provision of integrated grounding system and surge protector devises to prevent equipment damages because of lightning strikes and voltage surges. 2. Rearrangement of met garden, e.g: ground leveling; cable ducting setup, sensors siting and exposure; 3. Equipment replacement from manual/conventional to electronic/digital. 4. Provision of supporting facilities such as UPS, solar panels, and generator sets, to ensure continuous observation and to prevent observation data losses due to the lack of quality and quantity main power supply. 5. Communication network reconfiguration. 6. Adjustment of data format and metadata. 7. Designing client interface and monitoring application. 8. Parallel observation. 9. Standard Operating Procedure for system maintenance 10. Data Repository upgrade. 3. Implementation The overall implementation of automation project for every year stage started from document preparation, procurement phase, project execution, until system maintenance, has a similarity with those are explained in F. Kuik, et.al (2016). Page 3 of 13

4 Figure 1. Automated station from 2015 to 2017 a. Year Automation is carried out in 5 stations: Kualanamu, Palembang, Surabaya, Manado, dan Sentani. b. Year Automation was conducted in 25 stations, those are: 1. Banda Aceh 14. Denpasar 2. Tanjung Pinang 15. Bima 3. Pekanbaru 16. Majene 4. Padang 17. Makassar 5. Jambi 18. Baubau 6. Pangkal Pinang 19. Labuha 7. Lampung 20. Ambon 8. Pontianak 21. Sorong 9. Cengkareng 22. Biak 10. Semarang 23. Wamena 11. Balikpapan 24. Timika 12. Palangkaraya 25. Merauke 13. Banjarmasin Page 4 of 13

5 c. Year 2017 In this year, there are 22 stations will be automated: 1. Batam 2. Banyuwangi 3. Ruteng 4. Naha 5. Wamena 6. Tanjung Balai Karimun 7. Aek Godang 8. Cengkareng 9. Cilacap 10. Kerinci 11. Paloh 12. Serang 13. Tanjung Selor 14. Tanjung Redep 15. Kotabaru 16. Tuban 17. Kalianget 18. Larantuka 19. Nabire 20. Sintang 21. Putusibau 22. Ketapang 4. Meteorological Garden Rearrangement This activity is established by rearranging the existing meteorological park at the station in accordance with the requirements specified in the system design. The rearrangement includes the following activities: 1. Re-siting of observation equipment. After a site survey, it was found that there are several equipment that need to be relocated in order to get a better exposure as recommended in WMO-8 document. 2. Improving ground leveling, since there are several sites that the ground needs to be leveled first. 3. Installing concrete cable ducts to give an easy access for cabling maintenance. The cable duct is made from U-Ditch concrete that needs to be fabricated on the site because it's easier than transporting them from the manufacturer to the site that sometimes is not possible due to the long transportation time and the more complicated bureaucracy. 4. Replacement/reparation of the meteorological garden fences. Page 5 of 13

6 An example of meteorological garden layout redesign can be viewed in Figure 2. (a) (b) Gambar 2. Example of meteorological garden layout rearrangement: (a) Before, (b) After The new layout is made to accommodate the additional structures, like cable duct, new mast, etc., and the need for parallel observation. Figure 3 below, shows the transformation of the meteorological garden in Kualanamu station from 2015 to 2016 condition. Page 6 of 13

7 a. Kualanamu station, 2015 b. Kualanamu station, Detail Specifications 5.1 Sensors Figure 3. Example of meteorological garden transformation All the automated stations are equipped with sensors for sensing parameters like wind speed, wind direction, temperature, relative humidity, atmospheric pressure, rainfall, solar radiation, and evaporation. The sensor specifications are shown in Table 2. Table 2. Sensors specifications No Parameter Sensor Accuracy Range Resolution 1 Wind Speed Ultrasonic ± 0.2 m/s 0 75 m/s 0.1 m/s 2 Wind Direction Ultrasonic < Temperature 4 Relative Humidity 5 Atmospheric Pressure 6 Rainfall 7 Solar Radiation Pt100 RTD Class F0 Capacitive thin film Silicone Capacitive Tipping bucket Silicon photodiode 1,5%RH for 0-90%RH -40 s/d +85 C ± 0.1 C 0 100% hpa hpa 0.1 hpa 2% 0.2 mm 100m V/W/m W/m µm Page 7 of 13

8 No Parameter Sensor Accuracy Range Resolution 8 Evaporation Open pan a. Water level b. Water temperature Pressure difference 0.4 mm mm Thermistor ± 0.03 C C c. Wind speed Cup m/s m/s 0.1 m/s The system specification was made to facilitate the use of different sensors from different manufacturers, to keep the interchangeability and minimize the conflict of interest during the procurement process. 5.2 Datalogger Datalogger used in this project needs a supply voltage V with power consumption W depending on the used mode. The Datalogger equipped with an LCD display, 13 input, 6 output, and configurable virtual channel with an easily adjustable measuring interval for single values per channel. The Compact Flash Card ( CF Card) data memory provide a data storage buffer for 1 year. The Datalogger also provides mobile and wireless data transfer via CF card, with cable via interface RS232 or optional via GSM modem, telephone modem, radio modem, or RS Data Collection System (DCS) Datalogger Application Software. It has ability as explained below: - Store raw data of observed weather parameters in the database. - Display the results of processed data - instantly, hourly and daily interval - in a graphical display or in a statistical tabulation format on each observed/measured weather parameter. - Able to display and store data parameters 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 60 minutes, and 24 hours each day. - Send data through communication channels (BMKG GTS) as needed automatically. - Able to display the sensor condition. - Provide alert if wind speed exceeds 20 knots, rain intensity is larger than 40 mm in 2 hours, air humidity is smaller than 65% and air temperature is greater than 32 or can be set as needed. Observation Application Software, has the following functions: - Process data, display, and create reports of routine observations in SYNOP (ME 48 and ME 45), WXRev, METAR, and SPECI code as Page 8 of 13

9 per WMO standards (weather parameters which are not generated by the tool can be inputted manually by operator/observer). - Output code should be sent to Computerized Message Switching System (CMSS) or BMKGSoft server. - Observation data is sent to AWS Center server ( according to the format of database structure automatically. - Send raw data files compressed (zip, rar, or tar) and processed data automatically through communication channels (BMKG GTS) available as needed. - Display reports SYNOP (ME48 and ME45), WXRev, monthly in.xls and.pdf format. - Download raw data (weather parameter) from datalogger and save it in CSV format and database. - Connection with datalogger can be through Serial, TCP, or UDP. - Numerical and graphical views (such as curves and histograms). - User-friendly software running stand-alone or via a web browser. - The software can synchronize the internal clock (RTC) Datalogger with NTP server (ntp.bmkg.go.id) automatically. - Run on open source platform (Linux). Screenshots sample of the local display application is shown in Figure 4. Figure 4. Local Display Screenshot Page 9 of 13

10 Figure 5. Detail display screenshot in observation room The application interface enabling the observer to enter the data of unautomated parameters, such as visibility and cloudiness, and check the data of the weather parameters whether within tolerable limits or not. 6. System Data Flow Figure 6 shows the data flow from observation equipment to database center at BMKG headquarter. In this system there are still two parameters, visibility, and cloudiness, which should be entered manually through the application on the local server by the observers who also functions as data Quality Controller (QC) level I. The data in the form of the SYNOP, WXREV, and METAR code is then sent to the Center for Database via the VSAT communications network with 10 minutes time interval. Then the data will be validated and standardized by the Center for Database, which also functions as QC level II, and stored in the National Data Repository. Page 10 of 13

11 Figure 6. Data Flow 7. Parallel Observation The WMO recommends the need for parallel observations, at least 2 years, in case of system migrations from manual to automatic or the changes of the observation location, to ensure the continuity and homogeneity of the climatological data. For that reason, BMKG General Director also had issued an instruction for conducting such parallel observations as a basis for evaluating the effect of changes emerging from the implementation of this automation program. b. Evaporation b. Temperature and Relative Humidity Figure 7. Parallel Observation Page 11 of 13

12 P auto - P man (mb) RH auto - RH man (%) T auto - T man ( o C) A sample of parallel observation results, depicted in Figure 8, shows the difference value for several parameters between manual and automatic measurement at Kualanamu station from April 2016 until April There are still a lot of methods and formulas that can be used to analyze the parallel measurement results but will not be discussed further in this paper Temperature Difference, Kualanamu Station Average = Data number (a) RH Difference, Kualanamu Station Average = Data number (b) Pressure Difference, Kualanamu Station Average = Data number (c) Figure 8. Example of measurement difference between automatic and manual parallel observation; (a) Temperature difference, (b) RH difference, and (c) Pressure difference Page 12 of 13

13 8. Consequences of automation The automation project brings some consequences that some of them should be addressed carefully, some of them are: a. The role change from observers become quality controllers. b. Field calibration should be taken intensively since the electronic equipment is more fragile than the manual/conventional one. Therefore, BMKG has decentralized the calibration authority of the station observation s equipment to the BMKG Regional Office. c. The use of paper for charting or reporting can be reduced significantly, contributes to keeping our world clean and green. 9. Challenges - Indonesia is an archipelagic country with its unique geographical condition needs a special attention mainly in mobilizing the required materials in this automation program to ensure that all plans will run on schedule. - The need for capacity building capabilities on maintenance human resources. The increasing use of electronic equipment requires more skilled technicians, both quality and quantity, that are currently still limited. - The amount of allocated funds provided by the State Budget that directly affects the project implementation. - The availability of adequate electricity is still a problem, especially for eastern Indonesia, because of its significant influence on the durability of electronic equipment. - The capacity and quality of communication network also need to be addressed seriously, especially between stations to the headquarter, to minimize the potential lost of observation data. 10. Conclusion a. Automation of 63 observing station had been carried out until the end of b. Automation of 22 observing station is being carried out in c. Parallel observation is established for all stations involved in this project. 11. Reference - F. Kuik, et.al, Requirement Specifications for SYNOPTIC Observation Networks, WMO-No. 8-16, Guide to Meteorological Instruments and Methods of Observation: (CIMO guide), WMO, provisional 2014 ed., approved by CIMO Instruction of General Director of BMKG on parallel observation, 2014 Page 13 of 13