The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Students tour meteorological station

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 27, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Students tour meteorological station

Staff Reporter

Trip for 14 organised by Nehru Children's Cultural Association

GUIDING THEM: An official at the Meenambakkam observatory explains to visiting school students the working of an equipment that measures temperature. — Photo: R. Shivaji Rao

CHENNAI : The meteorological observatory at Meenambakkam played host on Thursday to an enthusiastic bunch of school students, who visited the facility as part of a science field trip organised by the Nehru Children's Cultural Association.

The guided tour began with a briefing of the Observatory's activities by meteorologist N. Meenatchi Nathan. The observatory is a part of the meteorological office that controls and coordinates the aviation weather forecasting, he told the group. Mr. Nathan explained to them the need for sending up various sensors as part of the observatory's `upper air observation.'

Necessary sensors

"You can use a thermometer for measuring temperature and other parameters at the ground level. But if you want to measure temperature, humidity and atmospheric pressure at a height, you need to send the necessary sensors up in a balloon," he said.

"That must be a hydrogen balloon," said young Abhishek from P.S. Senior Secondary School.

"Yes," said Mr. Nathan, adding that the balloons were sent up twice in the day -- at 5.30 a.m. and 5.30 p.m.

Other activities of the round-the-clock observatory include conducting `surface observation' every three hours to measure temperature and other parameters, he said.

"But do you know where the thermometer is placed for finding the maximum and minimum temperature levels?" asked the meteorologist.

"In the shade," replied one of the group members. "No. It is kept outside as we measure the maximum and minimum air temperatures," explained Mr. Nathan. The 14-member team, accompanied by the Nehru Children's Cultural Association members, jotted down the details and checked out posters about cyclone and tsunami.

How equipment work

They also got to see how equipment such as autographic instrument, wind anemometer and automatic rain gauge worked.

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