What’s New ~ February - June 2009

LEED Certified Visitor Center

Lassen Volcanic National Park, California

June 2009 -- When Lassen Volcanic National Park, in northern California, decided to build a LEED certified Visitor Center, they chose the Capricorn 2000EX Weather Station™ to be an integral component.

The Park's Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center uses the weather station to retrieve and store data in case of an audit by the U.S. Green Building Council.

The center's electric and heating system automatically adjusts to temperature and daylight, and the Capricorn 2000EX generates data to confirm the system's proper functionality.

CWS Product Update:

Solar Radiation Sensor Available for All CWS Systems

June 2009 -- The addition of the Solar Radiation sensor option to Columbia Weather Systems' Weather MicroServer adds this new capability to the Orion line of weather stations. (Previously solar radiation measurement was available only with the Capricorn 2000MP/EX Weather Stations.)

The pyranometer or solar radiation sensor is calibrated to measure the shortwave radiation reaching the Earth's surface, measured in Watts/m-2. The self-cleaning convex lens is designed to accurately measure even low-angle radiation coming directly from the sun in the morning and evening. The dome-shaped head prevents water accumulation.

Alternative Energy Project

W2 Energy Development Corporation has selected Columbia Weather Systems' Orion Weather Station to provide meteorological data as they develop their latest project to capture wind energy.

The WindWing utilizes a lever principle and an airplane-like wing for capturing the force of the wind. This results in a significant mechanical advantage for converting the wind's kinetic energy into electricity, compressed air, or direct applications such as pumping water.

Currently, the Orion weather station is used with a custom-designed display with large LCD readouts.

In the next phase, the weather data will be used to control the WindWing directly.

WindWing incorporates a sensor system designed to measure the variables of wind direction and speed, with the ability to automatically shift the "angle of attack", thereby allowing for maximum wind power conversion.

WindWing automatically adjusts for variable wind conditions thereby minimizing the threat of any mechanical damage at high wind speeds.

Using airplane technology, the WindWing offers several advantages over wind turbine power generation. The WindWing costs less, offers much higher efficiency, and can operate at significantly lower wind speeds. An added advantage is that the WindWing is not a noisy neighbor as it operates almost silently.

Columbia Weather Systems is "Connected with Kepware"

Portland, ME - Kepware Technologies, the leader in Communications for Automation, announced today that it was selected as the primary provider of device communications by Columbia Weather Systems. Their microprocessor based weather station interface (Weather MicroServer) offers data communications through both Modbus and SNMP protocols enabling integration with automation systems.

Columbia Weather Systems has selected to support and resell Kepware's KEPServerEX communications, providing the interface from their supported protocols to automation industry products through the standard interface of OPC (for OPen Connectivity). In addition, Columbia Weather Systems is leveraging the wide range of relationships Kepware enjoys in order to deliver a proven solution with all major HMI/SCADA automation solutions.

The "Connected with Kepware" designation signifies an ongoing partnership with Columbia Weather Systems to ensure they are aware of upcoming technology and will stay current with Kepware developments in order to offer the best connectivity for their customers.

"Columbia Weather Systems is an excellent example highlighting the value of our new "Connected with Kepware" program," says Roy Kok, VP of Sales and Marketing for Kepware. "They can focus their efforts on their core competency, excellent weather stations, and can rely on Kepware for proven automation system interfaces. Kepware will continue to work closely with Columbia Weather Systems, keeping them abreast of all technology developments and will work with them ensure our partners are aware of this vendor endorsed connectivity."

"Our research showed that Kepware is the ideal partner for us, enabling us to guarantee proven and reliable connectivity to systems in the automation market," explains Nader Khoury, President for Columbia Weather Systems Inc. "We know Kepware is accepted as the industry standard for communications among the automation software suppliers and the only work we needed to perform was the validation of their Modbus driver with our Weather MicroServer interface. Kepware has been a great company to work with and we look forward to a long and fruitful relationship."

Turn your weather station into a weather computer with our new Weather MicroServer. The Weather MicroServer interfaces with any of CWS’s weather stations to provide a range of weather parameters and monitoring options, including portable and vehicle-mount sensor packages. (It was previously available only as Orion LX.)

No longer does weather station connectivity require a dedicated computer with its requisite maintenance, virus-protection and operating system upgrades. The MicroServer is a self-contained, proprietary system utilizing the Linux operating system.

The Weather MicroServer creates an “Internet-ready” weather monitoring system by automatically providing FTP output, XML web service, and Internet browser user interface. FTP output includes XML, CSV, and CSV append formats. SNMP and Modbus/OPC communication protocols are standard.

The Weather MicroServer has datalogging capability. It connects to your network with an included Ethernet cable. Two serial ports offer interface to both the Weather Display Console and additional peripheral devices or sensors.

Our new Weather MicroServer now has a built-in Modbus TCP/IP interface for communication with industrial automation systems and OPC servers. The Weather MicroServer is available standard with the Orion LX and interfaces also with Capricorn 2000 weather stations to provide a range of weather sensor and monitoring options. The Weather MicroServer makes these weather stations "Internet-ready" automatically providing FTP output, XML web service, and Internet browser user interface.