Building Low-Cost Weather Stations with USAID

NCAR scientist Paul Kucera describes the various components of the 3D-PAWS at the Sirua Aulo Maasai High School. (©UCAR. Photo by Kristin Wegner. This image is freely available for media & nonprofit use.)

Challenge

Many surface weather stations across the globe suffer from incorrect siting, poor maintenance and limited communications for real-time monitoring.

Solution

3D-PAWS (3D-Printed Automatic WeatherStation)

To expand observation networks in sparsely observed regions, the 3D-PAWS (3D-Printed Automatic WeatherStation) initiative has been launched by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) and the US National Weather Service International Activities Office (NWS IAO), with support from the USAID Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA).

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Benefits

With support from USAID, UCAR launched an initiative to print 3D weather stations that can fill observational gaps in developing countries. A single station takes about a week to print at a cost of $200 to $400.