German Weather Service looking for observers

The DWD will equip the planned rain station in the Nieheim and Horn-Bad Meinberg area with a mechanical rain gauge. The prerequisites for performing this activity are an appropriate property on which the DWD measuring instrument can be installed at a sufficient distance from buildings and vegetation, as well as the presence of an Internet connection.

Volunteer observers measure the daily amount of precipitation once a day at 6.50 a.m. (winter time) or 7.50 a.m. (summer time). This value is recorded in a diary and sent to the DWD through an internet application. In the winter months, the degree of snow cover must also be determined and the height of the snow cover measured – if possible at 6:50 a.m. or about an hour earlier or later – and this data is still transmitted is done.

The cost of installation and data transmission of the measuring device is borne by the DWD. A voluntary supervisor gets an annual expenditure allowance for his voluntary work.

The on-site measured data and observations are then used by the National Weather Service, for example for weather forecasting or weather damage reports. But they also help to be able to accurately record climate change in Germany and better assess its consequences.