RUGGED HM87: Cloud research in the manner of PMOD/WRC

Task

Clouds.
In all variations, always in motion and each one unique. Whether as cloud cover, small isolated cotton balls or huge cloudscapes. However simple clouds may seem to us, they raise many unanswered questions. Not least because they are at unspeakable heights and usually pass by again quickly.
The darkness at night also makes it difficult to keep an eye on the celestial phenomena halfway through the day.
To make matters worse, the observation and analysis of clouds worldwide still involves a great deal of manual work. For example, a meteorologist has to go outside several times a day to determine the degree of cloud cover and the types of clouds.

PMOD/WRC took this as an opportunity to go one step further in the direction of automation. Using self-written software and an infrared camera as part of a specially designed installation, cloud research is now carried out much more efficiently.
A catadioptric system, consisting of a gold-coated convex mirror and an infrared cloud camera (the so-called IRCCAM), takes around 1,440 images of the sky every day. Cloud emissions, as well as their height and density, can now be observed, documented and analyzed 24 hours a day. Seven days a week. As the IRCCAM is located outdoors, it must also be wind and weatherproof. A demanding task - even for a mini PC - which finds its place here as a control device.

Product solution

The embedded PC for particularly harsh working environments: The spo-book RUGGED HM87. The robust IPC performs reliably even at temperatures from minus 30° Celsius to plus 60° Celsius. A generous selection of COM and USB interfaces, as well as a powerful and energy-saving Core i3 processor from Intel, make the spo-book RUGGED HM87 the ideal solution for PMOD/WRC's innovative outdoor installation.

Conclusion

The ingenuity of PMOD/WRC makes a valuable contribution to cloud research. We are pleased to be able to contribute to this with our mini PC, the spo-book RUGGED HM87, and that the IRCCAM of the Swiss research institute has been working flawlessly for several months now.

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Find out more about the PMOD/WRC research institute