User:Raelue/Sandbox

TWEETAR
TWEETAR is a data-recording and disseminating format used by students involved in the Ball State University Campus Microclimate Project. TWEETAR is used to send micrometeorological observations via Twitter.

Origination and History
The Ball State University Campus Microclimate Project, a social media-based citizen science endeavor, was started in September, 2009. Student researchers use Twitter to record and transmit microclimate observations. To facilitate a consistent method of data recording, a template (TWEETAR) was developed to ensure a consistent format. TWEETAR was modeled after METAR, the widely used format employed to report weather observations from sites such as automated weather stations found at airports. A standardized system was required so that all current project participants would record observations for the same variables; additionally, a standard system facilitates the uploading of information into other applications (e.g. spread sheet, geographic information systems).

Format and Variables
TWEETAR conforms to the 140-character limit established by Twitter. The observations recorded and the spacing conventions are:

1 T             Temperature Identiﬁer

2 #             Tens of Degrees (F) 3 #             Degree (F) 4                Space

5 R             Relative 6 H             Humidity

7 #             Tens of Percentage

8 #             Ones of Percentage

9             Space

10 N/S         North or South Latitude Identifier

11 #             Tens of Degrees

12 #             Single Degree(s)

13                Space 14 #             Tens of Minutes of Degree(s)

15 #             Single Minutes of Degrees(s)

16 #             Tenths of Minutes of Degrees(s)

17 #             Hundredths of Minutes of Degrees(s)

18 #             Thousands of Minutes of Degrees(s)

19             Space

20 E/W        East or West Longitude Identifier

21 #             Tens of Degrees 22 #             Single Degree(s)

23                Space

24 #             Tens of Minutes of Degree(s)

25 #             Single Minutes of Degrees(s)

26 #             Tenths of Minutes of Degrees(s) 27 #             Hundredths of Minutes of Degrees(s)

28 #             Thousands of Minutes of Degrees(s)

29             Space

30 O/S         Open or Shaded Location

31                Space

32 C             Three Character Land Surface Classiﬁcation

33 L             GRS -­‐   Grass, BLT -­‐   Built (Concrete, Asphalt, Wood, Etc.)

34 S             DRT -­‐   Dirt, MLH -­‐   Mulch, SNW -­‐   Snow/Ice

35                Space

36             Additional Comments

37

38

How TWEETAR differs from METAR
Although the structure of TWEETAR was based on the METAR model, significant differences do exist. Although less comprehensive than METAR, TWEETAR reports include not only meteorological observations, but also information describing the ambient environment, specifically sky cover and surface type. TWEETAR also reports fewer meteorological variables.