By Pauline von Pezold
The German Weather Service monitors the weather in the capital around the clock, can determine precipitation down to the millimeter – and measure the heat of the sun exactly. Meteorologists on site are no longer needed for this – the station on Tempelhofer Feld is now fully automated.
On the site of the old Berlin-Tempelhof weather station, the station building still stands as if it had only just been abandoned, but flight operations have long since ceased. The German Weather Service (DWD) uses the unused area for this purpose and checks the weather conditions with nine devices.
Little has changed in the old aeronautical weather station since it was no longer in operation Photo: Christian Lohse
The devices each treat different areas. The precipitation monitor sends a signal as soon as precipitation falls, the laser precipitation monitor provides information whether it is rain, snow or hail and the rain gauge determines precisely how many millimeters has fallen.
Other devices determine wind strength, snow depth, humidity, temperature, cloud height and visibility. The results of the measurements are sent to the data center inside the old flight weather station, from where they are automatically sent to the responsible center in Potsdam.
Mandy Golling explains how the precipitation collector measures precipitation Photo: Christian Lohse
Mandy Golling, from the regional measuring network group in Potsdam, comes here once a year to check that things are all right. Tempelhof is the perfect location, she says. Too much development would affect the results of the wind measurement, among other things – in a city like Berlin, the search for a suitable location is difficult. This is not a problem on the extensive grounds of the former airport.
The radiation protection hut measures humidity and temperature. Photo: Christian Lohse
There are three DWD locations in Berlin. In addition to Tempelhof, there is also one on Alexanderplatz and a small one in Berlin-Buch, no one needs staff. If there are any abnormalities in the measurements, the test group in Potsdam sees them and sends someone over. It can already lead to impairments if a bird sits on one of the sensors and thus falsifies the results, but this hardly ever happens.
Thanks to the reliable data from the DWD, a quick glance at the mobile phone is enough to decide whether long or short trousers, whether a trip to the lake or to the museum.
The visibility sensor checks whether it is foggy Photo: Christian Lohse