Hydrobiology recently came across a ‘Campbell-Stokes Sunshine Recorder’ located at one of our Client’s weather station sites. A device which is not so commonly used these days, although great to see; the Campbell-Stokes Sunshine Recorder was designed over a century and a half ago! These intriguing devices record daily sunshine hours, by focusing sunlight on a recording card. Over the course of a day, the apparent movement of the sun across the sky, burns a ‘track’ on the card representing the hours of sunlight. Not only does this fascinating device consist of no moving parts, apps, batteries, solar panels or drones, it can also be used as a “crystal-ball” to cross-check forecasts from the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM).
Photo: Courtesy of Scott Walker
