title: Design and construction of microclimate monitoring system.
abstract: A portable and user-friendly weather monitoring system based on the PIC16F876 microcontroller is described. This instrument measures three parameters: temperature in the range from -10 to +70 degrees C within +/-1 degrees C using an LM335 temperature sensor, wind speed from 0 to 10 m/s within +/-0.1 m/s using a heated bead thermistor, and solar radiation from 0 to 1000 W/m(2) within +/-10 W/m(2) using a solar cell. These variables are displayed digitally, one at a time, with a 5 s separation. The values are stored on EEPROM at 2 min intervals. The instrument is intended for use in agriculture and for educational purposes.
authors.affiliation: Electronics and Communications Institute, Scientific and Industrial Research and Development Centre, Haticliffe, Harare, Zimbabwe. ckamunda@sirdc.ac.zw
authors.forename: Caspah
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kamunda
authors.forename: Xavier Francis
authors.initials: XF
authors.lastname: Carelse
authors.forename: Manny
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mathuthu
authors.forename: Amos
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Makarau
mesh_terms: D000389:Air Conditioning / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D006361:Heating / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D008838:Microcomputers; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation*