Name of Presenter: Dr. James Hyde
Event name: How We Measure The Weather: A Brief History And Where We're Going Next
Event time and place: 12/10/25 in ESJ 2204
The presentation covered the birth of meteorology, the transition from analog instruments to digital instruments, major events influenced by meteorology, current meteorology practices, and where meteorology is headed. Meteorology was first established in India and Korea, where buckets were used to measure rainfall after each storm. More instruments were developed to measure temperature, pressure, and humidity. A pivotal point in meteorology was the telegraph. On June 6, 1944, the Allied Powers successfully invaded Normandy Beach in an event known as the D-Day Invasion. However, this invasion was delayed 2 days because meteorologists found that the conditions on the intended day of the invasion would cause it to fail. After this, meteorology became more operationally useful, and people began trusting it more. As the Information Age arrived, meteorology started to lose its human touch. Weather statistics were simplified to just a few numbers instead of the incredibly detailed analog reports. The number of weather stations has continued to increase, and the distance between them has been decreasing. As a result, the credibility of a lot of the weather stations has declined due to poor placement and conditions. Currently, AI is being used to digitize the analog reports from before the digital revolution. When looking more locally, the Maryland Mesonet is currently used to improve emergency preparedness. Their stations are far more trustworthy than others. Even at UMD, black carbon emissions are currently being measured on Regents Drive from the buses before they become electric. Overall, weather impacts everyone, and these instruments can provide information that influences people's lives, such as school closures and natural disaster alerts.
Dr. Hyde used a lot of very clear images, examples, and real-world applications of the concepts he was explaining. A large part of the presentation that he emphasized was that recording more data from more sources doesn't necessarily mean that the data is of a higher quality. This was a direct connection to the decline in credibility of a lot of the water stations in the US. Their poor placement and poor maintenance have discredited them, and it was clear that Dr. Hyde believes strongly in some sort of data quality control and better maintenance of these weather stations.
I never really understood how important meteorology could be beyond telling me whether I should wear a hoodie or a full jacket. However, Dr. Hyde's examples of the major decisions that meteorology has influenced, particularly the D-Day Invasion, really opened my eyes to how important it is. I also thought the analog weather reports were incredibly interesting, and I understand why Dr. Hyde was so passionate about the human touch that was lost in meteorology. It felt that there would be a lot of valuable information lost in the transition to digital instruments, so I was surprised when I heard that our weather measurements are far less detailed.The shortcomings of the current weather stations are an obvious reason that we need programs such as the Maryland Mesonet. They provide credible and more trustworthy weather data, which is very important for weather prediction and emergency preparedness in the case of a natural disaster. The presentation was very easy to understand. While there were a lot of terms and things that didn't really make sense to me, they were quickly cleared up. It really showed me how important weather data is to our everyday lives and to the world as a whole.