General Information

Serial #

64059N

Part Number

1

Total Parts

2

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

glass inner and outer tubes/ metallic inner bulb/ metal mount/ rubber? padding/ spirit or water distillate contents

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

59.0 cm

Width

12.0 cm

Height

N/A

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Meteorology

Category

Sunshine intensity & duration measurement

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Unknown

Country

Unknown

State/Province

Unknown

City

Unknown

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Unknown

Period

This instrument was apparently in use for 40 years (Ref. 4).

Canada

A radiation measuring instrument of a type used by the Meteorological Service of Canada. Part of a large collection of meteorological instruments acquired from the Meteorological Service of Canada (previously Atmospheric Environment Service) by the CSTM since 1967. MSC is the government agency responsible for collecting and disseminating meteorological data and forecasts in Canada. It was founded in 1871 in Toronto where it is still headquartered. The MSC was originally on the University of Toronto downtown campus but moved to Downsview in 1971 on land owned by UofT. The headquarters houses laboratories, research facilities and calibration and instrument maintenance facilities (now largely contracted out).

Function

An instrument used to measure the radiation from the spectral region of solar radiation falling on a freely exposed point from the sun, the sky, the surroundings and the ground, useful in determining total solar radiation incident on a totally exposed object such as a single plant or tree.

Technical

An instrument which measures total solar radiation or the sum for the day. It can be mounted either on a post or in the ground with the globe above the ground level. It must be inverted to be reset and the distillate may be either water or alcohol (Ref. 1). This example contains alcohol and is intended to be mounted 1.5 metres above ground level. This type of pyranometer has a spherical receiver surface consisting of two concentric glass spheres mounted on the end of a graduated burette, the inner bulb metal coated and containing alcohol. As the metallic bulb absorbs solar radiation and is heated, some of the liquid evaporates, only to condense again at the bottom of the tube. The amount of condensate in a given time period is directly related to the shortwave radiation intercepted by the bulb. The instrument measure the daily total of radiation fluxes in calories per unit of area of the spherical receiver surface (cal/cm2), i.e. the quantity of calories falling on a freely exposed sphere of 1 cm2 surface.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

incised white lettering on outer tube reads 'Observalorium Davos No. PBK' with raised '64059N'/ incised white scale for 0 to 37

Missing

appears complete

Finish

colourless transparent inner and outer tubes and outer bulb/ metallic inner bulb/ metallic and plated mount/ black padding

Decoration

N/A