Which Davis Weather Station is Right for Your Team?

Real-time weather information from your exact location is crucial to operational safety. If you’re performing any work where heat, cold, precipitation, or wind could potentially injure someone or put your work at risk, you can’t rely on generalized data from the media or an app.

To get the hyperlocal information you need to know when it’s safe for work or illustrate the data behind your operational decisions, you need an on-site weather station.

Davis offers a range of stations so you can get whatever weather data is key to your work. The Vantage Vue and Vantage Pro2™ are both capable of delivering precise on-site weather data, but there are a few things to think about when you’re picking the right station for the job.

Vantage Vue: Reliable, affordable, low-maintenance

The Vantage Vue is a fully-integrated sensor suite, which means it’s a single easy-to-install weather station that can be deployed by anyone in minutes. It’s known throughout the weather industry as a cost-effective, accessible way to get professional-grade weather data. Here’s what legendary meteorologist James Spann had to say about the Vue:

You can view the data from a Vantage Vue system using a WeatherLink Console or by sending the data to the WeatherLink cloud using a WeatherLink Live device, either of which should be within 1,000 feet of the station. It's powered by a solar panel and requires no additional cables or wires to install.

The Vantage Vue measures:

•        Temperature
•        Humidity
•        Dew point
•        Wind speed & direction
•        Wind chill & heat index
•        Barometric pressure
•        Rainfall & rain rate

If you need to measure conditions in specific areas of your work area, you can also add up to seven wireless sensor transmitters to the system. Each transmitter allows for the addition for another anemometer, temperature/humidity probe, rain collector, UV, and social radiation sensor.

What you see is what you get with the Vantage Vue. It’s incredibly reliable, but it’s not as customizable as Vantage Pro2, so if measuring ground temperature or UV index is crucial to your work, the Vue might not be the fit for you.

To learn more about how one of Singapore’s biggest infrastructure developers uses Vantage Vue weather stations to help them prioritize work after storms, you can check out this case study:

Vantage Pro2™: Professional weather equipment for any job

As its name implies, the Vantage Pro2 is a station that’s specifically built for job sites and projects where getting high-quality work done and keeping people safe are equally important.

The Vantage Pro2 delivers data slighter faster than the Vantage Vue, so it’s a better fit for situations where true real-time information is necessary for decision making. Its AeroCone rain collector also cuts down on debris lock and splash-out, making it a more accurate instrument for monitoring precipitation. Unlike the Vantage Vue, which is a single unit, the Vantage Pro2's anemometer can be separated from the rest of the sensor suite to improve siting, which is weather station language for "it's easier to install where it will catch the wind."

Like the Vantage Vue, you can view station data using WeatherLink Live or the WeatherLink Console. Using the default configuration of the Vantage Pro2, you can monitor:

•        Temperature
•        Humidity
•        Dew point
•        Wind speed & direction
•        Wind chill & heat index
•        Barometric pressure
•        Rainfall & rain rate
•        UV
•        Solar radiation

...And you can also expand the Vantage Pro2's capabilities, just like the Vantage Vue, using additional sensor transmitters. That means you can gather over 30 weather and environmental measurements at once using a single set-up.

The station is available in cabled form (plug-in) form, for situations where continuous operation is essential, or wireless with an included solar panel, so your installation isn't limited by where you can find a power source. The sensors are protected by a passive radiation shield, although a 24-hour fan-aspirated shield is available for long, hot deployments. 

To make a long story short, if you have on-site monitoring needs that go beyond basic weather factors or need the best-quality data as fast as possible, the Vantage Pro2 is the way to go.

To learn how the Vantage Pro2 is helping public works teams across Spain improve wastewater management in addition to weather safety, check out this case study:

Which is for you: the Vue or VP2?

The Vantage Vue and Vantage Pro2 are both incredibly capable and affordable weather stations, but getting the most out of your investment in on-site monitoring requires picking the equipment that’s best aligned with your work.

If you’re looking to monitor weather conditions at your office or worksite with internet connectivity, then the Vantage Vue is a great fit. If you need professional-grade measurement wherever the work takes you, then the Vantage Pro2 is the station for you.