Report on a study trip by MA-283 student group to Estonian Environment Agency
The Estonian Environment Agency (EEA, formerly the Estonian Meteorological and Hydrological Institute) is a scientific research center, staffed by experts in the fields of aviation and satellite meteorology, computer modeling and weather forecasters. We, students of MA-283 group (Meteorological Faculty, group which study in English) had a unique opportunity to see the latest equipment , meet people , sincerely devoted to their work , and learn a lot about the development of meteorology in another country. We spent our first day at the meteorological station in Harku. We visited a museum, which is located in the weather station. The museum staff organized for our group a wonderful lecture on history of meteorology in Estonia. Many of the older devices are well-known to us. Afterward we visited the meteorological station, which has a modern day equipment. Many devices are produced by the Finnish company VAISALA, delivering instrumentation almost all over the world . Most of the meteorological devices are connected to the computer , so there is no need to go out for the measurements every 3 hours. However, meteorologists still go out to compare data on computer with the data of the measuring devices. This weather station conducts extensive observations.
The weather station in Harku is the only site in Estonia, where they launch radiosondes . We ourselves ran it together with our practice leader , Willie Louvar, during night shift . We also worked with the pilot balloon . With the help of a theodolite, we tracked the movement of the balloon, and calculated data of wind speed and direction at different altitudes.
The rest of the days in the Environment Agency were no less interesting. We learned about the processing of satellite data, various models of weather forecasting , analysis of weather charts , special commercial services (sale of meteorological data ) in Estonia. It was very informative. The afternoon was completely at ours so that we could relax and take a walk in Tallinn , visit museums, go shopping , take a dip in the sea. We like Tallinn. Old Town, surrounded by a city wall with numerous towers, very beautiful, there the spirit of the Middle Ages hovers. The evening Tallinn is impressing.
We are very pleased to have had the opportunity to have one-week practical training in EEA, Estonia. We hope that this is not the last chance for international practical traning. We express our deep gratitude for the support RSHU staff and their colleagues from the Environment Agency for the warm welcome and attention!
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