Walker Student Helps Build Low-Cost Weather Device

Using a coffee can, electrical components and a motorcycle battery, students from and recently completed and tested a field mill device that monitors the buildup of electrical charge in nearby clouds, reported Georgia Tech Research News.

Notably, the accuracy of the $200 device's readings of electrostatic charge—a critical measure of lightning potential—was comparable to that of a $5,000 commercial model. The findings could lead to important advancements in severe weather research.

The students—Stephen Pfohl from The Walker School and David Brinkmann, Matthew Bond, Alex Hale and Andrew Brinkmann from Kennesaw Mountain's Academy of Math and Science Magnet Program—effectively passed the torch to one another over several semesters as interns at the Georgia Tech Research Institute's Severe Storms Research Center. Most of the students have since gone on to college.

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