Cloud recorders can be used to measure cloud amount, cloud type, and cloud base. A cloud base recorder and station observers are used by observation stations worldwide before data is used by the Met Office and later accumulated in the MIDAS dataset.

Linked documentation:
The Met Office Fact-sheet #17 – Weather Observations on Land (see linked documentation) describes the instrumentation further and includes diagrams of the apparatus set-up. For more information on which instruments are used to collect measurements within specific station networks, the Met Office Surface Data Users Guide, describes the meteorological surface data and how it is obtained in the Met Office Database - MIDAS.

The cloud type classification system is given in the Met Office Fact Sheet #1 - Clouds.