Iowa Environmental Mesonet

National Weather Association ConferenceMarch 22, 2002Dennis Todey

Iowa State University

IEM TimelineConcept Conceived State Drought Task Force 10/00Introduced to IDALS 12/00USDA/WAOB Visit 1/01 Funding 4/01Web Site on line 6/01

Iowa Environmental Mesonet

Io w a E nv iro nm e nta l M e so n e t

E M D sh o rt-te rm up d a tes(W h e n n e c ess a ry)

S c ho o ln e ts N W S /F A AA irp o rt S ta tio ns

ID O TR W IS

IS UA u to m a ted

U S G S /C O ER ive r S ites

C O O P S ta tio ns N C D C C R N S C A N S itesU S D A /N R C S

Io w a E nv iro nm e nta l M e so n e tD a ta P ro c ess ing

D a ily/ho u rly su m m ary d a ta H is to rica l d a taS u m m a rie s/C lim a to lo gy

What we are lackingCentral data facility (archive) Achieved

Data comparison standards Proposed (some occurring)

Detailed soil temperature dataRegular soil moisture data Adding spring ‘02

Short term archive (2 days - 6 weeks) In progress

Improved spatial and temporal resolution In progress (SCAN/CRN Schoolnet)

Web site Usage

Types of users

Current Data CollectionASOS 15 24AWOS 33 72RWIS 50 72ISU Ag Climate 12 24USGS/COE ~150 24 avgSchoolnet 37 1200SCAN 1 24COOP ~150 1Total: 448 Stations 44,772 obs/day

16.3 M obs/yr

Data reliability (since June 1)ASOS 87% (99.6% Dec. 14-31)AWOS 72% (90% Dec. 14-31)RWIS 77% (of working stations)ISU Ag Climate 100%SCAN 100%USGS/COE ???

Data storageNEXRAD 7.5 MB/day (5 sites)Products/plots 1.5 MB/dayGEMPAK surface data 7.5 MB/dayRaw surface data 12 MB/day

Daily Total 28.5 MB/day

Spurring researchIowa Soil Erosion estimatesDetailed climate of IowaMaize Pollen dispersionPathogen transferData Comparison standardsPart of Larger Agronomy Agro-ecosystem lab

Future of the IEMContinue station development (fill holes)Expand measurement of rainfall/soil moistureLook for continued fundingUpper air development

Automated Stations

Spurring research (undergrad)SW Iowa Heat/Moisture PoolComparison of RWIS AWOS/ASOS overnight temperaturesWind speed comparisonsFrost Model Comparisons (Tina Greenfield)

Station density

Do we have enough??

Maximum temperature

Relative humidity

Wind

Precipitation

Potential UsersFarmers/ProducersEmergency managers CitizenryAg/Insurance IndustryEducation (K – graduate)Climate/agricultural researchersNWS

Cooperators/SupportersNational Weather ServiceIowa State University USDA OCEIowa DOTIDALSIowa Emergency ManagementAg Insurers

Improve collaboration among scientists and managers to enhance the effectiveness of observation networks, monitoring, prediction, information delivery, and applied research and to foster public understanding of and preparedness for drought.

Goal 2 National Drought Policy Commission“Preparing for Drought in the 21st Century”

Current Products

What do we have now?

Data Requests/IssuesFreeze-Notice use of pavement temperaturesRequest for advance soil moisture dataUsage fee/subscriptionsCooperators/collaborators?Federal discussion of including dataLack of weather data for Iowa

SCAN (Soil Climate Analysis Network)

SCAN (Soil Climate Analysis Network)Air and soil temperatureWindRelative humidityPrecipitationSoil moistureSolar radiationSnowfall and depth

ISU Automated NetworkSoil Temp.

ISU Automated NetworkSolar Rad.