Ohio Valley Mesonet

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Ohio Valley Mesonet

• Thomas P. Johnstone
• National Weather Service Office
• Wilmington, Ohio

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Mesonet Background

• A NETwork of weather observation sites in close
  enough proximity to monitor MESOscale conditions.
• Oklahoma Mesonet first major one in the U.S.
• Meso-West and Texas other large U.S. mesonets.

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Ohio Valley Mesonet Background

• Started with addition of RAWS data to Awipslocal
  use only
• Limited ODOT data ingested in 2002
• ODOT data expanded greatly in 2003data shared
  with other NWS offices
• KDOT and AWOS data added in 2003
• Cincinnati Partnership late 2003-present.
• Most data publicly available

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Mesonet Benefits

• Improved short term weather forecasting/severe
  weather detection
• Real time weather information is invaluable for
  operational decision makers.
• Archived data useful for research/education
  projects

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Mesonet Challenges

• Data Quality
• Data Availability
• Data Standards
• Data Control
• Station names
• Major effort to create and maintain the metadata
  associated with the station list

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Ohio Valley Mesonet Sources

• Kentucky Department of Transportation
  (KDOT)approximately 40 sensors
• Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT)over 150
  sensors
• RAWS Fire Weather Stations15 sensors
• Non Federal AWOS16 sensors
• City of Cincinnati sites
• AWS siteshundreds of stations

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Kentucky DOT Weather Sensorshttp//www.kytc.state
.ky.us/RWIS/index.htm
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Kentucky DOT Weather Sensors

• Available once an hour
• 5 minute resolution
• Temp, RH, Wind Speed/Direction utilized
• Solar Radiation, Daily Precip, Pavement and
  Subsurface Temperature also available
• Data available graphically or via FTP

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Kentucky DOT Weather Sensors
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Kentucky DOT Weather Sensors

• Data is converted to METAR format for local use.
• KWTN 271155Z 28002KT 06/03 RMK I-75_in_Grant_Count
  y T00610028
• KWTN 271200Z 28002KT 06/03 RMK I-75_in_Grant_Count
  y T00620029
• KWTN 271205Z 28002KT 06/03 RMK I-75_in_Grant_Count
  y T00630030
• KWTN 271210Z 28002KT 06/03 RMK I-75_in_Grant_Count
  y T00640030
• KWTN 271215Z 27002KT 07/03 RMK I-75_in_Grant_Count
  y T00660030
• KWTN 271220Z 28002KT 07/03 RMK I-75_in_Grant_Count
  y T00670031
• KWTN 271225Z 27003KT 07/03 RMK I-75_in_Grant_Count
  y T00690029

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Kentucky DOT Weather Sensors
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ODOT Weather Sensors
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ODOT Weather Sensors

• We download every 30 minutes
• Data updates every 5 minutes
• Temp(observed Max/Min), Dewpoint, Wind, and
  visibility (converted to SM) are utilized
• Pavement and precipitation data also avail
• Data also converted to METAR format

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ODOT Weather Sensors
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ODOT Weather Sensors
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RAWS Fire Weather Stations

• Remote Automated Weather Station
• Data updates hourly via Satellite. We download
  from web page
• Temp, Dewpoint, Wind, Precipitation and Fuel
  Moisture are reported
• Converted to METAR format
• High quality data!

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RAWS Fire Weather Stations
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Non Federal AWOS Stations

• Report same data as NWS ASOS
• Data only available via dial-up
• Most locations allow modem access. Local Scripts
  take care of download/processing
• Local applications allow forecasters to manually
  enter data for other sites
• Not regularly accessed due to costs

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Non Federal AWOS Stations
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Non Federal AWOS Stations
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Cincinnati Mesonet Partnership

• Begun in October 2003
• City provided us a list of private and public
  sites with weather equipment
• NWS agreed to download/process the dataas well
  as come up with metadata
• Data will be shipped to Livermore Lab to be used
  as input to NARAC dispersion model
• Around 30 sites close to Cincinnati

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AWS Data

• Automated Weather Source
• Network of private weather sources
• We get the data via a link to the Forecast System
  Lab in Boulder
• High temporal resolution data, but lower quality
  than other sources
• Not converted to MTR format at ILN

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Current Status
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Mesonet Case Study

• May 1, 2004
• Frontal boundary across Ohio with wave
  approaching from the SW
• Mesonet invaluable in detecting boundaries
• Better storm scale sampling can help with warn/no
  warn decisions

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13Z
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19Z
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19Z
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21Z
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21Z
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Ohio Valley Mesonet Plans

• CSV format repository at Eastern Region
  Headquarters
• Web database for public use
• Quality Control partnership?

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Acknowledgements

• Ohio Dept.of Transportation
• Kentucky Dept. of Transportation
• Robin GerhardtNWS