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West Texas Mesonet

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West Texas Mesonet Texas Tech University www.mesonet.ttu.edu TTU Wind Science & Engineering www.wind.ttu.edu Atmospheric Science Group www.atmo.ttu.edu – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: West Texas Mesonet


1
West Texas Mesonet Texas Tech University
  • www.mesonet.ttu.edu

TTU Wind Science Engineering www.wind.ttu.edu A
tmospheric Science Group www.atmo.ttu.edu
2
INTRODUCTION
The West Texas Mesonet project was initiated in
1999 to provide free real-time weather and
agricultural information for residents of the
South Plains region of western Texas. The
network has grown to include fifty-five surface
meteorological stations, one radar wind profiler,
one acoustic wind profiler, and one upper-air
sounding system. Our newest station was just
completed near St. Lawrence, Texas.   Weather
information from each surface station is
transmitted every five minutes back to our base
station at Reese Center (12 miles west of
Lubbock). Agricultural data (including soil
temperature and moisture information) are
transmitted every fifteen minutes. All real-time
data collected from the surface stations are
available on our main web page at
www.mesonet.ttu.edu. 55 mesonet stations..in
37 counties..in two states..in two time
zonesand looking to expand!  
3
West Texas Mesonet Map
  • 55 Completed Stations 1/23/2009

4
West Texas Mesonet Map
5
Site Photo
  • Memphis 1 mile Northeast Station Hall County

6
Site Photo
  • Goodlett 3 miles West Station Hardeman County

7
Site Photo
  • Childress 2 miles NNE Station Childress County

8
Instrumentation
  • The following data are collected at each mesonet
    station every 5 minutes
  • 10-meter wind speed and direction (average and
    3-second peak wind speed)
  • 9-meter temperature (for heat flux study)
  • 2-meter wind speed
  • 2-meter temperature (for heat flux study)
  • 1.5-meter temperature and relative humidity
    (including dewpoint calculation)
  • barometric pressure (using digital barometer
    calculations include station pressure and
    altimeter)
  • rainfall (total for the 5-minute period and an
    hourly summation product)
  • 2-meter solar radiation (Kipp and Zonen SP-Lite,
    CM-3, and CM-21 Apogee PYR-P)

9
Instrumentation
  • The following data are collected at most mesonet
    stations every 15 minutes
  • Soil Temperature at 5cm (2 inches) under
    sod-covered ground
  • Soil Temperature at 10cm (4 inches) under
    sod-covered ground
  • Soil Temperature at 20cm (8 inches) under
    sod-covered ground
  • Soil Temperature at 5cm (2 inches) for bare
    ground
  • Soil Temperature at 20cm (8 inches) for bare
    ground
  • Soil Moisture at 5cm (2 inches) (all of
    these are sod-covered ground)
  • Soil Moisture at 20cm (8 inches)
  • Soil Moisture at 60cm (24 inches)
  • Soil Moisture at 75cm (30 inches)
  • Leaf Wetness

10
InstrumentationFluvanna 3W WTM Station
11
Communications
  • Radio We use an extended line of sight (ELOS)
    radio system to transmit data packets from our
    remote stations to our base station at Reese
    Center.
  • Cell Phone Used in remote areas which are
    generally east of Lubbock.
  • Landline Phone Partnership stations with NWS
    Lubbock.
  • DSL/Cable modem Used at a few stations where
    local city provides internet.
  • Wireless Internet Wireless internet at
    stationall equipment contained at station.
  • Internet Spread spectrum radio transmissions
    from mesonet station to wherever internet is
    available (e.g., courthouse, school, private
    residence). Our server is located at that
    location for internet access.

12
Power Requirements
  • All stations use solar panels to charge external
    batteries. There is no electricity at any
    station.
  • Each radio station has one 100-watt radio for
    communications. The power required to run each
    radio varies significantly with each site.
  • Most sites use two 20-watt solar panels to charge
    two deep-cycle gel type marine batteries. The
    majority of newer stations use one 50-watt panel.
  • Several of our major radio repeater stations use
    two 50-watt solar panels to charge three
    batteries.
  • Each datalogger has a backup set of internal
    batteries to save data in case of a major failure
    in the marine batteries.

13
Web Products
14
Web Products
15
Web Products
16
Web ProductsProgram Written by John Lipe, NWS
Lubbock
17
Web Products
18
Web ProductsCourtesy Matt Haugland - OU
19
Web ProductsSurface Plots
20
Web ProductsWind Roses
21
Web ProductsRainfall Map
22
Users/Importance
  • Users
  • Agriculture
  • Wind Power Industry
  • National Weather Service
  • Media Outlets
  • And Many More.
  • Real-time Data Access Real-time mesonet
    information (data and products) is free to anyone
    on the web page at www.mesonet.ttu.edu .
  • Average web hits per day 41,000
  • For the month of June 2008 2.1 million
    hits71,000 hits/day38.8 GB bandwidth9400
    unique visitors.
  • Peak one-day total 156,946 (as of 9/12/2008)
  • Maintenance Each station is visited every two
    months to complete routine maintenance. When an
    instrument fails, we replace it as soon as
    possible. If a station is not sending quality
    data, it is not helping anyone.
  • Funding The funding to maintain the West Texas
    Mesonet has almost exclusively been provided by
    Texas Tech University, although we are pursuing
    other opportunities to support maintenance and
    continued expansion of the network.
  • Schools
  • Community Leaders
  • Emergency Management
  • General Public

23
NWS Lubbock Partnership
  • The West Texas Mesonet and the NWS Lubbock office
    share a unique relationship. The West Texas
    Mesonet provides high quality meteorological and
    agricultural information to a region with
    otherwise sparse data sources. The NWS Lubbock
    relays WTM data to the media and surrounding
    community through warnings, forecasts, local
    storm statements, and other reports.
  • The NWS Lubbock, in conjunction with Southern
    Region Headquarters, helps with the communication
    costs at many stations in the WTM domain.
    Currently, there are seven stations on phone
    lines that would not be sending real-time data
    without this help.
  • We look forward to a continuing partnership with
    the National Weather Service as we expand the
    West Texas Mesonet into other regions and
    additional NWS County Warning Areas.

24
West Texas Mesonet New Products
Macy Ranch WTM Station Double Mountain Fork of
The Brazos River in Southwest Garza
County. New Products Coming to the Mesonet Web
Page Heat Units for Different Crops GIS Plots
of Rain, Temperature, And Other Data
25
West Texas Mesonet New Products
WTM Station One mile Northwest of Lake
Alan Henry In Eastern Garza County
What products do you want to see on the web
page????
26
West Texas Mesonet Expansion
  • Expansion of West Texas Mesonet?
  • Location
  • Real-time Communications
  • Maintenance/Quality Data
  • Data Access
  • Other Possibilities?
  • Integration of New Sensors
  • Development of New Data Products
  • Event Notification
  • Increasing Sampling/Reporting Rates

27
(No Transcript)
28
West Texas Mesonet - Animals
29
West Texas MesonetContact Information
  • Dr. John Schroeder John.Schroeder_at_ttu.edu
  • Wesley Burgett Wesley.Burgett_at_ttu.edu
  • Brian Hirth Brian.Hirth_at_ttu.edu
  • www.mesonet.ttu.edu
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