Weather and Climate Inventory, Klamath Network, National Park Service, 2007
Appendix G. Descriptions of weather/climate monitoring networks
G.1. Pacific Northwest Cooperative Agricultural Network (AgriMet)
- Purpose of network: provide weather/climate data for regional crop water use modeling, frost monitoring, and various agricultural research projects in the Pacific Northwest.
- Primary management agency: BLM.
- Data website: http://www.usbr.gov/pn/agrimet/wxdata.html.
- Measured weather/climate elements:
o Air temperature.
o Relative humidity and dew point temperature.
o Precipitation.
o Wind speed.
o Solar radiation.
- Sampling frequency: hourly.
- Reporting frequency: hourly; some stations report every 10 minutes if real-time communications are available.
- Estimated station cost: $12000 with maintenance costs around $2000/year.
- Network strengths:
o AgriMet has near-real-time data.
o Period of record is relatively long.
o Sites are well maintained.
- Network weaknesses:
o Only agricultural sites are sampled.
o AgriMet has a limited geographic extent (Pacific Northwest).
AgriMet is a satellite-based network of automated weather stations operated by the BLM. Stations in AgriMet are located primarily in irrigated agricultural areas throughout the Pacific Northwest.
G.2. California Department of Transportation (CALTRANS) Network
- Purpose of network: provide weather data to support management of California’s transportation network.
- Primary management agency: CALTRANS.
- Data website: http://www.met.utah.edu/jhorel/html/mesonet.
- Measured weather/climate elements:
o Air temperature.
o Relative humidity.
o Pressure.
o Wind speed and direction.
o Wind gust and direction.
- Sampling frequency: unknown.
- Reporting frequency: unknown.
- Estimated station cost: unknown.
- Network strengths:
o Real-time data.
o Routine station maintenance.
- Network weaknesses:
o Coverage is limited to the state of California.
o Access to archived data can be difficult.
These weather stations are operated by CALTRANS in support of management activities for California’s transportation network. Measured meteorological elements include temperature, precipitation, wind, and relative humidity.
G.3. California Air Resources Board (CARB) Network
- Purpose of network: provide meteorological data in support of air resource monitoring efforts in California.
- Data websites: http://www.met.utah.edu/jhorel/html/mesonet and http://www.arb.ca.gov.
- Measured weather/climate elements:
o Air temperature.
o Relative humidity.
o Precipitation.
o Wind speed and direction.
- Sampling frequency: hourly.
- Reporting frequency: hourly.
- Estimated station cost: unknown.
- Network strengths:
o Data are in near-real-time.
o Extensive coverage in California.
- Network weaknesses:
o Limited number of meteorological elements.
Meteorological measurements are taken at CARB sites in support of their overall mission of promoting and protecting public health, welfare and ecological resources in California through the reduction of air pollutants, while accounting for economical effects of such measures.
G.4. Clean Air Status and Trends Network (CASTNet)
- Purpose of network: provide information for evaluating the effectiveness of national emission-control strategies.
- Primary management agency: EPA.
- Data website: http://epa.gov/castnet/.
- Measured weather/climate elements:
o Air temperature.
o Precipitation.
o Relative humidity.
o Wind speed.
o Wind direction.
o Wind gust.
o Gust direction.
o Solar radiation.
o Soil moisture and temperature.
- Sampling frequency: hourly.
- Reporting frequency: hourly.
- Estimated station cost: $13000.
- Network strengths:
o High-quality data.
o Sites are well maintained.
- Network weaknesses:
o Density of station coverage is low.
o Shorter periods of record for western United States.
The CASTNet network is primarily is an air-quality-monitoring network managed by the EPA. The elements shown here are intended to support interpretation of measured air-quality parameters such as ozone, nitrates, sulfides, etc., which also are measured at CASTNet sites.
G.5. California Irrigation Management Information System (CIMIS) Network
- Purpose of network: provide meteorological data to assist in irrigation activities and other water resource management issues for California agricultural interests.
- Primary management agencies: California Department of Water Resources.
- Data website: http://www.cimis.water.ca.gov/cimis/data.jsp.
- Measured weather/climate elements:
o Air temperature.
o Precipitation.
o Relative humidity.
o Wind speed and direction.
o Solar radiation.
o Soil temperature and moisture (some sites).
- Sampling frequency: hourly.
- Reporting frequency: hourly.
- Estimated station cost: unknown.
- Network strengths:
o Near-real-time.
o Sites are generally well-maintained.
o Data access.
- Network weaknesses:
o Somewhat limited number of meteorological elements.
o Coverage limited to California.
The California Irrigation Management Information System (CIMIS), operated through the California Department of Water Resources, is a network of over 120 automated weather stations in the state of California. CIMIS stations are used to assist irrigators in managing their water resources efficiently.
G.6. NWS Cooperative Observer Program (COOP)
- Purpose of network:
o Provide observational, meteorological data required to define U.S. climate and help measure long-term climate changes.
o Provide observational, meteorological data in near real-time to support forecasting and warning mechanisms and other public service programs of the NWS.
- Primary management agency: NOAA (NWS).
- Data website: data are available from the NCDC (http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov), RCCs (e.g., WRCC, http://www.wrcc.dri.edu), and state climate offices.
- Measured weather/climate elements:
o Maximum, minimum, and observation-time temperature.
o Precipitation, snowfall, snow depth.
o Pan evaporation (some stations).
- Sampling frequency: daily.
- Reporting frequency: daily or monthly (station-dependent).
- Estimated station cost: $2000 with maintenance costs of $500–900/year.
- Network strengths:
o Decade–century records at most sites.
o Widespread national coverage (thousands of stations).
o Excellent data quality when well maintained.
o Relatively inexpensive; highly cost effective.
o Manual measurements; not automated.
- Network weaknesses:
o Uneven exposures; many are not well-maintained.
o Dependence on schedules for volunteer observers.
o Slow entry of data from many stations into national archives.
o Data subject to observational methodology; not always documented.
o Manual measurements; not automated and not hourly.
The COOP network has long served as the main climate observation network in the U.S. Readings are usually made by volunteers using equipment supplied, installed, and maintained by the federal government. The observer in effect acts as a host for the data-gathering activities and supplies the labor; this is truly a “cooperative” effort. The SAO sites often are considered to be part of the cooperative network as well if they collect the previously mentioned types of weather/climate observations. Typical observation days are morning to morning, evening to evening, or midnight to midnight. By convention, observations are ascribed to the date the instrument was reset at the end of the observational period. For this reason, midnight observations represent the end of a day. The Historical Climate Network is a subset of the cooperative network but contains longer and more complete records.
G.7. Citizen Weather Observer Program (CWOP)
- Purpose of network: collect observations from private citizens and make these data available for homeland security and other weather applications, providing constant feedback to the observers to maintain high data quality.
- Primary management agency: NOAA MADIS program.
- Data Website: http://www.wxqa.com.
- Measured weather/climate elements:
o Air temperature.
o Dew point temperature.
o Precipitation.
o Wind speed and direction.
o Barometric pressure.
- Sampling frequency: 15 minutes or less.
- Reporting frequency: 15 minutes.
- Estimated station cost: unknown.
- Network strengths:
o Active partnership between public agencies and private citizens.
o Large number of participant sites.
o Regular communications between data providers and users, encouraging higher data quality.
- Network weaknesses:
o Variable instrumentation platforms.
o Metadata are sometimes limited.
The CWOP network is a public-private partnership with U.S. citizens and various agencies including NOAA, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), and various universities. There are over 4500 registered sites worldwide, with close to 3000 of these sites located in North America.
G.8. Desert Research Institute (DRI) Network
- Purpose of network: sample weather and climate in various desert and mountain locations in support of ongoing research activities at WRCC and Desert Research Institute.
- Primary management agencies: WRCC and Desert Research Institute.
- Data website: http://www.wrcc.dri.edu.
- Measured weather/climate elements:
o Air temperature.
o Precipitation.
o Relative humidity and dew point temperature.
o Wind speed and direction.
o Barometric pressure.
o Solar radiation.
- Sampling frequency: every 3 seconds.
- Reporting frequency: every 10 minutes.
- Estimated station cost: $10000, with maintenance costs of about $2000 per year.
- Network strengths:
o High-quality data and metadata.
o Sites are well-maintained.
o Data are in near-real-time.
- Network weaknesses:
o Network has relatively small geographical extent (Nevada and its immediate surroundings).
The Desert Research Institute (DRI) operates this network of automated weather stations, located primarily in California and Western Nevada. Many of these stations are located in remote mountain and desert locations and provide data that are often used in support of various environmental studies in the region.
G.9. NPS Gaseous Pollutant Monitoring Program (GPMP)
- Purpose of network: measurement of ozone and related meteorological elements.
- Primary management agency: NPS.
- Data website: http://www2.nature.nps.gov/air/monitoring.
- Measured weather/climate elements:
o Air temperature.
o Relative humidity.
o Precipitation.
o Wind speed and direction.
o Solar radiation.
o Surface wetness.
- Sampling frequency: continuous.
- Reporting frequency: hourly.
- Estimated station cost: unknown.
- Network strengths:
o Stations are located within NPS park units.
o Data quality is excellent, with high data standards.
o Provides unique measurements that are not available elsewhere.
o Records are up to 2 decades in length.
o Site maintenance is excellent.
o Thermometers are aspirated.
- Network weaknesses:
o Not easy to download the entire data set or to ingest live data.
o Period of record is short compared to other automated networks. Earliest sites date from 2004.
o Station spacing and coverage: station installation is episodic, driven by opportunistic situations.
The NPS web site indicates that there are 33 sites with continuous ozone analysis run by NPS, with records from a few to about 16-17 years. Of these stations, 12 are labeled as GPMP sites and the rest are labeled as CASTNet sites. All of these have standard meteorological measurements, including a 10-m mast. Another nine GPMP sites are located within NPS units but run by cooperating agencies. A number of other sites (1-2 dozen) ran for differing periods in the past, generally less than 5-10 years.
G.10. National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP)
- Purpose of network: measurement of precipitation chemistry and atmospheric deposition.
- Primary management agencies: USDA, but multiple collaborators.
- Data website: http://nadp.sws.uiuc.edu.
- Measured weather/climate elements:
o Precipitation.
- Sampling frequency: daily.
- Reporting frequency: daily.
- Estimated station cost: unknown.
- Network strengths:
o Data quality is excellent, with high data standards.
o Site maintenance is excellent.
- Network weaknesses:
o A very limited number of climate parameters are measured.
Stations within the NADP network monitor primarily wet deposition through precipitation chemistry at selected sites around the U.S. and its territories. The network is a collaborative effort among several agencies including USGS and USDA. Precipitation is the primary climate parameter measured at NADP sites.
G.11. USDA/NRCS Snowcourse Network (NRCS-SC)
- Purpose of network: collect snowpack and related climate data to assist in forecasting water supply in the western U.S.
- Primary management agency: NRCS.
- Data website: http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/snowcourse/.
- Measured weather/climate elements:
o Snow depth.
o Snow water equivalent.
- Sampling, reporting frequency: monthly or seasonally.
- Estimated station cost: cost of man-hours needed to set up snowcourse and make measurements.
- Network strengths:
o Periods of record are generally long.
o Large number of high-altitude sites.
- Network weaknesses:
o Measurement and reporting only occurs on monthly to seasonal basis.
o Few weather/climate elements are measured.
USDA/NRCS maintains a network of snow-monitoring stations known as snowcourses. Many of these sites have been in operation since the early part of the twentieth century. These are all manual sites where only snow depth and snow water content are measured.
G.12. Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center Network (NWAVAL)
- Purpose of network: support snow- and avalanche-monitoring efforts at NWAC.
- Primary management agency: NWAC.
- Data website: http://www.nwac.noaa.gov.
- Measured weather/climate elements:
o Air temperature.
o Relative humidity.
o Precipitation.
o Wind speed and direction.
o Wind gust and direction.
- Sampling frequency: hourly.
- Reporting frequency: hourly.
- Estimated station cost: unknown.
- Network strengths:
o Strategic location in montane and alpine environments, locations that traditionally have sparse weather/climate observations.
o Data are readily available.
- Network weaknesses:
o Geographic coverage – limited to mountain areas.
o Data quality is sometimes questionable.
The Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center (NWAC) operates a network of weather stations in the mountainous areas of the Pacific Northwest, primarily in Washington. These stations are operated in support of NWAC’s primary mission of monitoring avalanche conditions in the mountains of Washington and northern Oregon. Hourly weather and climate elements that are measured include temperature, humidity, wind, and precipitation. Daily measurements are made of snowfall and snowdepth.
G.13. Oregon Department of Environmental Quality Network (ODEQ)
- Purpose of network: support ODEQ’s mission to protect air and water quality in Oregon.
- Primary management agency: ODEQ.
- Data websites: http://www.deq.state.or.us and http://www.met.utah.edu/jhorel/html/mesonet.
- Measured weather/climate elements:
o Air temperature.
o Relative humidity.
o Pressure.
o Wind speed and direction.
o Wind gust and direction.
- Sampling frequency: unknown.
- Reporting frequency: unknown.
- Estimated station cost: unknown.
- Network strengths:
o Real-time data.
- Network weaknesses:
o Network coverage is limited to the state of Oregon.
The primary mission of ODEQ is to protect and enhance Oregon’s air and water quality. Weather and climate elements are measured by ODEQ stations in support of this primary mission. Measured meteorological elements include temperature, precipitation, wind, and relative humidity.
G.14. Oregon Department of Transportation Network (ODOT)
- Purpose of network: provide weather data to support management of Oregon’s transportation network.
- Primary management agency: ODOT.
- Data websites: http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT and http://www.met.utah.edu/jhorel/html/mesonet.
- Measured weather/climate elements:
o Air temperature.
o Relative humidity.
o Pressure.
o Wind speed and direction.
o Wind gust and direction.
- Sampling frequency: unknown.
- Reporting frequency: unknown.
- Estimated station cost: unknown.
- Network strengths:
o Real-time data.
o Routine station maintenance.
- Network weaknesses:
o Coverage is limited to the state of Oregon.
o Access to archived data can be difficult.
These weather stations are operated by ODOT in support of management activities for Oregon’s transportation network. Measured meteorological elements include temperature, precipitation, wind, and relative humidity.
G.15. Remote Automated Weather Station Network (RAWS)
- Purpose of network: provide near-real-time (hourly or near hourly) measurements of meteorological variables for use in fire weather forecasts and climatology. Data from RAWS also are used for natural resource management, flood forecasting, natural hazard management, and air-quality monitoring.
- Primary management agency: WRCC, National Interagency Fire Center.
- Data website: http://www.raws.dri.edu/index.html.
- Measured weather/climate elements:
o Air temperature.
o Precipitation.
o Relative humidity.
o Wind speed.
o Wind direction.
o Wind gust.
o Gust direction.
o Solar radiation.
o Soil moisture and temperature.
- Sampling frequency: 1 or 10 minutes, element-dependent.
- Reporting frequency: generally hourly. Some stations report every 15 or 30 minutes.
- Estimated station cost: $12000 with satellite telemetry ($8000 without satellite telemetry); maintenance costs are around $2000/year.
- Network strengths:
o Metadata records are usually complete.
o Sites are located in remote areas.
o Sites are generally well-maintained.
o Entire period of record available on-line.
- Network weaknesses:
o RAWS network is focused largely on fire management needs (formerly focused only on fire needs).
o Frozen precipitation is not measured reliably.
o Station operation is not always continuous.
o Data transmission is completed via one-way telemetry. Data are therefore recoverable either in real-time or not at all.
The RAWS network is used by many land-management agencies, such as the BLM, NPS, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Forest Service, and other agencies. The RAWS network was one of the first automated weather station networks to be installed in the U.S. Most gauges do not have heaters, so hydrologic measurements are of little value when temperatures dip below freezing or reach freezing after frozen precipitation events. There are approximately 1100 real-time sites in this network and about 1800 historic sites (some are decommissioned or moved). The sites can transmit data all winter but may be in deep snow in some locations. The WRCC is the archive for this network and receives station data and metadata through a special connection to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.
G.16. NWS/FAA Surface Airways Observation Network (SAO)
- Purpose of network: provide near-real-time (hourly or near hourly) measurements of meteorological variables and are used both for airport operations and weather forecasting.
- Primary management agency: NOAA, FAA.
- Data website: data are available from state climate offices, RCCs (e.g., WRCC,http://www.wrcc.dri.edu), and NCDC (http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov).
- Measured weather/climate elements:
o Air temperature.
o Dew point and/or relative humidity.
o Wind speed.
o Wind direction.
o Wind gust.
o Gust direction.
o Barometric pressure.
o Precipitation (not at many FAA sites).
o Sky cover.
o Ceiling (cloud height).
o Visibility.
- Sampling frequency: element-dependent.
- Reporting frequency: element-dependent.
- Estimated station cost: $100000–$200000, with maintenance costs approximately $10000/year.
- Network strengths:
o Records generally extend over several decades.
o Consistent maintenance and station operations.
o Data record is reasonably complete and usually high quality.
o Hourly or sub-hourly data.
- Network weaknesses:
o Nearly all sites are located at airports.
o Data quality can be related to size of airport—smaller airports tend to have poorer datasets.
o Influences from urbanization and other land-use changes.
These stations are managed by NOAA, U. S. Navy, U. S. Air Force, and FAA. These stations are located generally at major airports and military bases. The FAA stations often do not record precipitation, or they may provide precipitation records of reduced quality. Automated stations are typically ASOSs for the NWS or AWOSs for the FAA. Some sites only report episodically with observers paid per observation.
G.17. USDA/NRCS Soil Climate Analysis Network (SCAN)
- Purpose of network: comprehensive soil-climate network used in natural resource assessments and other conservation activities in the U.S.
- Primary management agency: USDA/NRCS.
- Data website: http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/scan/.
- Measured weather/climate elements:
o Air temperature.
o Precipitation.
o Relative humidity.
o Wind speed.
o Wind direction.
o Barometric pressure.
o Solar radiation.
o Snow water content.
o Snow depth.
o Soil moisture and temperature (enhanced sites only).
- Sampling frequency: 1-minute temperature; 1-hour precipitation, snow water content, and snow depth. Less than one minute for relative humidity, wind speed and direction, solar radiation, and soil moisture and temperature (all at enhanced site configurations only).
- Reporting frequency: reporting intervals are user-selectable. Commonly used intervals are every one, two, three, or six hours.
- Estimated station cost: $25000, with maintenance costs approximately $1000/year.
- Network strengths:
o Sites are well-maintained.
o Data are of high quality and are largely complete.
o Very reliable automated system.
- Network weaknesses:
o Short data records.
o Network is still in development.
The SCAN network is intended to be a comprehensive nationwide soil moisture and climate information system to be used in supporting natural resource assessments and other conservation activities. These stations are usually located in the agricultural areas of the U.S. All SCAN sites are automated. The parameters measured at these sites include air temperature, precipitation, humidity, wind, pressure, solar radiation, snow depth, and snow water content.
G.18. USDA/NRCS Snowfall Telemetry (SNOTEL) network
- Purpose of network: collect snowpack and related climate data to assist in forecasting water supply in the western U.S.
- Primary management agency: NRCS.
- Data website: http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/snow/.
- Measured weather/climate elements:
o Air temperature.
o Precipitation.
o Snow water content.
o Snow depth.
o Relative humidity (enhanced sites only).
o Wind speed (enhanced sites only).
o Wind direction (enhanced sites only).
o Solar radiation (enhanced sites only).
o Soil moisture and temperature (enhanced sites only).
- Sampling frequency: 1-minute temperature; 1-hour precipitation, snow water content, and snow depth. Less than one minute for relative humidity, wind speed and direction, solar radiation, and soil moisture and temperature (all at enhanced site configurations only).
- Reporting frequency: reporting intervals are user-selectable. Commonly used intervals are every one, two, three, or six hours.
- Estimated station cost: $20000 with maintenance costs approximately $2000/year.
- Network strengths:
o Sites are located in high-altitude areas that typically do not have other weather or climate stations.
o Data are of high quality and are largely complete.
o Very reliable automated system.
- Network weaknesses:
o Historically limited number of elements.
o Remote so data gaps can be long.
o Metadata sparse and not high quality; site histories are lacking.
o Measurement and reporting frequencies vary.
o Many hundreds of mountain ranges still not sampled.
o Earliest stations were installed in the late 1970s; temperatures have only been recorded since the 1980s.
USDA/NRCS maintains a set of automated snow-monitoring stations known as the SNOTEL (snowfall telemetry) network. These stations are designed specifically for cold and snowy locations. Precipitation and snow water content measurements are intended for hydrologic applications and water-supply forecasting, so these measurements are measured generally to within 2.5 mm (0.1 in.). Snow depth is tracked to the nearest 25 mm, or one inch. These stations function year around.
G.19. Weather For You Network (WX4U)
- Purpose of network: allow volunteer weather enthusiasts around the U.S. to observe and share weather data.
- Data website: http://www.met.utah.edu/jhorel/html/mesonet.
- Measured weather/climate elements:
o Air temperature.
o Relative humidity and dewpoint temperature.
o Precipitation.
o Wind speed and direction.
o Wind gust and direction.
o Pressure.
- Sampling frequency: 10 minutes.
- Reporting frequency: 10 minutes.
- Estimated station cost: unknown.
- Network strengths:
o Stations are located throughout the U.S.
o Stations provide near-real-time observations.
- Network weaknesses:
o Instrumentation platforms can be variable.
o Data are sometimes of questionable quality.
The WX4U network is a nationwide collection of weather stations run by local observers. Meteorological elements that are measured usually include temperature, precipitation, wind, and humidity.
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