Published: July 01, 2009 08:25 am      

Clear forecast

Weather network station erected at university farm

Weather data from Eastern Kentucky University’s Meadowbrook Farm soon will be available live on the Internet.

Temperature, humidity and solar radiation, as well as wind speed and direction readings from instruments being installed at the farm will be updated on kymesonet.org every five minutes.

Graphs will display data for the previous 24 hours, according to Dr. Stuart Foster, who directs the state climate center at Western Kentucky University.

Concrete foundations for the weather station were poured last week, and a 10-meter tower was erected Tuesday.

Instruments on the tower will record air temperature, wind speed and direction and humidity.

An adjacent precipitation gauge will collect and weigh rain water and melted snow. A nearby set of two 130-watt solar panels not only will measure sunlight, its photovolatic cells will generate electricity to operate the station, said Steve Struebig, meterorolgy/electronics technician with the climate center who supervised the installation.

In the future, soil moisture monitors may be installed at the station, he said.

The solar-generated electricity will be stored in two 12-volt batteries.

“The batteries will enable this station to operate for up to 10 days without sunlight,” Struebig said.

The station should be uploading data to the Internet in about two weeks, he said.

It will be part of the network operated by the Kentucky Climate Center that eventually will collect data from 100 sites around the state. Already there are 28 stations are in place, including one in Jackson County. The next nearest stations to Madison County are on the Fayette-Jessamine county line and the Garrard-Lincoln county line.

About 50 stations may be in place by the end of the year, Struebig said.

“This (Madison County) site will provide valuable data to assist National Weather Service meteorologists in producing forecasts and severe weather warnings, and will also provide benefits to a wide range of interests in the local area,” Foster said.

Data from the stations will be immediately useful to emergency, agriculture, utility, construction and recreation managers as well as weather forecasters, Foster said.

The information also will help climatologists track long-term weather trends, he said.

Foster said initial funding for the Kentucky Mesonet was secured by U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-KY, through a $2.9 million federal appropriation.

Bill Robinson can be reached brobinson@richmondregister.com or at 624-6622.