The SD Mesonet (Mesonet.sdstate.edu) was awarded a large contract to expand the network from 30 to about 150 weather stations in South Dakota over the period of 2021-2027. Although the network expansion is driven by the goals of improving flood forecasting and precipitation measurements, this presents an opportunity for additional and improved weather sensors and inversion monitoring across South Dakota.
The US Army Corps of Engineers, the sponsor of the major network expansion, is not interested in crop production, but the station platform and infrastructure that serves as the “basic” weather station allows for additions to be made. The SD Mesonet wants to make a commitment to having inversion monitoring at every new station. Statewide coverage will assist growers in making the best management decisions, regardless of location. This project proposal requests funds for the addition of 32 thermometers on 16 stations to directly measure inversions in FY23. About half of these stations are upgrades to existing sites, and about half will be new installations in locations that have not had a Mesonet station. The locations in South Dakota slated for upgrades in FY23 are: Nisland, Reva/Antelope, Flandreau, Hamill, Jewel Cave, Rosebud, Sioux Falls and White Lake. New locations are planned for Hayes, Letcher, Milesville, Newell, Norris, Onida, Provo and Ralph. The Spray Tool on the Mesonet website will include each new station as the equipment is added.
With the new Mesonet station configuration, every upgraded station and new installation will change their tower height from 2 meters (approximately 10 feet) to 10 meters (33 feet). The wind sensor will be installed at the top of the tower, which will then be consistent with national ag engineering standards, and in line with mesonets in neighboring states that are also measuring inversions. As a result, this motivates a change in the calculation of Boom Height Wind speed on the Spray Tool. This is a weather element that is required for recordkeeping with use of over-the-top dicamba formulations in soybean.
Currently, the wind sensor height is “hard coded” in the programming using an established EPA formula. As a result, the programming code behind the website needs to be revised and updated to accommodate individual wind sensor height changes as they are installed. We request programmer time to fix this issue for this and future years, in addition to adding new stations to the Spray Tool as they are activated online.