Crop Insurance Today August 2013 - (Page 4)
CropInsurance TODAY
The PRISM Climate
and Weather System
An Introduction
By Christopher Daly, Oregon State University and Kirk Bryant, Risk Management Agency
Weather and climate are arguably the most
powerful drivers of both agricultural and natural systems, and have profound effects on
how our society functions. Weather is what
we experience day to day, while climate is a
longer-term summary of expected weather
conditions. In other words, climate is what
you expect, and weather is what you get. Both
are important in determining what crops can
be grown successfully, what plants will thrive
in your garden, how roads and buildings are
constructed, and even the clothes you wear.
With the advent of computer-based geographic information systems (GIS), global
positioning systems, and remote sensing
technologies that help us describe and visualize the earth’s surface, many planning and
decision-making activities have gone spatial.
A wide variety of agricultural, hydrologic,
ecological, natural resource, and economic
decision support tools are now linked to these
technologies in new and exciting ways.
Spatial decision support tools have an
insatiable thirst for spatial data sets. Spatial
weather and climate data, usually in the form
of continuous grids of pixels, are often key
inputs to these tools, and form the basis for
scientific conclusions, management decisions,
and other important outcomes. These grids
typically describe minimum and maximum
temperature and precipitation over a monthly or daily time step, and are especially useful
because they provide wall-to-wall estimates
of climate conditions, even where no weather
stations exist.
The most widely used spatial climate data
sets in the United States are those developed
by Oregon State University’s PRISM Climate
4 AUGUST2013
Group, named for the PRISM climate mapping system. PRISM products are the official
spatial climate data sets of the USDA, and are
used by thousands of agencies, universities,
and companies worldwide. Now, PRISM is
being put to work to improve the efficiency
and integrity of the U.S. crop insurance program. In this article, we introduce you to the
history of climate mapping, how the PRISM
weather and climate mapping system was developed, and how it works. In a subsequent
article, we will explain how PRISM is being
used in crop insurance.
A Little History
Beginning in the early 20th century, official, 30-year average climate maps within
the U.S. (most done by state), were created
by expert climatologists with pen and paper.
Observations from weather stations were
plotted on a map, and generalized contours of
temperature and precipitation drawn between
the stations, based on the subjective opinion
of the analyst. The process was tedious and
time-consuming. It is not surprising that these
maps were updated infrequently throughout
the 20th century.
Figure 1. Precipitation: Annual Climatology (1981-2010)
PRISM map of mean annual precipitation, averaged over the years 1981-2010. Thirty years
is considered the standard averaging period for describing the long-term climate of a
region. The period typically moves forward once per decade (the next official period will be
1991-2020). This map is made up of over 20 million grid cells, each about ½-mile on a side.
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crop Insurance Today August 2013
"It could be, it might be, it is!" Baseball Insights for Crop Insurance
The PRISM Climate and Weather System An Introduction
Crop Insurance In Action
2012 U.S. Crop-Hail & MPCI Loss Ratio By State
2012 Research Review
Incorporating Crop Insurance Decisions into a Risk Management Plan
Step 10-Documenting, Sharing and Revising
Dave Snider Retires
Crop Insurance Today August 2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/56-2
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/56-1
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/55-4
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/55-3
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/55-2
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/55-1
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/54-4
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/54-3
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/54-2
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/54-1
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/53-4
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/53-03
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/53-02
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/53-01
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/52-04
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/52-03
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/52-02
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/52-01
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/cint/51-04
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/cint/51-03
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/cint/51-02
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/cint/51-01
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/cint/50-04
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/cint/50-3
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/cint/50-2
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/cint/50-1
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/cint/49-4
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/cint/49-3
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/cint/may2016
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/cint/february2016
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/cint/november2015
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/cint/september2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/may2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/february2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/november2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/september2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/may2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/february2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/november2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/august2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/may2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/february2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/november2012
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/august2012
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/may2012
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/february2012
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/cint/44-4
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com