Impact Magazine - Spring 2008 - (Page 23)

User-Friendly Updates for FAWN User-Friendly he Florida Automated Weather Network, which provides weather data 24 hours daily to farmers and consumers via the Internet and toll-free numbers, has added new monitoring stations and redesigned its Web site for faster and more reliable service. “Launched in October 2007, the improved site has a new user interface for streamlined navigation, new data servers and a more efficient database that will be monitored around the clock by UF staff,” said Rick Lusher, director of the Florida Automated Weather Network (FAWN) operated by UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. “We have also added new tools as well, such as an urban irrigation scheduler to aid homeowners with water usage.” In addition to the redesigned Web site, FAWN has installed new monitoring stations in Clewiston and in North Port near Venice, bringing the total number of stations around the state to 35. Each solar-powered station collects weather data and transmits it to a computer at UF in Gainesville every 15 minutes. Lusher said the stations measure air temperature at two, six and 30 feet above the ground; soil temperature; wind speed and direction; rainfall; relative humidity; barometric pressure; leaf wetness; and solar radiation. Realtime weather data from the network is available at (352) 846-3100 or (866) 754-5732 and at the FAWN Web site: http://fawn.ifas.ufl.edu. “Observations from our monitoring stations are more applicable to growers than those taken at conventional Updates for FAWN sites, because our stations are typically located in more rural areas,” Lusher said. He said growers use FAWN as a source of reliable information not only for cold protection, but also for disease control, irrigation scheduling, fertilizer application and other cropmanagement programs. FAWN is also working closely with the AgClimate forecasting system to provide monthly climate updates and other management tools. Jim Jones, a distinguished professor in UF’s agricultural and biological engineering department, said AgClimate includes forecasts combined with risk management tools and information for selected crops, forestry, pasture and livestock. AgClimate is operated by the Southeast Climate Consortium, which includes UF, Florida State University, University of Miami, University of Georgia, Auburn University and the University of Alabama in Huntsville. The UF Extension Service started FAWN in 1998 after the National Weather Service discontinued special forecasts for agriculture in 1996. The site is used mostly by farmers. Other users include emergency management officials, who use the data to monitor the progression of cold temperatures during winter and wind speeds during hurricanes. Forestry officials use the data to help monitor smoke plumes during forest fires or prescribed burns. n – chuck woods news updates T For more information, contact: rick lusher (352) 392-0900 rlusher@ufl.edu Rick Lusher, standing, and George Braun, field site supervisor for FAWN, install a temperature sensor at a monitoring station located at UF’s Plant Science Research and Education Unit in Citra, Fla. uf/ifas file photo IMPACT | Spring 2008 23 http://fawn.ifas.ufl.edu

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Impact Magazine - Spring 2008

Impact Magazine - Spring 2008 Contents A Big Boost for Biofuels Top Priority Partnerships for Sustainable Agriculture Eliminating the Evil Weevil Invasive Pest Defeating Resistant Roaches Biodiesel Boon User-Friendly Updates for FAWN Flat-Out Great for the Grill! Laser Labeling Cashing in on Caviar Saving Water with Soil-Moisture Sensors Spotlight IFAS Development News

Impact Magazine - Spring 2008

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