Mesonet Louisiana Agriclimatic Information (LAIS) hourly data CONTACTS: For general information on this BAMEX data set: Steve Williams P.O. Box 3000 Boulder CO 80307-3000 Email sfw@ucar.edu 303-497-8164 (voice) 970-491-8293 (fax) For detailed information on the LAIS network: Royce L Fontenot PH 225 578 1096 LAIS Coordinator FAX 225 578 3492 Dept of Biological & Agricultural Engineering Cell 225 281 9453 Louisiana State Univeristy AgCenter http://www.lsuagcenter.com/weather 1.0 DATA SET OVERVIEW This data set contains hourly resolution surface meteorological data from the Louisiana Agriclimatic Information System (LAIS). This network includes 24 stations around the state of Louisiana. This data set covers the period from 1 May to 31 July 2003. These data are in comma-delimited ASCII format. LAIS is operated by the LSU AgCenter. The network is managed by the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering (BAE). 2.0 INSTRUMENT DESCRIPTION Dataloggers: Each LAIS station is equipped with a model CR23X datalogger manufactured by Campbell Scientific. A datalogger is a specialized computer which accepts electronic signals from various instruments, performs mathematical functions on the data, and records summaries in internal memory at designated intervals. Communication: Most stations transmit data to a centralized computer every five minutes by using a combination of RAD brand short-haul modems, buried communications cable, and a Lantronix UDS-10 network interface. Some stations have radios substituted in place of the buried cable, and some still use telephone modems. Where the network interface and the weather station are not within the same local calling area, data is generally transmitted only once per day. Power: The dataloggers operate on 12 volts direct current. In most cases, this is provided by an internal battery that is kept fully charged by a 30-watt solar panel. In some cases, the internal battery is kept charged by an adapter plugged into a regular 110-volt AC outlet. Some stations substitute a larger gelcell battery for the internal battery. Soil Temperature: Most stations have four Type T (copper-constantan) thermocouples at depths of 0 (just barely covered by dirt), 5, 10 and 25 cm, in the center of bare soil plots at least 8 feet square. Air Temperature and Relative Humidity: A dual sensor measures temperature and relative humidity. Each station has a Vaisala HMP35A, which has a platinum temperature sensing element, and a Humicap relative humidity sensor. Backup Air Temperature:All stations have a second temperature sensor to help in judging the quality of the primary temperature sensor's data. If both temperatures agree, it is unlikely that they are far off from actual air temperature. In many cases, the backup sensor is identical to that used in National Weather Service electronic Maximum Minimum Temperature Systems. All stations will soon have the Campbell Scientific 107 thermistor as the backup, along with a matching sensor at a height of 9 meters. Solar Radiation: Solar radiation is measured with a LiCor pyranometer at every station. Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR):Many stations have a LiCor quantum sensor that measures that portion of sunlight that is photosynthetically active. Wind Speed and Direction: All stations measure both wind speed and direction with an RM Young Wind Monitor, configured for use with Campbell Scientific dataloggers, at a height of 10 meters. At most locations, wind speed and direction are also measured at 3 meters. In this case the sensors are a Met One 014 anemometer and a Met One 024 vane. Precipitation: All stations have Handar 444A tipping bucket rain gauge or a similar unit manufactured by Hydrological Services. Either brand transmits a signal to the datalogger each time .01 inches of rainfall accumulates. Many of the stations also have an official manual precipitation gauge in the same location. Barometric Pressure: All stations in the LAIS network also observe barometric pressure. 2.2 Station Identifiers Station location information can be found in the header portion of each data file. Station ID City Latitude Longitude Elev (ft) ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ben Hur 3 Baton Rouge 30 21' 52" 91 10' 02" 21 Bienville 26 Bienville 32 19' 44" 93 04' 24" 250 Burden 4 Baton Rouge 30 24' 27" 91 08' 45" 32 Calhoun 18 Calhoun 32 30' 48" 92 20' 55" 170 Citrus 6 Port Sulphur 29 34' 52" 89 49' 21" 4 Dean Lee 2 Alexandria 31 10' 40" 92 24 38 70 Hammond 13 Hammond 30 30 11 90 22 38 35 Hill Farm 16 Homer 32 45 00 93 04 12 380 Iberia 19 Jeanerette 29 57 54 91 42 54 18 LIGO North 20 Livingston 30 33 45 90 46 29 62 LIGO South 23 Livingston 30 31 45 90 45 41 62 LIGO West 24 Livingston 30 33 07 90 48 49 62 Lake Charles 27 Lake Charles 30 08 03 93 12 45 10 Manchac 21 Manchac 30 17 32 90 20 09 1 Northeast 7 St. Joseph 31 56 59 91 14 01 78 Paincourtville 5 Paincourtville 29 59 08 91 04 45 25 R&D Research 14 Port Barre 30 36 49 91 58 31 30 Red River 1 Bossier City 32 24 54 93 38 06 155 Rice 11 Crowley 30 14 28 92 20 51 25 Rosepine 15 Rosepine 30 56 48 93 16 44 30 Southeast 9 Franklinton 30 47 06 90 12 16 240 St. Gabriel 25 St. Gabriel 30 15 41 91 05 41 19 Sugercane Houma 12 Houma 29 38 03 90 50 38 15 Sweet Potato 8 Chase 32 06 02 91 42 11 75 ULM 22 Monroe 32 31 48 92 02 24 75 3.0 DATA COLLECTION AND PROCESSING Each station consists of a datalogger that observes several electronic instruments on a 3-second interval. Output is generated by the datalogger: Every 3 seconds, although this data is normally not archived, Every minute, Hourly, Daily, at midnight, Daily, at 7am. UCAR/JOSS conducted no processing or quality control on these data. 4.0 DATA FORMAT AND FILE NAMING 4.1 Data Format These data are in comma-delimited ASCII format. LAIS One-Minute Parameters Stationid LAIS network ID number latitude Add 2 or 3 to the beginning of the value longitude Add 8 or 9 to the beginning of the value Year_RTM Year Day_RTM Julian Day Hour_Minute Time of observation precapdif_TOT Precipitation in mm via RM Young capacitance rain gage (BACKUP) preciptip_TOT Precipitation in inches via Handar 444A tipping bucket (PRIMARY) accumcap Accumulated rainfall in mm since midnight CST accumtip Accumulated rainfall in inches since midnight CST soilsfc Soil surface (~1cm) temperature in degrees C soil5cm Soil temperature at 5cm in degrees C soil10cm Soil temperatures at 10cm in degrees C soil25cm Soil temperatures at 25cm in degrees C tempmmts Backup air temperature. Originally measure with a NWS MMTS, now measured with a CSI 107 sensor (where installed). Degrees C tempprtd Primary air temperature. Measured with a PRTD inside the HMP-35/45 Temp/RH sensor. Degrees C temp9m10 Temperature at 9m. Degrees C relhumid RH measured from a HMP-35/45. Percent RH backuprh Future spot for backup RH barpress Station pressure in millibars. Add 9 or 10 to value. 16.71 becomes 1016.71 mb backupbp Future spot for backup pressure totalsrad Solar radiation in kW m-2 quantmrad Photosynthetic Radiation (PAR) in micromoles s-1 m-2 winddr3m Wind direction at 3m. Direction in degrees winddir10m Wind direction at 10m. Direction in degrees windsp3m Wind speed at 3m. Speed in ms-1 windsp10m Wind speed at 10m. Speed in ms-1 precapnew New precipitation in the backup capacitance rain gage windsp3m_MAX Max 3-second wind speed at 3m. Speed in ms-1 windsp10m_MAX Max 3-second wind speed at 10m. Speed in ms-1 windsp3m_S_WVT Mean horizontal wind speed at 3m (S). Speed in ms-1 windsp3m_U_WVT Resultant mean wind speed at 3m (U). Speed in ms-1 windrp3m_DU_WVT Resultant mean wind direction at 3m (QU). Direction in degrees windsp10m_S_WVT Mean horizontal wind speed at 3m (S). Speed in ms-1 windsp10m_U_WVT Resultant mean wind speed at 3m (U). Speed in ms-1 windrp10m_DU_WVT Resultant mean wind direction at 3m (QU). Direction in degrees windsp3m_STD Standard deviation of 3m wind speed windsp10m_STD Standard deviation of 10m wind speed adj_tempp Not used adj_barpre Not used adj_soilsfc Not used adj_soil5cm Not used adj_soil10cm Not used adj_soil25cm Not used qc_flag Not used error_flag Not used timeLoaded Time data acquired at LSU, not at the station. Hourly Data Parameters At the hourly level, all basic measurements are the same, with the addition of the following: battery_MAX Max battery voltage (VDC) paneltemp CR-23X datalogger panel temperature. In degrees C The remainder of the values are the maximum and minimum 3-sec value for each parameter, as well as the time of occurrence. Note that because of the high sample interval (3 sec), erroneous values that would normally be averaged out in the 1-minute data may be present in the max/min values. 4.2 File Naming conventions Rosepine200305.csv where: Rosepine is the station 2003 is the year 05 is the month 5.0 DATA REMARKS None. 6.0 REFERNCES LAIS Network Home Page: http://www.agctr.lsu.edu/weather/