1	West Texas Mesonet – Texas Tech University www.mesonet.ttu.edu
2	INTRODUCTION
3	West Texas Mesonet – Map 51 Completed Stations – 10/22/2007
4	West Texas Mesonet – Map
5	Site Photo Memphis 1 mile Northeast Station – Hall County
6	Site Photo Goodlett 3 miles West Station – Hardeman County
7	Site Photo Childress 2 miles NNE Station – Childress County
8	Instrumentation The following data are collected at each mesonet station every 5 minutes: 10-meter wind speed and direction (average and 3-second peak wind speed) 9-meter temperature (for heat flux study) 2-meter wind speed 2-meter temperature (for heat flux study) 1.5-meter temperature and relative humidity (including dewpoint calculation) barometric pressure (using digital barometer: calculations include station pressure and altimeter) rainfall (total for the 5-minute period and an hourly summation product) 2-meter solar radiation (Kipp and Zonen SP-Lite, CM-3, and CM-21; Apogee PYR-P)
9	Instrumentation
10	Instrumentation Fluvanna 3W WTM Station
11	Communications Radio: We use an extended line of sight (ELOS) radio system to transmit data packets from our remote stations to our base station at Reese Center. Cell Phone: Used in remote areas which are generally east of Lubbock. Landline Phone: Partnership stations with NWS Lubbock. DSL/Cable modem: Used at a few stations where local city provides internet. Wireless Internet: Wireless internet at station…all equipment contained at station. Internet: Spread spectrum radio transmissions from mesonet station to wherever internet is available (e.g., courthouse, school, private residence). Our server is located at that location for internet access.
12	Power Requirements All stations use solar panels to charge external batteries. There is no electricity at any station. Each radio station has one 100-watt radio for communications. The power required to run each radio varies significantly with each site. Most sites use two 20-watt solar panels to charge two deep-cycle gel type marine batteries. The majority of newer stations use one 50-watt panel. Several of our major radio repeater stations use two 50-watt solar panels to charge three batteries. Each datalogger has a backup set of internal batteries to save data in case of a major failure in the marine batteries.
13	Web Products
14	Web Products
15	Web Products
16	Web Products Program Written by John Lipe, NWS Lubbock
17	Web Products
18	Web Products Courtesy: Matt Haugland - OU
19	Web Products Surface Plots
20	Web Products Rainfall Map
21	Users/Importance Users: Agriculture Wind Power Industry National Weather Service Media Outlets And Many More…. Real-time Data Access: Real-time mesonet information (data and products) is free to anyone on the web page at www.mesonet.ttu.edu . Average web hits per day: 38,000 Peak one-day total: 110,000 (as of 10/22/2007) Maintenance: Each station is visited every two months to complete routine maintenance. When an instrument fails, we replace it as soon as possible. If a station is not sending quality data, it is not helping anyone. Funding: The funding to maintain the West Texas Mesonet has almost exclusively been provided by Texas Tech University, although we are pursuing other opportunities to support maintenance and continued expansion of the network. Texas Agriculture: How can a larger monitoring network help you? Schools Community Leaders Emergency Management General Public
22	NWS Lubbock Partnership The West Texas Mesonet and the NWS Lubbock office share a unique relationship. The West Texas Mesonet provides high quality meteorological and agricultural information to a region with otherwise sparse data sources. The NWS Lubbock relays WTM data to the media and surrounding community through warnings, forecasts, local storm statements, and other reports. The NWS Lubbock, in conjunction with Southern Region Headquarters, helps with the communication costs at many stations in the WTM domain. Currently, there are seven stations on phone lines that would not be sending real-time data without this help. We look forward to a continuing partnership with the National Weather Service as we expand the West Texas Mesonet into other regions and additional NWS County Warning Areas.
23	West Texas Mesonet Stations
24	West Texas Mesonet Stations
25	West Texas Mesonet Stations Expansion of West Texas Mesonet? Location Real-time Communications Maintenance/Quality Data Data Access Other Possibilities? Integration of New Sensors Development of New Data Products Event Notification Increasing Sampling/Reporting Rates
26	West Texas Mesonet Contact Information Dr. John Schroeder – John.Schroeder@ttu.edu Wesley Burgett – Wesley.Burgett@ttu.edu Brian Hirth – Brian.Hirth@ttu.edu www.mesonet.ttu.edu