About the Ag Weather Program

Agriculture is affected by the weather more than any other factor. It is therefore important to have accurate and timely weather information to properly assess conditions and risks in order to make informed decisions. Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development is developing an ag-weather initiative. The program is being funded by ARDI II under the Canada-Manitoba implementation agreement which is a component of the transition chapter of the Agricultural Policy Framework. The program has three main goals: Improving weather monitoring across agricultural Manitoba Encouraging partnerships and sharing of weather information Developing value-added agrometeorological tools to provide a decision support system for Manitoba producers

Weather Monitoring:

Certain areas of agro-Manitoba lack adequate weather monitoring. This can lead to extreme weather events that go undetected or it can lead to misallocation of resources that are meant to help those who need it the most. To enhance the level of monitoring, a number of real-time weather stations are being installed throughout agro-Manitoba. Each station is currently equipped to measure temperature, humidity, and rainfall. The stations operate during the growing season and data is retrieved several times a day. This data is now available on line.

Sharing of Weather Information:

Many individuals and organizations require weather data for decision making and for various applications. Currently, there is very little collaboration between those that need this information. And furthermore, it is technically difficult. This program is working to establish a mechanism whereby cooperators may contribute data and be able to access additional information and management tools in return. Over time, this would also allow individual producers or weather watchers in general to run their own weather stations to record and contribute site specific information and have the ability to take advantage of a variety of value added tools.

Ag-Met Product Development:

The greatest benefits from weather information can be found in the derived value-added products. These tools can provide producers with insight into crop conditions, soil properties, and disease or insect risk to assist with management decisions. A number of models are being developed and validated within Manitoba so that producers can access their latest local conditions and the information that they need.

About the Weather Stations:

The weather stations that MAWP operates are solar powered and communicate wirelessly. This enables stations to be situated well away from geographical or man-made features and obstructions that may influence the local conditions. The objective is to locate the station where it may adequately represent the climate of the area. Each station measures a minimum of air temperature, relative humidity, rainfall, wind speed/direction, and soil temperature. Wherever possible, stations are located above surfaces that represent the general area or optimally, a short grass surface. Rainfall is collected with a Texas Electronics model TR525M tipping bucket rain gauge. The gauge has 24.5 cm diameter orifice, mounted between 0.4 and 0.8 m from the ground at least 2.5 m away from the main weather station. Rainfall is collected in 0.1 mm increments. The sensor is rated for accuracy of +/- 1% with rainfall rates up to 10 mm/hr. This instrument is not intended to measure snow. The data is collected and stored at 15-minute intervals in Campbell Scientific CR510, CR10X, and CR200 dataloggers. Most loggers are connected to an Airlink Raven CDMA cellular modem through an SC932 9-pin to RS-232 DCE interface. In 2007 we have been working with I-Netlink Wireless out of Brandon to access some of the weather stations through their high-speed data network.