The Louisiana State Mesonet

Working with local congressional leaders, the University of Louisiana Monroe (ULM) secured funding in 2023 to establish an initial 50 station mesonet across Louisiana. Efforts on scouting and securing site locations started in earnest during the 1^st quarter of 2024, and the first mesonet station was installed in August 2024. The Louisiana State Mesonet collects typical weather and climate data, including temperature at three heights, relative humidity, pressure, solar radiation, wind speed and direction at two heights, precipitation, and soil conditions (moisture and temperature) to depths of 1-m. Each station also includes a camera to view the surrounding conditions. The goal of this presentation is to introduce the Louisiana State Mesonet to the broader weather and climate community, discuss its development, highlight instrumentation and stations installed to date, our site selection process, and to discuss the successes and challenges experienced while deploying a statewide mesonet. Future plans will also be discussed, including the deployment of a micronet across Monroe, LA to enable microscale studies of weather and climate impacts (e.g., heat) on local health outcomes.