Robust Solutions to Maintaining the Mount Washington Regional Mesonet through Extreme Weather Conditions

Mount Washington Observatory (MWO) is known for its extreme year-round weather. While the summit weather station has a contiguous 86-year climate record, MWO also maintains the Mount Washington Regional Mesonet, which has been in existence since 2007. A destructive regiment of extreme cold, wind, and heavy icing conditions makes regular preventative maintenance mandatory each season for our 18 remote mesonet stations. Most out-of-the box solutions will not survive.

Siting, materials, power budgeting, and sensor choice play a vital role in operating remote solar-powered mesonet stations in winds that exceed hurricane force every two days and 100 miles per hour (44.7 meters per second) on average every 4 days during winter.

Modified off-the-shelf sensors as well as in-house developed equipment are necessary in order to increase the reliability of stations in difficult to access regions of the White Mountains.

Due to our location at the highest peak in New England, our wireless infrastructure is capable of covering over 200,000 acres. MWO is working to leverage our current mesonet infrastructure to provide high speed internet access and phone communications to the US Forest Service Mount Washington Avalanche Center and Appalachian Mountain Club locations in Tuckerman Ravine, create awareness by installing remote webcams capable of streaming video of popular views, landmarks, and weather phenomena, as well as adding solar radiation, soil temperature and moisture to our basic measurements for purposes such as studying plant phenology in mountaintop and sub-arctic conditions.

This presentation will present a brief overview of the Mount Washington Regional Mesonet infrastructure and communication systems, as well as anticipated additions and research.