The Georgia Mesonet: Concepts and Systems to Demonstrate a New Cooperative Climate Network

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Weather Service is working toward the modernization of its cooperative observer network, a national program of mostly volunteer observers who dutifully report temperature and precipitation readings for climate record purposes. The plan for this initiative, known as the NOAA's Environmental Real-Time Observation Network (NERON), is to establish a national network of automated, real-time, high-quality, high-density weather sensors. Rather than building such a network from “scratch,” a model is emerging in Georgia that redefines the meaning of the phrase “cooperative network.” This new model integrates into one shared system existing monitoring networks operated by state and federal entities, augmenting and/or upgrading sensors as needed to meet stringent observing standards for climate observations.

This paper will describe the activities undertaken to achieve this cooperative integration, from the framing of the concept to the implementation of the first sites in the network. The standards agreed upon by the various mesonet partners will be presented along with a description of the site survey, site selection, and site installation processes. Finally, several key lessons learned through the entire project to date will be shared.