Operational since 1994, the Oklahoma Mesonet is a multi-purpose, statewide automated weather station network operated jointly by Oklahoma State University and the University of Oklahoma. Mesonet is a mesoscale network in both space and time. With currently 114 stations, the network has an average station spacing of 30 km with at least one site in every county. Using an already existing statewide telecommunications network, Mesonet is able to relay weather and soil information every 15 minutes to its base computers in Norman and make that information available to users within minutes of its being received.
In particular, the Oklahoma Mesonet has been an increasingly important tool for weather-based management decisions in agriculture and natural resources. Since 1994 a variety of data and value-added products have been offered to this particular clientele community. During the first part of the time period between then and now, these products were offered via a bulletin board service, whereby files were downloaded over telephone lines and then viewed/manipulated by Mesonet-developed software. With the increasing availability of the Internet to clientele, however, this method of product distribution began to be replaced by the World Wide Web starting with our first Web page in March 1996, which featured the Oklahoma Fire Danger Model. Since that time, pages have been developed which feature products showing current/recent Mesonet weather and soil information as well as value-added products (models) based on that data. The advent in 1996 of Mesonet-based Web pages for Oklahoma agriculture and natural resources was particularly well-timed, coinciding with the National Weather Service's withdrawal of its agricultural and private fire weather services.
Web-based Mesonet-developed products fall into three categories: current/recent Mesonet data, value-added products based on specific models, and forecast products. All are available through links on the Oklahoma Mesonet AgWeather Home Page. Examples of current/recent data include Web pages featuring a 6-hour archive of current and recent Mesonet weather maps, maps of recent rainfall, and maps of current and recent 5-cm soil temperatures. Models include those for insect management (alfalfa weevil, pecan nut casebearer), disease management (peanut leafspot, pecan scab, watermelon anthracnose), irrigation scheduling, fire management (Oklahoma Fire Danger Model), and assessment of current atmospheric dispersion conditions. Forecast products include a user-friendly version of the 60-hour NGM MOS forecasts for sites within and surrounding Oklahoma, as well as products based on that output, such as maps of future dispersion conditions (Oklahoma Dispersion Model).
This paper will highlight the variety of weather-based management products developed for agriculture and natural resources using the Oklahoma Mesonet as well as the Web pages used in the dissemination of that information. Some discussion will also occur on marketing and educational efforts, as well as actual usage of these products by various clientele.