Ronald L. Elliott
Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Department,
Oklahoma State University
 

The Oklahoma Mesonet is a world-class network of environmental monitoring stations and its associated information infrastructure. The Mesonet was designed and implemented by scientists at Oklahoma State University and the University of Oklahoma, and has been continuously operated for nearly 20 years. The network consists of 120 automated stations spread across the State of Oklahoma, a land area of approximately 180,000 square kilometers. At each site, sensors located on or near a 10- meter-tall tower measure the following parameters: air temperature and relative humidity, wind speed and direction, rainfall, solar radiation, barometric pressure, and soil temperature and soil moisture (at multiple depths). The measurements are transmitted to a central facility every 5 minutes, 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. The data and many value-added information products are made available in near-real-time via the Oklahoma Mesonet website (www.mesonet.org). With rigorous procedures in place for sensor calibration, site maintenance, and data ingest and quality assurance, the Mesonet has earned a reputation for “research quality” data.