Automated Weather Stations (AWS) generates real-time granular weather and crop monitoring data. Under the PCSRA project, Skymet has installed 675 AWS across the 9 target states. AWS is a comprehensive device that captures real-time weather parameters such as temperature, rainfall, wind, and humidity at a specific location. The automated data generated by the AWS is highly reliable and can be used to extrapolate weather parameters in near term. An AWS typically consists of a weather-proof enclosure containing the data logger, rechargeable battery, telemetry (optional) and the meteorological sensors.
Installation of AWS is based on GIS analysis if the terrain is flat then one AWS can cover range between 10-12 kms. If terrain is undulated, then one AWS can cover 5-7 kms. Forest cover can also affect the range of AWS coverage. In case of forest, one AWS can cover only 5-7 kms. If AWS machine is installed in high elevation zone, then it can cover only 5-6 kms of area. As per revised guidelines by committee on setting up AWS (Automatic Weather Station) & ARG (Automatic Rain Gauge) by private agencies and their accreditation, standardization, validation and quality management data 2015, AWS’s have been put on ground. So, all 675 Automatic weather stations across 31 districts of 9 states have been grounded.
AWSs are now been upgraded by attaching Cameras and Crop Sensors to it. This will help the stakeholders, primarily the farmers, to monitor the big farms efficiently as well as gear them up in advance to combat the crop damages by any of the fators incluidng weather, pests and disease. This would help in impleting the idea of precision agriculture. The crop sensors is the combination of follwing sensors:
Dielectric Leaf Wetness Sensor: Dielectric Leaf Wetness Sensor enables accurate and affordable leaf wetness monitoring. The Leaf Wetness Sensor determines the presence and duration of wetness on a leaf’s surface, enabling researchers and producers to forecast disease and protect plant canopies.
Solar Radiation Sensor: Solar Radiation Sensor measure various aspects of the energy imparted by the Sun on the Earth’s surface.
Soil Moisture Sensor: The Soil Moisture Sensor uses capacitance to measure dielectric permittivity of the surrounding medium. In soil, dielectric permittivity is a function of the water content. The sensor creates a voltage proportional to the dielectric permittivity, and therefore the water content of the soil. The sensor averages the water content over the entire length of the sensor. The Soil Moisture Sensor is used to measure the loss of moisture over time due to evaporation and plant uptake, evaluate optimum soil moisture contents for various species of plants, monitor soil moisture content to control irrigation in greenhouses and enhance bottle biology experiments.
To generate the weather information, Satellite data is analyzed and processed by meteorologists in Skymet by using a combination of NOAA datasets and publicly available information provided by the Indian Meteorological Department to develop algorithms for site specific weather forecasts. Data from these satellites is crucial for numerical weather prediction (NWP) to harness the power of computers to run algorithms that process massive amounts of satellite data.
Once this information is generated, the AWS data is ingested into dynamical model input which has global data, then model is run to get better forecast instead of using simple global data. This is also called data assimilation. Weather forecast and ago-advisories are disseminated to registered farmers by tracking their GIS location through a SMS in text-lite format, which can be received by any basic mobile phone.
All 675 Automatic Weather Stations installed under this project are a combination of Indian and U.S. technology, with sensors imported from a California-based company called Davis Instruments and other components assembled in India. This year, Skymet collaborated with another American institution, UCAR to strengthen weather forecasts be it short range, medium range, long range, inclement weather alerts, heatwaves and hailstorms.