The Dickinson Research Center hosts three North Dakota Agricultural Weather Network stations. Information is available at: https://ndawn.info/

By; Daryl Ritchison NDAWN Director

Two years ago, the one in Dickinson was updated and last week, two new stations were installed at the ranch headquarters near Manning and our Badlands research site (7 miles southwest of Fryberg), Pyramid Park. Below is a writeup from the NDAWN Director, Daryl Ritchison.

North Dakota Agricultural Weather Network

The North Dakota Agricultural Weather Network was established in 1989 by North Dakota Climatologist John Enz with six weather stations located at the North Dakota State University Research Centers across the state. Since then, NDAWN has evolved into an all-encompassing network of weather and soil data that is available for all to use; including various crop, insect, and disease models to better help with important agricultural decision making. The mission of NDAWN has always been to monitor and record weather conditions and disseminate timely, accurate data through applications, summaries, and interactive displays. Besides agricultural users, NDAWN data is used by the National Weather Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and many other public and private institutions in whatever way they see fit.

Currently, NDAWN consists of 195 operational weather stations and 12 rain gauge only sites across North Dakota, Minnesota, and Montana. Most weather stations consist of temperature, humidity, wind, soil moisture and temperature, and precipitation sensors. This robust collection of data provides any user with the possibility and freedom to manage variables for any need with the assistance of NDAWN websites that have been operational for over 20 years. NDAWN Staff are monitoring incoming data 24/7 to ensure the highest quality of data possible. This accessible to high quality weather data is archived since the construction of that specific weather station site.

One of the unique services of data on the NDAWN website is derived products. The NDAWN website provides essential tools to benefit farmers, such as Growing Degree Days for wheat, corn, soybeans, sugarbeets, and many more crops. Disease and pest infection tools are also available for use. All of this data is current and historical and can be accessed at any point in time. Planting dates, irrigation support, and inversion alerts are just a few examples of other derived products found on the website.

NDAWN is constantly evolving and upgrading across the state as different projects are underway. Current strategies are focusing on expanding precipitation collection with new state of the art All-Season rain gauges, which measure not only rain, but the liquid water equivalent of snow precipitation. One of these projects includes the construction of a dense network of weather stations for the Upper Missouri River Basin to monitor precipitation and soil moisture data to assist with flood forecasting. Similar projects are ongoing in the Red River Valley with upgrades to existing stations.

Small but mighty, the data that NDAWN provides is crucial for agriculturalists and beyond in the High Plains region. A prosperous weather network has the ability to help forecasters, farmers, and hobbyists, keeping up to date with current and past weather conditions. These tools are essential in regards to decision making and impacts to the general public.