With the use of a Web site, residents from all over Georgia can find out almost anything they want to know about the weather in 60 different locales in the state and surrounding areas.
  Dr. Gerrit Hoogenboom, of the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering at the UGA-Griffin Campus, started the Georgia Automated Environmental Monitoring Network (AEMN) in 1991 to collect weather data for environmental and agricultural usage.
  There are 58 stations in Georgia, one in Florida and one in South Carolina. And each one retrieves specified information. They monitor air temperature, relative humidity, soil temperature at two, four and eight inches, wind speed and direction, solar radiation and precipitation. Because the National Weather Service forecasts weather, these stations can only predict the temperature for the next six to 12 hours. The original purpose for the temperature predictor was to predict frost temperature for the protection of fruit crops, Hoogenboom said.
  Some stations are also able to monitor barometric pressure, soil moisture, open pan evaporation, water temperature and leaf wetness.
  The data is collected and processed using sensors and phone lines. The sensors are scanned at a one-second frequency, and every 15 minutes, a summary is calculated and permanently stored in the data logger, according to prepared information. Daily summaries are calculated at midnight with the daily extremes the maximum and minimums.
  Telephone lines are used to download the information to a computer on the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES)-Griffin Campus. After the data is processed, it is made usable to the public through the Internet at www.georgiaweather.net.
  The public can pull up current conditions at all stations that are updated at least hourly. These conditions also include the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature Index, which lets people know if they should be involved in physical activity outdoors, Hoogenboom said.
  The data collected from the stations can be used for the general public, farmers, researchers or even lawyers.
  Hoogenboom said he receives all types of requests including wanting weather conditions at a certain time for a court case.
  "I try to respond to requests from uses if they are reasonable and fit what we're trying to do," he said.
  Being involved in this network of weather stations has allowed Hoogenboom to branch out and interact with the public more than when he was strictly researching, he said.
  By accessing the Web site, the public has access to information that can be used for applications such as the heat index, degree days, chilling hours, wind chill, potential evapotranspiration, heating and cooling requirements, irrigation management, water conservation, best management practices, yield forecasting, integrated pest management, precision farming and crop modeling.
  The applications from the weather stations' collected data address several agricultural and environmental issues. They can be used for practical matters on a home lawn or farm. Farmers can better schedule pesticide applications with the calculation of degree days, and homeowners can learn how much water to use for irrigation Hoogenboom said. Additionally, calculating chilling hours are important for farmers because certain crops such as peaches and blueberries have to be exposed to certain temperatures for a certain length of time or the crop yield will not be favorable, he said.
  Hoogenboom's next push for the network is to increase the weather station base to fill the gaps in central Georgia and the southeast region, he said. Currently, stations are located in areas like lakes, golf courses, schools, farms and vineyards.
  Other departments like the National Weather Service, Georgia Forestry Commission, the Environmental Protection Division and the U.S. Geological Survey are interested in the network's findings.

Griffin Daily News, Febuary 20, 2005, Vol. 132, No. 051, Page 1,2A.