AWN Quarterly News Brief
TO: AgWeatherNet (AWN) Stakeholders
FROM: Gary Grove, Director and Professor of Plant Pathology
SUBJECT: AWN Quarterly Update
DATE: 30 March 2009
1. Hardware Upgrade. The Buena station came online in late February, thus bringing the AWN expansion and hardware retrofit to 99% completion. New installations at Chief Joe (Okanogan County) and Crane (Douglas County) came online in late March. We still have several stations that are logging data but not communicating due to lack of radio or cell telemetry and are still seeking a station location in Dryden, but the vast majority of that arduous and complex undertaking is largely behind us and our new hardware should serve us for 10-15 years. It has been a long haul but we are light years ahead of where we were 2 years ago. The AWN team sincerely appreciates your guidance, support, and understanding through those very difficult transitory times.
2. New value-added products. The AWN team is making excellent progress on improvements to the powdery mildew models for grapes and hops. Also in development are new products for forecasting early- and late blight of potatoes, 2 km resolution forecasts for upcoming conditions (frost risk) at selected AWN sites, and bud/wood cold hardiness for wine grapes. 4Quarters of Yakima (http://www.4qtrs.net) has made excellent progress on the AWN-powered AgAlertz (http://awa.4qtrs.net/), a storehouse of user-definable "push" technologies that will deliver model and weather related information directly to cellular phones via email, text messaging, or synthesized voice mail.
3. Budget scenario. As you have by now probably heard, the state budget has seen better days and AWN will be affected by the proposed reductions to the WSU budget. WSU administration was asked to prepare 12% and 18% reduction scenarios. The consequences of either level of reduction could have serious long-term consequences to AWN and might impair or curtail the delivery of raw weather data, frost protection support, and other value-added efforts that AWN data helps to make possible. AWN hopes to avoid a repeat of the gradual funding erosion that characterized the decline of the WSU-PAWS system. In response to these potential developments the AWN team has already taken steps to prepare our organization and subscribers for the challenging times ahead:
- The plan to "regionalize" some of the custom made site-specific stations in the AWN network has been put "on hold". We managed to convert several of these during the last year but will not be able to finish the process until the budget improves.
- Because our resources and network have reached carrying capacity, AWN will no longer sell or maintain site-specific weather stations for individuals. However, under development are data-sharing agreements/partnerships with hardware providers in the private sector. These agreements will ensure access to WSU models and other value-added weather products and increase the scope and precision of AWN's weather-monitoring activities.
- Travel has been restricted.
- The filling of the agro meteorologist position has been postponed until the budget picture clears. I have agreed to continue as Director of AWN until then. AWN is in the process of developing partnerships with agro meteorologists / meteorological entities outside of WSU in order to address critical research and outreach needs.
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