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('''A station-based network''')
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* '''Off-line rainfall stations''' that send in their daily data once a month or even once a year. These stations are important for climatic studies and the provision of normal data. * '''Off-line rainfall stations''' that send in their daily data once a month or even once a year. These stations are important for climatic studies and the provision of normal data.
-Which stations are to be included in the crop monitoring network? A few critera:+Which stations are to be included in the crop monitoring network? A few criteria:
* The station should be in an area where the monitoring crops are located. * The station should be in an area where the monitoring crops are located.
* A reasonably stable stream of data on de decadal basis (or daily, hourly basis) should reach the crop forecasting unit. * A reasonably stable stream of data on de decadal basis (or daily, hourly basis) should reach the crop forecasting unit.
* Stations should be evenly spread in crop growing areas. It does not make sense to include five stations in a 10 by 10 kilometer area (this is often the case in a capital city) * Stations should be evenly spread in crop growing areas. It does not make sense to include five stations in a 10 by 10 kilometer area (this is often the case in a capital city)
 +
 +The following fields for every station are needed:
 +# ID (national or international number)
 +# Name (spelling is sometimes an issue)
 +# Longitude
 +# Latitude
 +# Altitude
 +# Province (optional)
 +# District (optional)
 +
</blockquote> </blockquote>

Revision as of 11:51, 16 June 2006

Setting up the monitoring network

Before setting up a monitoring network a decision has to be made on the type of network that is appropriate for the country or region at hand. This chapter outlines the practical steps to set up such a network given the choice made in the previous chapter.

A station-based network

Most countries have an extensive network of meteorological stations. The most important types of monitoring stations are :

  • Synoptic stations. These stations provide hourly data on a real-time basis. Usually these data are fed into the global GTS system of WMO. Most of these stations provide weather data that enable users to calculate the Penman-Monteith reference evaporation (ET0). A subset of these stations do upper-air observations, which is less interesting for agrometeorological purposes.
  • Realtime Rainfall stations. These stations monitor rainfall and send in their data to the National Meteorological Office once a day.
  • Off-line rainfall stations that send in their daily data once a month or even once a year. These stations are important for climatic studies and the provision of normal data.

Which stations are to be included in the crop monitoring network? A few criteria:

  • The station should be in an area where the monitoring crops are located.
  • A reasonably stable stream of data on de decadal basis (or daily, hourly basis) should reach the crop forecasting unit.
  • Stations should be evenly spread in crop growing areas. It does not make sense to include five stations in a 10 by 10 kilometer area (this is often the case in a capital city)

The following fields for every station are needed:

  1. ID (national or international number)
  2. Name (spelling is sometimes an issue)
  3. Longitude
  4. Latitude
  5. Altitude
  6. Province (optional)
  7. District (optional)



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