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Basin CoAgMet

Home1 / Agriculture2 / Basin CoAgMet / Events3
  • Agriculture
  • Basin CoAgMet

About CoAgMet

In the early 1990’s, two groups on the Colorado State University  (CSU) campus, the Plant Pathology extension specialists and USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Water Management Unit, discovered that they had a mutual interest in collecting localized weather data in irrigated agricultural area. Plant pathology used the data for prediction of disease outbreaks in high value crops such as onions and potatoes, and ARS used almost the same information to provide irrigation scheduling recommendations.

To leverage their resources, these two formed an informal coalition, and invited others in the ag research community to provide input into the kinds and frequency of measurements that would be most useful to a broad spectrum of agricultural customers. A standardized set of instruments was selected, a standard datalogger program was developed, and a fledgling network of some eight stations was established in major irrigated areas of eastern Colorado. As interest grew and funds were made available, primarily from potential users, more stations were added.

Initially, stations were located near established phone service to allow daily collection of data. Soon, cellular phone service began to become widely available, and the group determined that this methodology was a reliable and inexpensive method of data recovery. Commercial software was used to download data from the growing list of stations shortly after midnight to a USDA-ARS computer, from which it was then distributed to interested users via answering machine, automated FAX and satellite downlink (Data Transmission Network).

As the network grew, Colorado Climate Center (CCC) at CSU became interested in these data, and subsequently took over the daily data collection and quality assessment. CCC added internet delivery and a wide range of data delivery options, and continues to improve the user interface in response to a growing interest in these data.

Visit the CoAgMet website at CSU

CoAgMet = Colorado Agricultural Meteorological Network

What Does CoAgMet Measure?

This is the description of a typical CoAgMet station. Most stations have a similar configuration, but sensors, dataloggers and settings vary somewhat throughout the network.

  • Sensors
    • Model: Vaisala HMP45C Probe
    • Sensor Height: 1.5 meters
    • Temperature Specs
      • Temperature Measurement Range: -35 to 50 °C
      • Thermistor Interchangeability Error: Typically <+-0.2 °C over 0 °C to 60 °C; +-0.4 °C at -35 °C
      • Polynomial Linearization Error: <+-0.5 °C over -35 °C to 50 °C
    • Relative Humidity Specs
      • RH Measurement Range: 0% to 100%
      • RH Accuracy (at 20 °C) +- 2%, 0% – 90%; +-3% > 90%
      • Temperature Dependence of RH Measurement: +-0.04% RH/°C
  • Wind
    • Model: R.M. Young Wind Sentry
    • Sensor Height: 2 meters
    • Wind Speed Specs
      • Range: 0-50 m/s
      • Starting Threshold: 0.5 m/s
      • Distance Constant (63% recovery): 2.3 m.
    • Wind Direction Specs
      • Range: 0-360 Deg. (355-360 open)
      • Starting Threshold 10° displacement: 0.8 m/s
      • Starting Threshold 5° displacement: 1.8 m/s
  • Solar Radiation
    • Model: Licor LI-200X Pyranometer
      • Specs
      • Sensor Height ~2m
      • Sensitivity: 0.2 kW m2 / mV
        • Spectral response from 0.4 to 1.1 mu
        • Typical error under natural daylight +-3%, maximum +-5%
  • Precipitation
    • Model: TE525 tipping bucket raingage
    • Specs
      • Sensor height >1m
      • Collector diameter – 154mm
      • 0.254mm/tip
      • accuracy +- 1% for precip of 50mm/hr or less
      • Operating temperature 0 to 50 °C (not accurate during winter)
  • Soil Temperature
    • Model: CSI Model 107 Soil Temp Probe (thermistor)
    • Specs
      • +- 0.4C for -33 to +48C all errors inclusive
      • Sensor depth 50mm and 150mm where two sensors used, 100mm where only one.

Where Are the Stations Located?

CoAgMet stations are spread throughout Colorado, but station locations within the Colorado Basin are identified below along with a link to view a map of the entire state’s locations.

VIEW STATEWIDE COAGMET LOCATIONS AND DATA

View Map
IDStation NameLocationLatitudeLongitudeElevationFirst Obs.Irrigation Type
CBL01CarbondaleCarbondale39.3623107.2086,293May 8, 2015Fully Irrigated
FRT02CSU Fruita Expt Station2 mi ENE Fruita39.1803108.74,519Jun 16, 199Partial Irrigation
GJC01Grand Junction3 mi NW Grand Junction39.1752108.6324,869Oct 1, 1993Dry Land
ORM01Orchard MesaOrchard Mesa39.042108.464,600Jan 2, 2006Partial Irrigation
SLT01SiltSilt Mesa39.5667107.6935,620May 8, 2015Fully Irrigated
WFD01Wolford Mtn Reservoir5 mi NNW Kremmling40.1387106.4157,520Nov 30, 2004Dry Land

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