Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus – part of Pennsylvania State University – has installed a weather station on campus as part of the Pennsylvania Environmental Monitoring Network.
The project, which began development in 2017, includes 20 similar systems across the commonwealth. Each weather station provides real-time measurements of temperature, humidity, precipitation, dewpoint, wind direction and speed, wind gust, solar radiation, soil temperature, soil moisture and more.
Ongoing maintenance and servicing of the weather station will be provided by Penn State staff and funded by Pennsylvania Environmental Monitoring Network with support from the NOAA’s National Mesonet Program.
Scott Richardson, research professor in Penn State’s Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science, said, “The data will fill gaps in our knowledge of current weather and water conditions in Pennsylvania to help make agricultural producers more efficient, provide for public safety, improve water quality and enhance education and research at Penn State and across the commonwealth.”
Richardson has been responsible for the installation of weather stations across the state. Lead investigators of the project include David Stensrud, head of Penn State’s Department of Meteorology, and Paul Heinemann, professor of agricultural and biological engineering. Kyle Imhoff, assistant research professor, has also provided critical support.
“The data is freely available and already being used by the National Weather Service and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency,” added Richardson. “These real-time observations can be used in the classroom as a rich data set for analysis, to monitor current weather conditions for campus safety and in research activities.”
To access the weather station, click here.
The Pennsylvania Environmental Monitoring Network camera dashboard is available by clicking here.