The Oklahoma Mesonet: A Technical Overview

The Oklahoma mesonet is a joint project of Oklahoma State University and the University of Oklahoma. It is an automated network of 108 stations covering the state of Oklahoma. Each station measures air temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed and direction, rainfall, solar radiation, and soil temperatures. Each station transmits a data message every 15 min via a radio link to the nearest terminal of the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Telecommunications System that relays it to a central site in Norman, Oklahoma. The data message comprises three 5-min averages of most data (and one 15-min average of soil temperatures). The central site ingests the data, runs some quality assurance tests, archives the data, and disseminates it in real time to a broad community of users, primarily through a computerized bulletin board system. This manuscript provides a technical description of the Oklahoma mesonet including a complete description of the instrumentation. Sensor inaccuracy, resolution, height with respect to ground level, and method of exposure are discussed.