Full Name: Upper North Fire Danger Index Alerting Weather Station Network Project
Better Decisions from Better Information
Overview: Installed in 2019 the Upper North Farming Systems Automatic Weather Station Network was funded through SAFECOM and aims to provide farmers in the Upper North Region of South Australia with timely and accurate weather data to enable better decision making on farm. The system will enable farmers to undertake spray and harvest operations safely and effectively and make decisions around frost and heat impacts and nitrogen application.
The initial network consists of 16 weather stations linked to either the 3G or the Telstra CAT M1 Narrowband IoT 700mHz network. Each site has a rain gauge, wind speed and direction sensors and air temperature and humidity sensors at 1.2m. It is hoped that this will be expanded to include 10m weather sensors in the coming year to enable inversion monitoring. The addition of soil moisture probes is also being investigated.
Accessing the data: Head to our website: www.unfs.com.au and follow the links to the Weather Station Network.
Interpreting the Data: It is important to understand the topography of each location, as this plays a significant role in the local weather. Ensure that the site you are selecting is representative for your location, not just the closest site.
Disclaimer: The UNFS Automatic Weather Station Network is a data provision service. It is not an advisory service. All decisions made using the information provided through this service are the responsibility of the user. UNFS takes no responsibility for any outcomes of use of this data. All weather sensitive activities should be undertaken with point of activity weather condition verification.
Grant Amount: $95,000
Useful Attachment/link
231 UNFS Weather Station Network_Fire Danger Index Summary..docx – Google Docs
Weather site locations: link below to google earth locations:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DvM0Ih5BrfMmpsPSwYP7QrD_yL9BYODz/view?usp=sharing