Tri-State Neighbor: South Dakota Farm Newspaper

BROOKINGS, S.D. - State climatologist Dennis Todey said a new automated weather station in Sioux Falls, S.D., is providing data available for the public to use.

The station, located along South 57th Street in Sioux Falls, is part of a two-station project that will help Todey guide the city of Sioux Falls in efforts to reduce water use in summer.

Todey is a South Dakota State University assistant professor, in addition to his role as state climatologist.

Automated data collection started Dec. 18. Todey said he and his staff began gathering information Nov. 9, but now have completed communications installation so the information is available for all users throughout the year.

“There's not much lawn watering going on now, but this station is in operation, collecting data regularly for anyone to use, anytime,” Todey said. “It's of particular use to people on the south side of Sioux Falls who are farther from the National Weather Service station at the airport.”

Todey and fellow SDSU faculty member, professor Todd Trooien, are working with the city on a project funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

When the second automated station is in place, the two assemblies will help estimate lawn water use.

Using an equation, Todey and his staff can determine lawn water evapotranspiration starting this spring.

But since the station is in operation, people can use its data, which is archived on the state climate Web site.

“The project with the city of Sioux Falls will help home owners track lawn water use and provide guidance on lawn watering amounts.

“The goal is to allow for green lawns while reducing overall water use,” Todey said.

The station, along with more than 30 others around the state, collects data every 5 minutes, including temperature, wind speed and direction, humidity, solar radiation, and rainfall.

Todey said the operating station currently does not collect snowfall data.

“The official data for Sioux Falls is still collected at the airport, but as the city expands, this will help residents on the south side of the city,” Todey said. “Sometimes conditions can vary across the city.”

The second station will be up and running later in the spring. The exact location of that station still is being determined.

Visit the state's climate information at this SDSU Web site: http://climate.sdstate.edu/climate_site/climate.htm.

To view information from the new station, click on the link in the lower right that reads “Recent automatic station's data.”

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