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Agriculture
Agricultural applications of the
Mesonet include improved insect and disease advisories, spraying
recommendations, irrigation scheduling, frost protection, planting
and harvesting recommendations and prescribed burn advisories.
Agriculture is such a large Oklahoma industry that any increase
in efficiency from more accurate environmental information
can translate into several million dollars in statewide savings
each year. Visit our Agweather site at: agweather.mesonet.org.
Energy savings
Mesonet data are valuable in the renewable energy
industry. For example, with Mesonet data to guide their placement,
wind and solar generators can provide a source of non-polluting,
renewable energy. Long-term data can be gathered on the thermal
properties of Oklahoma soils to help designers optimize the
size and reduce the installation costs of ground coils used
in ground-source heat pumps.
Mesonet data are critical to a variety of operations in the electric
utility industry. Industry officials use Mesonet data to help
make real-time decisions to prepare for damaging weather, respond
to downed power lines, and protect the safety of their field
personnel. Research based on Mesonet data helps generation facilities
make more accurate forecasts of electric load, which helps reduce
unnecessary consumption and keep prices down. OCS's electric
utility site is available here. |
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