Mesonet

A weather map consisting of a station model plot of Oklahoma Mesonet data overlaid with WSR-88D weather radar data depicting possible horizontal convective rolls as a potential contributing factor in the incipient 3 May 1999 tornado outbreak[1] A mobile mesonet also documented tornadic supercells and their immediate environments during this event.[2]

In meteorology and climatology, a mesonet, portmanteau of mesoscale network, is a network of automated weather and, often also including environmental monitoring stations, designed to observe mesoscale meteorological phenomena and/or microclimates.[3][4]

Dry lines, squall lines, and sea breezes are examples of phenomena observed by mesonets. Due to the space and time scales associated with mesoscale phenomena and microclimates, weather stations comprising a mesonet are spaced closer together and report more frequently than synoptic scale observing networks, such as the WMO Global Observing System (GOS) and US ASOS. The term mesonet refers to the collective group of these weather stations, which are usually owned and operated by a common entity. Mesonets generally record in situ surface weather observations but some involve other observation platforms, particularly vertical profiles of the planetary boundary layer (PBL).[5] Other environmental parameters may include insolation and various variables of interest to particular users, such as soil temperature or road conditions (the latter notable in Road Weather Information System (RWIS) networks).

The distinguishing features that classify a network of weather stations as a mesonet are station density and temporal resolution with sufficiently robust station quality. Depending upon the phenomena meant to be observed, mesonet stations use a spatial spacing of 1 to 40 kilometres (0.6 to 20 mi)[6] and report conditions every 1 to 15 minutes. Micronets (see microscale and storm scale), such as in metropolitan areas such as Oklahoma City,[7] St. Louis, and Birmingham UK, are yet denser in spatial and sometimes temporal resolution.[8]

  1. ^ Edwards, Roger; R. L. Thompson; J. G. LaDue (Sep 2000). "Initiation of Storm A (3 May 1999) along a Possible Horizontal Convective Roll". 20th Conference on Severe Local Storms. Orlando, FL: American Meteorological Society. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
  2. ^ Markowski, Paul M. (2002). "Mobile Mesonet Observations on 3 May 1999". Weather Forecast. 17 (3): 430–444. Bibcode:2002WtFor..17..430M. doi:10.1175/1520-0434(2002)017<0430:MMOOM>2.0.CO;2.
  3. ^ "Mesonet". National Weather Service Glossary. National Weather Service. Retrieved 2017-03-30.
  4. ^ Glickman, Todd S., ed. (2000). Glossary of Meteorology (2nd ed.). Boston: American Meteorological Society. ISBN 978-1-878220-34-9.
  5. ^ Marshall, Curtis H. (11 Jan 2016). "The National Mesonet Program". 22nd Conference on Applied Climatology. New Orleans, LA: American Meteorological Society.
  6. ^ Fujita, Tetsuya Theodore (1962). A Review of Researches on Analytical MesoMeteorology. SMRP Research Paper. Vol. #8. Chicago: University of Chicago. OCLC 7669634.
  7. ^ Basara, Jeffrey B.; Illston, B. G.; Fiebrich, C. A.; Browder, P. D.; Morgan, C. R.; McCombs, A.; Bostic, J. P.; McPherson, R. A. (2011). "The Oklahoma City Micronet". Meteorological Applications. 18 (3): 252–61. doi:10.1002/met.189.
  8. ^ Muller, Catherine L.; Chapman, L.; Grimmond, C. S. B.; Young, D. T.; Cai, X (2013). "Sensors and the City: A Review of Urban Meteorological Networks" (PDF). Int. J. Climatol. 33 (7): 1585–600. Bibcode:2013IJCli..33.1585M. doi:10.1002/joc.3678. S2CID 140648553.