UMaine building statewide network of weather stations [Video]

The University of Maine is using $3.5 million in federal community project funding to build a statewide automated weather station network to provide timely warnings of severe weather, improve weather forecasts, help farmers and foresters, and create a long-term climate record.

“The more weather data we collect, the better our forecasts will be,” said Sean Birkel, a UMaine assistant professor and state climatologist. “The main goal of the (network) is to improve forecasts and assist decision-making for agriculture and forestry, but there are many applications.”

The 26 stations will take an array of meteorological readings, from precipitation and soil moisture to air and soil temperature to solar radiation and barometric pressure. The first one will be built in the spring near Orono to allow the project team to tweak station design and learn to service them.

The stations will range between 10 and 30 feet tall and help farmers and foresters …