A team of researchers working in Ciampitti Lab, Gustavo Santiago, Luis Fernando Bonini Pires, Carlos Hernandez, Milagros Cobal, Luis David Castro, and Dennis Boller, participated in developing a mini-weather station currently placed at the Agronomy North Farm at Kansas State University, main campus, Manhattan, Kansas.
This weather station aims to get and store weather data such as air temperature and humidity, wind speed, precipitation, and solar radiation.
Gustavo Santiago, MS Student at Ciampitti Lab, explained, “as its first prototype, the data is stored into a microSD card. Our main goal is to test this low-cost weather station and improve this prototype with the intention of exploring the development of low-cost sensors for field research studies across different locations”.
The data from the air temperature, humidity, and solar radiation come directly from sensors. The wind speed and precipitation data are also obtained via sensors assisted with the development of 3D printed structures manufactured by our team.
Gustavo stated, “it was made using low-cost sensors, a microcontroller, 3D printed structures, a solar panel and batteries. The algorithm needed to control and store the data from the sensors was entirely programmed by team members and the energy system”.
The data collected by this low-cost instrument is relevant to obtain more reliable and local information at the site of the experiment. Therefore, the team can get local weather data from more locations to better inform crop growth and development changes for the nearby placed research studies.
To conclude, Gustavo stated, “This weather station will provide relevant data to inform changes in crop conditions as a part of my MS degree projects. Developing a follow digital decision application will connect relevant weather data from this sensor and other sources to model the proper time to harvest corn in Kansas”.
For further information on local weather data from Kansas, please check the K-State Mesonet website: http://mesonet.k-state.edu
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