Automated Weather Station Solutions for Agriculture

Background

Agricultural production is greatly affected by meteorological conditions, and meteorological factors are directly related to the growth and development of crops and the quality of yields. The establishment of an automatic agricultural weather station aims to monitor and analyse the meteorological conditions of farmland in real time, provide farmers with scientific decision-making support, and improve the efficiency and quality of agricultural production.

I. What is an automatic agricultural weather station

Agricultural weather station is a facility used to monitor agricultural weather conditions, capable of monitoring agricultural weather data in real time and transmitting the data to relevant departments in real time through data processing and transmission equipment, so as to provide powerful support for agricultural production, crop management and disaster prevention and mitigation. The main task of agricultural meteorological stations is to monitor, record and analyse the changes of meteorological elements in farmland in real time, so as to provide accurate meteorological data support for agricultural production. These data can be used for scientific agricultural management, disaster early warning, water resource management, etc., thus improving the efficiency and quality of agricultural production.

II. Objectives

1. To monitor and record in real time the meteorological elements of farmland, including temperature, humidity, precipitation, light, wind speed and wind direction, etc.

2. To provide accurate meteorological data and early warning information to help farmers make scientific decisions and rationalise farming activities.

3. To improve the efficiency and quality of agricultural production and promote the sustainable development of agriculture.

4. To increase farmers' knowledge and use of meteorological science.

III. Contents of the programme of automatic meteorological stations for agriculture

1. Agricultural Weather Station Site selection:

- According to the distribution of farmland and the characteristics of crop cultivation, representative observation points are selected within the farmland to establish meteorological stations.

- Considering the differences in the spatial distribution of meteorological elements, multiple weather stations are set up to cover different types of farmland.

2. Construction of automatic agricultural meteorological station sites:

- Equipped with meteorological observation equipment, including temperature sensors, humidity sensors, precipitation sensors, wind speed sensors, wind direction sensors, rainfall sensors, soil moisture sensors, PAR sensors, and light sensors.

- The power supply facilities adopt a combination of solar energy and storage battery to ensure the stable operation of the meteorological station.

3. Meteorological data acquisition and processing:

- Real-time collection of farmland meteorological element data and transmission of data to the data processing centre through data transmission equipment.

- The data processing centre processes, analyzes and stores the collected data to generate meteorological reports and warning information.

- The data transmission equipment adopts wireless transmission mode to realise real-time transmission of data;

4. Meteorological information service:

- Notify farmers of real-time monitored meteorological data and early warning information in a timely manner through mobile apps, Email, SMS and telephone calls.

- Provide customised meteorological services, such as farming advice, pest and disease warning, etc.

5. Agrometeorological Early Warning System: 

Establish an agrometeorological early warning model based on meteorological data and agrometeorological indicator system. When meteorological conditions are monitored to have a greater impact on agricultural production, the system automatically sends out early warning messages to notify relevant departments and personnel to take corresponding measures.

6. Establishment of a sound emergency plan: 

Based on meteorological data and agro-meteorological early warning, formulate a corresponding emergency plan, clarify the duties and response measures of each department, and improve the ability to cope with meteorological disasters.

7. Maintenance management:

- Formulate a regular maintenance plan, including equipment overhaul, sensor calibration, etc., to ensure the normal operation of the weather station.

- Establish a weather station maintenance team responsible for daily equipment maintenance and troubleshooting.

IV. Agricultural Weather Station Expected Results

1. Provide accurate farmland meteorological data and early warning information to help farmers make scientific decisions and rationally arrange farming activities. 

2. To apply real-time meteorological data to irrigation, fertiliser application, pest control and other aspects of agricultural production, so as to improve crop yield and quality.

3. To promote sustainable development of agriculture and realise modernisation and intelligence of agriculture.

4. To improve the monitoring capacity of agricultural meteorological conditions and realise real-time early warning of meteorological disasters.

V. Implementation Guarantee

1. Policy support: actively seek support from relevant government departments and include the construction of automatic agricultural weather stations in the national agricultural development plan.

2. Financial guarantee: Raise funds through multiple channels, such as government investment and enterprise cooperation, to ensure the financial needs for the construction and operation of weather stations.

3. Technical support: co-operate with meteorological, agricultural and scientific research departments to introduce advanced meteorological observation equipment and data processing technology to improve the construction level of meteorological stations.

4. Farmers training: carry out farmers’ meteorological training to improve farmers' understanding of meteorological data and their ability to make use of them.

5. Talent cultivation: Strengthen the cultivation of agricultural meteorological talents and improve the operational quality and professional skills of meteorological station staff.

6. Market promotion: make use of a variety of publicity channels to increase the publicity of meteorological knowledge and improve farmers' understanding and utilisation of meteorological science.

Agricultural meteorological station is a facility specially designed to monitor and record the meteorological conditions of farmland, its role and value:

1. Monitoring meteorological elements: agricultural meteorological stations can monitor and record farmland meteorological elements in real time, including temperature, humidity, precipitation, light, wind speed and direction, etc., so as to provide an accurate meteorological data base for agricultural production.

2. Providing agricultural decision-making support: through collecting and analysing meteorological data, agricultural weather stations can provide farmers with scientific agricultural decision-making support, helping them to reasonably arrange agricultural activities and choose the appropriate time for sowing, fertilizer application, irrigation and so on.

3. Early warning and disaster prevention: Agricultural weather stations can monitor the signs of meteorological disasters (e.g. drought, flooding, freezing, etc.) in advance, and release early warning information in a timely manner, so as to help farmers take corresponding disaster prevention measures and reduce agricultural production losses.

4. Promote agricultural modernisation: the construction and application of agricultural weather stations can help improve the scientific and intelligent level of agricultural production, promote the process of agricultural modernisation, and improve the efficiency and quality of agricultural production.

To sum up, agricultural meteorological stations play an important role in monitoring meteorological elements, providing support for agricultural decision-making, early warning and disaster prevention and promoting agricultural modernisation, and are of great value in improving the efficiency and quality of agricultural production.