New remote weather station a tool for farmers
PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Thanks to a grant from the Maine Potato Board, a remote weather station has been installed at the Aroostook Farm.
According to Steven B. Johnson, crops specialist and extension professor, the weather station cost about $1,600.
“There’s also an additional $120 per year for the cell modem setup to upload the data once per hour for 12 months,” he said.
Located on the western part of the farm at the edge of the potato plots, Johnson said the weather station will be a good tool for farmers.
“This provides updated site specific weather from a remote site,” he said. “Data can be downloaded and stored on a computer as one would expect. In fact, without knowing what it is, one would think it is a cabled weather station attached to the computer.”
The weather station, which is battery-powered with solar panels for recharging, has been running most of the growing season.
Johnson said he’s unsure if the device will be a winter resource or not.
“At this point, I haven’t decided but I am leaning to leaving it in place for the winter,” he said.
The site not only records the temperature, but also offers wind, humidity, rain and barometer readings. By clicking on “Summary,” viewers will find a table that notes such other information as heat index, wind chill, wind direction and more.
The station can be viewed from the Internet at http://www.weatherlink.com/user/stevejohnson/index.php?view=main&headers=1.
