Iowa Hydrometeorological Networks

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Regional Surface Meteorological Networks

High Plains Regional Climate Center (HPRCC) Automated Weather Data Network (AWDN) - The HPRCC oversees and ingests data from various state agricultural networks and makes it available as the AWDN. The AWDN is comprised of 167 stations located primarily in High Plains region (12 in Iowa). The network provides hourly observations of air temperature, relative humidity, solar radiation, soil temperature, wind speed, wind direction, and precipitation. For further information visit the HPRCC AWDN home page at: http://hpccsun.unl.edu/awdn/.
Union Pacific Railroad Weather Station Network - The Union Pacific Railroad operates this network of 264 weather stations (15 in Iowa) located in the central and western United States. Further information on Union Pacific is available on their home page. This network is included as part of the University of Utah MesoWest and NOAA/Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) Global Systems Division (GSD) MADIS data sets. .

KWWL WeatherNet - KWWL-TV in Cedar Falls, Iowa operates this network of 44 stations with locations primarily in northeastern Iowa and (42 in Iowa). The network provides up to 1-minute observations of air temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed, wind direction, wind gust, and precipitation. For further information visit the KWWL network page.

KELO WeatherNet - KELO-TV in Sioux Falls, South Dakota operates this network of 14 stations with locations primarily in South Dakota (1 in Iowa). The network provides up to 1-minute observations of air temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed, wind direction, wind gust, and precipitation. This network is included in the Iowa Environmental Mesonet (IEM). For further information visit the KELO weather pageor the IEM SchoolNet page.

KMEG WeatherNet - KMEG-TV in Sioux City, Iowa operates this network of 10 stations with locations primarily in western Iowa and (7 in Iowa). The network provides up to 1-minute observations of air temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed, wind direction, wind gust, and precipitation. For further information visit the KMEG network page.

WMTV WeatherNet - WMTV-TV in Madison, Wisconsin operates this network of 39 stations located primarily at schools throughout southern Wisconsin (1 in Iowa). The network provides up to 1-minute observations of air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, precipitation, and barometric pressure. For further information visit the WMTV network page.

State and Local Surface Meteorological Networks

Iowa AgClimate Network - Iowa State University operates this network of 12 stations with locations throughout the state. The network provides hourly observations of air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, solar radiation, precipitation, and soil temperature at 4 cm depth. This network is included in both the Iowa Environmental Mesonet and the High Plains Regional Climate Center Automated Weather Data Network data sets. For further information visit the network page. This data set is included in the NOAA/FSL MADIS data set.

Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) Road Weather Information System (RWIS) - The Iowa DOT operates this network of 50 stations with locations along highways throughout the state of Iowa. The network provides 15-minute observations of air temperature, dew point, wind speed, wind direction, and precipitation. These data are included in the Iowa Environmental Mesonet (IEM) data set developed by Iowa State University. For further information visit the IEM home page or the Iowa DOT Weatherview web page. This data set is included in the NOAA/FSL MADIS data set.

KCCI SchoolNet8 - KCCI-TV in Des Moines, Iowa operates this network of 49 stations with locations throughout central Iowa. The network provides up to 1-minute observations of air temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed, wind direction, wind gust, and precipitation. This network is included in the Iowa Environmental Mesonet (IEM). For further information visit the KCCI SchoolNet8 home page or the IEM SchoolNet page.

WHO WeatherNet - WHO-TV in Des Moines, Iowa operates this network of 21 stations with locations primarily in central Iowa. The network provides up to 1-minute observations of air temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed, wind direction, wind gust, and precipitation. For further information visit the WHO network page.

National Soil Tilth Laboratory (NSTL) Walnut Creek Watershed - The NSTL operates a variable network of weather stations, precipitation gages, flux tower, and hydrological networks on the Walnut Creek watershed near Ames, Iowa. For further information visit the NSTL home page. No map.

Iowa Air Monitoring Network - The Linn County Health Department (4 stations), Polk County Air Pollution Control (2 stations), and the University of Iowa Hygienic Laboratory (19 stations) operate networks of air monitoring stations in and around Waterloo, Des Moines, and the remainder of Iowa. All stations only provide wind speed and wind direction. For further information visit the Linn County network, or the Polk County network, or the University of Iowa network. No map.

Precipitation and Radar Networks

NOAA/National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Hourly Precipitation Data - NOAA/NCEP routinely develops a National Multi-sensor Hourly Precipitation Analysis (Stage II) data set from hourly radar precipitation estimates and from hourly gage reports. The gage data includes hourly observations from ~4000 gages across the US (224 in Iowa) collected by the NOAA River Forecast Centers and sent to NCEP. Further information on these data is available at: http://wwwt.emc.ncep.noaa.gov/mmb/ylin/pcpanl/.

NOAA/NWS Cooperative Observer 15-minute Precipitation Network - The NOAA/NWS routinely collects 15-minute observations of precipitation from Fisher-Porter and Universal rain gages operated by 2777 cooperative observers located throughout the US (68 in Iowa). These data are archived at NOAA/NCDC as data set TD 3260. For further information visit the NOAA/NCDC TD3260 page at: http://ols.nndc.noaa.gov/plolstore/plsql/olstore.prodspecific?prodnum=C00505-TAP-A0001

Weather Surveillance Radar 1988 Doppler (WSR-88D) Network - The NOAA/NWS and the Department of Defense operate this network of 143 WSR-88D radars across the contiguous US (2 in Iowa). The Level II data are the three meteorological base data quantities (reflectivity, mean radial velocity, and spectrum width) and are recorded at all NWS and most DOD sites. Level II data are then processed in order to create a number of meteorological analysis products known as Level III data. Level III data are recorded at the NWS sites. The Level III products included base reflectivity, base spectrum width, base velocity, composite reflectivity, echo tops, velocity azimuth display (VAD) wind profile, vertically integrated liquid (VIL), 1-hour precipitation, storm total precipitation, hail index overlay, mesocyclone overlay, severe weather probability overlay, storm structure, storm tracking information overlay, and tornadic vortex signature overlay. All Level II and III data are archived at NOAA/NCDC. For further information visit the NOAA/NCDC Radar Resources page at: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/radar/radarresources.html or the NOAA Radar Operations Center at: http://www.roc.noaa.gov/.

Radiation and Flux Networks

National Soil Tilth Laboratory (NSTL) Walnut Creek Watershed - The NSTL operates a variable network of weather stations, precipitation gages, flux tower, and hydrological networks on the Walnut Creek watershed near Ames, Iowa. For further information visit the NSTL home page. No map.

Soil Networks

Soil Climate Analysis Network (SCAN) - The SCAN is operated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The network provides hourly observations of air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, solar radiation, precipitation, barometric pressure, snow water content, snow depth, soil temperature (at 2, 4, 8, 20, and 40 cm depths), and soil moisture (at 2, 4, 8, 20 and 40 cm depths). The 80 SCAN stations are located across the US in primarily agricultural regions (2 in Iowa). For further information visit the SCAN home page.

North Central River Forecast Center (NCRFC) Soil Temperature Network - The NCRFC operates this network of 47 stations (9 in Iowa) that collect weekly readings of soil temperature at depths of 2, 4, 8, 20, 40 and 60 in at locations throughout the north central US. For further information visit the NCRFC Soil Temperature Network web page.

Hydrology Networks

United States Geological Survey (USGS) Streamflow Network - The USGS (part of the US Department of the Interior) operates this network of 7237 streamflow gages (130 in Iowa) at locations throughout the US. The network provides hourly or more frequent observations of stage (water level) from which discharge (flow) is computed using a stage-discharge rating relation. The rating is defined by occasional direct current-meter measurements of discharge. All data are available through the USGS and the district offices in each state. Many of these gages provide realtime data relayed via the GOES satellite data collection system. The realtime data are provisional data that have not been reviewed or edited. These realtime data may be subject to significant change and are not citeable until reviewed and approved by the USGS. Realtime data may be changed after review because the stage-discharge relationship may have been affected by: 1) backwater from ice or debris; 2) algal and aquatic growth in the stream; 3) sediment movement; and 4) malfunction of recording equipment. Each station record is considered provisional until the data are published. The data are usually published with 6 months of the end of the water year (1 October to 30 September). Data users are cautioned to consider carefully the provisional nature of the information before using it. For further information on the USGS streamflow network visit the USGS Water Resources of the United States page or the USGS Iowa District Office home page.

USDA/ARS Watershed Research - The USDA/ARS operates a number of research watersheds throughout the US. Some of the best instrumented include the Reynolds Creek in Idaho, the Walnut Gulch in Arizona, the Southern Plains Experimental Range in Oklahoma, the Little Washita River in Oklahoma, the Blackland Prairie in Texas, the Goodwater Creek in Missouri, the Walnut Creek in Iowa, Goodwin Creek in Mississippi, the Little River in Georgia, the Oconee River in Georgia, the North Appalachian Watershed in Ohio, the National Agriculture Research Center in Maryland, and the Mahantango Creek in Pennsylvania. Most of these have at least one surface meteorological station and a precipitation gage network. For further information visit the USDA/ARS Watershed Research home page at: http:/www.nwrc.ars.usda.gov/watershed/.

Upper Air Networks

NOAA/NWS Radiosonde Network Low Vertical Resolution Data - The NOAA/NWS typically releases radiosondes twice per day at 0000 and 1200 UTC at 69 locations throughout the US (1 in Iowa). During special weather situations the NWS can request to release additional radiosondes at off-times (e.g. 1800 UTC). The low resolution data is sent out over the Global Telecommunications System (GTS) and provides mandatory and significant level observations of pressure, altitude, temperature, dew point, wind speed, and wind direction. There are 3 types of radiosondes utilized within the US network, Vaisala, VIZ (or Sippican), and Microsonde. These data are archived by NOAA/NCDC and other organizations. For further information on the NWS Radiosonde network visit the NWS Upper-air Observations Program home page. A several year archive of GTS upper air data is available at the NOAA/FSL Radiosonde Database.

NOAA/NWS Radiosonde Network High Vertical Resolution Data - The same radiosonde locations mentioned in the previous data set also provide a 6-second vertical resolution data set that provides observations of pressure, temperature, altitude, relative humidity, and azimuth and elevation angles. UCAR/JOSS has developed software to derive 6-second vertical resolution winds from the angle data. These data are archived by NCDC and UCAR/JOSS.

NOAA Profiler Network (NPN) - The NOAA/Forecast Systems Laboratory (FSL) operates this network of 32 404 MHz wind profilers primarily across the central portion of the United States (1 in Iowa). Each site provides 6-minute and hourly vertical profiles of wind speed and wind direction. Additionally, 11 of the NPN sites have a collocated Radio Acoustic Sounding System (RASS) that provides 6-minute and hourly vertical profiles of virtual temperature (none in Iowa). For further information visit the NPN home page. An archive of the hourly wind profiles is available from NCAR/SCD.

Ground Based Global Positioning System (GPS) Meteorology Demonstration Network (GPS-MET) - The NOAA/FSL ingests data from 323 GPS locations around the US operated by many different agencies (2 in Iowa). Typically each location provides 30-minute observations of integrated precipitatable water along with a number of surface meteorology parameters (air temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, etc). For further information visit the GPS-MET home page.

Other Networks

Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) - AERONET is an optical ground-based aerosol monitoring network and data archive supported by NASA's Earth Observing System. The network hardware consists of identical automatic sun-sky scanning spectral radiometers owned by national agencies and universities. Data from this collaboration provides globally distributed (1 in Iowa) near real time observations of aerosol spectral optical depths, aerosol size distributions and precipitable water. For further information visit the AERONET home page.

Regional Surface Meteorological Networks
	Click on the maps for larger image


High Plains Regional Climate Center (HPRCC) Automated Weather Data Network (AWDN) - The HPRCC oversees and ingests data from various state agricultural networks and makes it available as the AWDN. The AWDN is comprised of 167 stations located primarily in High Plains region (12 in Iowa). The network provides hourly observations of air temperature, relative humidity, solar radiation, soil temperature, wind speed, wind direction, and precipitation. For further information visit the HPRCC AWDN home page at: http://hpccsun.unl.edu/awdn/.
Union Pacific Railroad Weather Station Network - The Union Pacific Railroad operates this network of 264 weather stations (15 in Iowa) located in the central and western United States. Further information on Union Pacific is available on their home page. This network is included as part of the University of Utah MesoWest and NOAA/Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) Global Systems Division (GSD) MADIS data sets.	.

KWWL WeatherNet - KWWL-TV in Cedar Falls, Iowa operates this network of 44 stations with locations primarily in northeastern Iowa and (42 in Iowa). The network provides up to 1-minute observations of air temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed, wind direction, wind gust, and precipitation. For further information visit the KWWL network page.

KELO WeatherNet - KELO-TV in Sioux Falls, South Dakota operates this network of 14 stations with locations primarily in South Dakota (1 in Iowa). The network provides up to 1-minute observations of air temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed, wind direction, wind gust, and precipitation. This network is included in the Iowa Environmental Mesonet (IEM). For further information visit the KELO weather pageor the IEM SchoolNet page.

KMEG WeatherNet - KMEG-TV in Sioux City, Iowa operates this network of 10 stations with locations primarily in western Iowa and (7 in Iowa). The network provides up to 1-minute observations of air temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed, wind direction, wind gust, and precipitation. For further information visit the KMEG network page.

WMTV WeatherNet - WMTV-TV in Madison, Wisconsin operates this network of 39 stations located primarily at schools throughout southern Wisconsin (1 in Iowa). The network provides up to 1-minute observations of air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, precipitation, and barometric pressure. For further information visit the WMTV network page.

State and Local Surface Meteorological Networks

Iowa AgClimate Network - Iowa State University operates this network of 12 stations with locations throughout the state. The network provides hourly observations of air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, solar radiation, precipitation, and soil temperature at 4 cm depth. This network is included in both the Iowa Environmental Mesonet and the High Plains Regional Climate Center Automated Weather Data Network data sets. For further information visit the network page. This data set is included in the NOAA/FSL MADIS data set.

Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) Road Weather Information System (RWIS) - The Iowa DOT operates this network of 50 stations with locations along highways throughout the state of Iowa. The network provides 15-minute observations of air temperature, dew point, wind speed, wind direction, and precipitation. These data are included in the Iowa Environmental Mesonet (IEM) data set developed by Iowa State University. For further information visit the IEM home page or the Iowa DOT Weatherview web page. This data set is included in the NOAA/FSL MADIS data set.

KCCI SchoolNet8 - KCCI-TV in Des Moines, Iowa operates this network of 49 stations with locations throughout central Iowa. The network provides up to 1-minute observations of air temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed, wind direction, wind gust, and precipitation. This network is included in the Iowa Environmental Mesonet (IEM). For further information visit the KCCI SchoolNet8 home page or the IEM SchoolNet page.

WHO WeatherNet - WHO-TV in Des Moines, Iowa operates this network of 21 stations with locations primarily in central Iowa. The network provides up to 1-minute observations of air temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed, wind direction, wind gust, and precipitation. For further information visit the WHO network page.

National Soil Tilth Laboratory (NSTL) Walnut Creek Watershed - The NSTL operates a variable network of weather stations, precipitation gages, flux tower, and hydrological networks on the Walnut Creek watershed near Ames, Iowa. For further information visit the NSTL home page.	No map.

Iowa Air Monitoring Network - The Linn County Health Department (4 stations), Polk County Air Pollution Control (2 stations), and the University of Iowa Hygienic Laboratory (19 stations) operate networks of air monitoring stations in and around Waterloo, Des Moines, and the remainder of Iowa. All stations only provide wind speed and wind direction. For further information visit the Linn County network, or the Polk County network, or the University of Iowa network.	No map.

Precipitation and Radar Networks

NOAA/National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Hourly Precipitation Data - NOAA/NCEP routinely develops a National Multi-sensor Hourly Precipitation Analysis (Stage II) data set from hourly radar precipitation estimates and from hourly gage reports. The gage data includes hourly observations from ~4000 gages across the US (224 in Iowa) collected by the NOAA River Forecast Centers and sent to NCEP. Further information on these data is available at: http://wwwt.emc.ncep.noaa.gov/mmb/ylin/pcpanl/.

NOAA/NWS Cooperative Observer 15-minute Precipitation Network - The NOAA/NWS routinely collects 15-minute observations of precipitation from Fisher-Porter and Universal rain gages operated by 2777 cooperative observers located throughout the US (68 in Iowa). These data are archived at NOAA/NCDC as data set TD 3260. For further information visit the NOAA/NCDC TD3260 page at: http://ols.nndc.noaa.gov/plolstore/plsql/olstore.prodspecific?prodnum=C00505-TAP-A0001

Weather Surveillance Radar 1988 Doppler (WSR-88D) Network - The NOAA/NWS and the Department of Defense operate this network of 143 WSR-88D radars across the contiguous US (2 in Iowa). The Level II data are the three meteorological base data quantities (reflectivity, mean radial velocity, and spectrum width) and are recorded at all NWS and most DOD sites. Level II data are then processed in order to create a number of meteorological analysis products known as Level III data. Level III data are recorded at the NWS sites. The Level III products included base reflectivity, base spectrum width, base velocity, composite reflectivity, echo tops, velocity azimuth display (VAD) wind profile, vertically integrated liquid (VIL), 1-hour precipitation, storm total precipitation, hail index overlay, mesocyclone overlay, severe weather probability overlay, storm structure, storm tracking information overlay, and tornadic vortex signature overlay. All Level II and III data are archived at NOAA/NCDC. For further information visit the NOAA/NCDC Radar Resources page at: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/radar/radarresources.html or the NOAA Radar Operations Center at: http://www.roc.noaa.gov/.

Radiation and Flux Networks


National Soil Tilth Laboratory (NSTL) Walnut Creek Watershed - The NSTL operates a variable network of weather stations, precipitation gages, flux tower, and hydrological networks on the Walnut Creek watershed near Ames, Iowa. For further information visit the NSTL home page.	No map.

Soil Networks

Soil Climate Analysis Network (SCAN) - The SCAN is operated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The network provides hourly observations of air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, solar radiation, precipitation, barometric pressure, snow water content, snow depth, soil temperature (at 2, 4, 8, 20, and 40 cm depths), and soil moisture (at 2, 4, 8, 20 and 40 cm depths). The 80 SCAN stations are located across the US in primarily agricultural regions (2 in Iowa). For further information visit the SCAN home page.

North Central River Forecast Center (NCRFC) Soil Temperature Network - The NCRFC operates this network of 47 stations (9 in Iowa) that collect weekly readings of soil temperature at depths of 2, 4, 8, 20, 40 and 60 in at locations throughout the north central US. For further information visit the NCRFC Soil Temperature Network web page.

Hydrology Networks

United States Geological Survey (USGS) Streamflow Network - The USGS (part of the US Department of the Interior) operates this network of 7237 streamflow gages (130 in Iowa) at locations throughout the US. The network provides hourly or more frequent observations of stage (water level) from which discharge (flow) is computed using a stage-discharge rating relation. The rating is defined by occasional direct current-meter measurements of discharge. All data are available through the USGS and the district offices in each state. Many of these gages provide realtime data relayed via the GOES satellite data collection system. The realtime data are provisional data that have not been reviewed or edited. These realtime data may be subject to significant change and are not citeable until reviewed and approved by the USGS. Realtime data may be changed after review because the stage-discharge relationship may have been affected by: 1) backwater from ice or debris; 2) algal and aquatic growth in the stream; 3) sediment movement; and 4) malfunction of recording equipment. Each station record is considered provisional until the data are published. The data are usually published with 6 months of the end of the water year (1 October to 30 September). Data users are cautioned to consider carefully the provisional nature of the information before using it. For further information on the USGS streamflow network visit the USGS Water Resources of the United States page or the USGS Iowa District Office home page.

USDA/ARS Watershed Research - The USDA/ARS operates a number of research watersheds throughout the US. Some of the best instrumented include the Reynolds Creek in Idaho, the Walnut Gulch in Arizona, the Southern Plains Experimental Range in Oklahoma, the Little Washita River in Oklahoma, the Blackland Prairie in Texas, the Goodwater Creek in Missouri, the Walnut Creek in Iowa, Goodwin Creek in Mississippi, the Little River in Georgia, the Oconee River in Georgia, the North Appalachian Watershed in Ohio, the National Agriculture Research Center in Maryland, and the Mahantango Creek in Pennsylvania. Most of these have at least one surface meteorological station and a precipitation gage network. For further information visit the USDA/ARS Watershed Research home page at: http:/www.nwrc.ars.usda.gov/watershed/.

Upper Air Networks

NOAA/NWS Radiosonde Network Low Vertical Resolution Data - The NOAA/NWS typically releases radiosondes twice per day at 0000 and 1200 UTC at 69 locations throughout the US (1 in Iowa). During special weather situations the NWS can request to release additional radiosondes at off-times (e.g. 1800 UTC). The low resolution data is sent out over the Global Telecommunications System (GTS) and provides mandatory and significant level observations of pressure, altitude, temperature, dew point, wind speed, and wind direction. There are 3 types of radiosondes utilized within the US network, Vaisala, VIZ (or Sippican), and Microsonde. These data are archived by NOAA/NCDC and other organizations. For further information on the NWS Radiosonde network visit the NWS Upper-air Observations Program home page. A several year archive of GTS upper air data is available at the NOAA/FSL Radiosonde Database.

NOAA/NWS Radiosonde Network High Vertical Resolution Data - The same radiosonde locations mentioned in the previous data set also provide a 6-second vertical resolution data set that provides observations of pressure, temperature, altitude, relative humidity, and azimuth and elevation angles. UCAR/JOSS has developed software to derive 6-second vertical resolution winds from the angle data. These data are archived by NCDC and UCAR/JOSS.

NOAA Profiler Network (NPN) - The NOAA/Forecast Systems Laboratory (FSL) operates this network of 32 404 MHz wind profilers primarily across the central portion of the United States (1 in Iowa). Each site provides 6-minute and hourly vertical profiles of wind speed and wind direction. Additionally, 11 of the NPN sites have a collocated Radio Acoustic Sounding System (RASS) that provides 6-minute and hourly vertical profiles of virtual temperature (none in Iowa). For further information visit the NPN home page. An archive of the hourly wind profiles is available from NCAR/SCD.

Ground Based Global Positioning System (GPS) Meteorology Demonstration Network (GPS-MET) - The NOAA/FSL ingests data from 323 GPS locations around the US operated by many different agencies (2 in Iowa). Typically each location provides 30-minute observations of integrated precipitatable water along with a number of surface meteorology parameters (air temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, etc). For further information visit the GPS-MET home page.

Other Networks

Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) - AERONET is an optical ground-based aerosol monitoring network and data archive supported by NASA's Earth Observing System. The network hardware consists of identical automatic sun-sky scanning spectral radiometers owned by national agencies and universities. Data from this collaboration provides globally distributed (1 in Iowa) near real time observations of aerosol spectral optical depths, aerosol size distributions and precipitable water. For further information visit the AERONET home page.