| WeatherFarm site launched by CWB |
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| Local Content - Local Agriculture |
| Written by Trevor Busch |
| Thursday, 25 February 2010 17:37 |
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Since its inception two years ago, the Canadian Wheat Board’s (CWB) WeatherBug network has grown by leaps and bounds, exceeding the organization’s original projections and proving prairie farmer interest in the weather has not clouded over. Now the CWB has launched a new producer-oriented website, known as WeatherFarm, so any producer can access detailed local weather information gathered from the CWB’s 700 on-farm monitoring stations that make up the WeatherBug network. The WeatherBug network is now the largest private weather network in Canada, and is on track to revolutionize the way weather information is gathered, shared and used by farmers, media, business, government and the public, while enhancing service from Environment Canada. Speaking at a news conference in Winnipeg, CWB president and CEO Ian White talked about the excitement the network has fostered now it has developed well beyond original expectations. “We now have the largest weather monitoring network in Western Canada, and this will continue to grow in years to come. It’s also the largest private network in the country. The speed with which this has grown has surpassed all of our expectations thanks to the help of partners like Richardson International and Bayer Crop Science. This was a network that was first launched in 2007, where we were aiming for 600 weather stations to be installed in the first three years. Today, just two years later, there are more than 700 stations across the Prairies, feeding data into a network linked through the Internet.” Private weather stations linked through the network have sprouted up across the prairies with surprising speed, added White. The stations are solar powered and wireless, feeding information to an IP data logger on wind, temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, precipitation and rates of change. Additional sensors for factors such as soil temperature and moisture, leaf wetness, UV and solar energy can be added. Commercial-grade stations are also available that can be combined with cameras and lightning detectors. “Now work is on track to revolutionize the way weather information is gathered, shared and used in Canada by farmers, media, businesses, government and the public. It is not intended to replace Environment Canada, but to enhance their services. The prairie-wide scope of the CWB has made this possible, along with the technology and innovation of WeatherBug. Farmers and the agricultural industry have worked together to build a weather network for ourselves — this is the future of weather information.” Gathering weather data is not a new concept for the CWB, explained White. “The CWB had a weather and crop-forecasting department for over 30 years, and this is a logical extension of that growth. We’ve been motivated by a desire to better serve the farmers of Western Canada, who rely on weather information as a crucial part of their business. We hope that the seeds that we’ve planted will grow into a valued service for all.” According to president and CEO Bob Marshall, WeatherBug has become the leading provider of local weather information and weather-related technology in North America. “I am keenly aware of how important weather information is for farmers. I was fortunate to grow up on a very small farm in rural Maryland. When you look at what we’re doing today, it’s amazing to see how far we’ve come and how weather can be applied to more and better things. The way I see WeatherBug’s role in this great partnership here in Canada, is really, we’re the technology provider. Over the last 16 years, we’ve become the leading provider of local weather information to consumers and businesses across the world. We operate the world’s largest network of weather stations, there’s over 8,000 across the world today, which includes 700 or so in the Prairies of Canada, and we’re beginning to install networks in the U.K. and continental Europe and installing a lighting network globally.” Accurate weather data can mean a lot more than just using a thermometer, added Marshall. “It’s a ton of technology that we’ve developed, and we’re happy to be able to bring that to benefit the growers and the larger population here in Canada. From our business perspective, what we try to do is empower people with better weather intelligence. Thirty-million people use it every day to try to plan their day and protect their families, and protect their properties.” A focus on research and development for WeatherBug ensures that the CWB’s network will only continue to become more accurate and efficient at predicting major local weather events. “Our partnership here started with a focus on agriculture, and of course that’s going to continue,” said Marshall. “We’re going to continue to develop new and better applications to allow the growers to make better decisions on their businesses locally. We want to bring the benefits of this technology, and the decision tools around it, to a broader part of Canadian society.” One of the more fascinating aspects of this new technology involves the ability to be able to predict the intensity of electrical storms and the frequency of lightning strikes from a given weather system. The network will be able to detect cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-ground lightning activity, which allows advanced detection and alerts of severe weather such as tornadoes, downburst winds and dangerous lightning strikes. “We’re very, very excited to announce that we’re bringing the most advanced lightning technology in the world here to Canada. We’re launching the WeatherBug Total Lightning Network across Canada, and what makes that technology very unique is that it goes beyond measuring just the cloud-to-ground lightning. Cloud-to-ground lightning is measured by a number of existing systems, and that’s important information to know, but there’s been a lot of research over decades that have shown that if you can measure inter-cloud lightning as a severe thunderstorm builds, there’s as much as 10, 20, 30, 40 times as much lightning within the cloud, and that happens before you typically get the ground lightning. If you can measure that inter-cloud lightning, which our network can do, we can better predict severe weather,” said Marshall. Guy Ash, manager of the CWB’s weather network, explained for farmers, weather information is extremely valuable for making farm-business decisions, such as applying expensive fertilizer and pesticides, predicting yields or anticipating frost. Producers interested in acquiring their own WeatherBug private weather station or joining the CWB’s weather network are encouraged to visit the CWB’s website, www.cwb.ca., for more information. |