Irrigation Extra: Predicting the Weather

Weather stations are devices that track environmental factors to determine soil moisture, which is arguably the best way to keep track of when a landscape should be watered. These devices range from basic to complex and, according to Cynthia Turksi, product specialist from Spectrum Technologies, located in East Plainfield, Ill., more and more of these units sell every year. 
       
According to Mike van Bavel, president of Dynamax, located in Houston, Tex., weather stations are usually installed near an irrigation system, and use a variety of electronic sensors attached to a data logger to collect signals emitted by the weather conditions. These signals are then converted to normal scientific units such as wind speed, temperature and rainfall, by an internal software system. The collected data is then reported to a central station, most often a personal computer, and can be monitored by a person onsite.
       
The units place factors such as solar radiation, humidity, temperature and wind speed into a specific formula to compute the evapotranspiration rate in millimeters or inches per day.
       
One of the primary benefits of a weather station is the precise accuracy that cannot be achieved by the human eye. “Sensors give the user an objective measurement over time, rather than a subjective assessment done by the contractor,” Turski explains.
       
The cost of mini weather stations can range anywhere from $500 to $800, according to Turski. Costs of full weather stations range dramatically, with low-end units costing anywhere from $700 to $1,500 and high-end units costing as much as $6,000. High-end weather stations come with solar panels, heavy-duty mounting hardware, tripods and software for remote data retrieval.
       
Van Bavel and Turski agree that weather stations are mainly used for commercial properties, specifically the crop, viticulture and sports turf industries, as individual homeowners really have no need for such elaborate systems. But the weather-based irrigation controllers offered by many landscape contractors are similar to weather stations, but on a much smaller scale.