A new weather-forecasting system has been developed with the help of Iowa State.

The weather network, Mesonet, has improved severe weather warnings and developed an archive of weather data that will be useful in numerous research studies.

A Mesonet is a network of stations that combines information from sites all over the state into one system. This network provides a real-time stream of data displayed on the Internet. The Iowa Mesonet is available online at http://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu.

The Iowa Mesonet is a cooperative network including information from the National Weather Service, the Iowa Department of Transportation, Iowa State University and the KCCI Channel 8 School Net.

Other components of the Mesonet include the United States Geological Survey and the National Resource Conservation Service.

“The original purpose behind creating the Mesonet was to develop a denser network of weather data for agriculture. However, the largest and most rapid impact has been improving severe weather warnings,” said Dennis Todey, Mesonet director.

The Mesonet has many other benefits, he said. “It provides climate perspective and allows us to compare ours to other climates,” Todey said. “It also gives us detailed information to share.”

He said the network would help to “study the effects of water quality under certain atmospheric conditions.”

This data could affect “weather services, agriculture, and soil erosion estimates across the state,” Todey said.

Mesonet will “record weather observations on a state scale,” said Daryl Herzmann, Mesonet program assistant in agronomy.

“The network is not just collecting weather information, it is making environmental observations,” he said. “Mesonet can be used for anything having to do with weather, water, or soil.”

The Mesonet has practical applications as well.

A company designing parking garages used the precipitation data gathered from the network to include proper drainage.

“The only real criticism is that the system is combining data from different stations that have small differences in readings,” Todey said.

Mesonet was funded by the United States Department of Agriculture and a private endowment to the ISU agronomy department. The project has a local budget of $50,000 a year.