BARC Weather

STATION #2 North Farm - History and Information

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• Latitude:   039º 01' 48.806" N
  
  
• Longitude: 076° 55' 53.417" W
  
  
• Altitude:
  
  
• History:

This station has been in existence since the 1930's. Pre 1949 this station was called Beltsville Plant Industry Station #1. Strip charts are available for temperature, humidity and rainfall for the period from the 1950's to 1997. Pre 1950's the records are mostly typed forms and handwritten records (does not seem to be complete). The temperature charts were generated using hygrothermographs inside a standard NWS instrument shelter. The rainfall charts were generated using a Universal Rain Gage.

In March of 1996 the National Weather Service weather station that was at the Dairy was moved to this location; this included an evaporation pan, wind run anemometer, temperature and rainfall recorders. The data from this station is sent to National Climatic Data Center (Cooperative Station ID# 18-0700-4) and is included in their climatological reports.

In 1995 a computerized station was added at the same location.

This station has a ten foot tower using:

• A datalogger logging data on 15 minute intervals.
  
  
• Temperature and Humidity probe in a 12-gill plate radiation shield installed at a five foot elevation.
  
  
• Wind speed and direction installed at a ten foot elevation.
  
  
• Pyranometer installed at a ten foot elevation.
  
  
• Temperature probe in a 6-plate Gill Radiation shield installed approximately 6 inches above the grass.
  
  
• Temperature probe buried about 1 inch down in the center of an asphalt road.
  
  
• Tipping Rain Gage mounted three foot off the ground on a separate pole about ten feet from the main tower.