Project Title:

Franklin, North Carolina Climate: Macon Middle School Location

Investigator(s):

Brian D. Kloeppel  E-Mail | Tel. 828.524.2128 ext 127 | Biographical Sketch
Robert W. McCollum  E-Mail | Tel. 828.524.2128 ext 102

Institute of Ecology, University of Georgia (Kloeppel)
Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory, USDA Forest Service (McCollum)

Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory
3160 Coweeta Lab Road
Otto, North Carolina 28763 USA

02/2000 to present

Type 1

National Science Foundation, Grants DEB-9632854 and DEB-0218001 to Coweeta LTER.

The climate station at the Macon Middle School near Franklin, NC was established in February 2000. The objectives were to: 1) locate a fully equipped climate station outside of the Coweeta Basin, but within Macon County, North Carolina, 2) provide students and teachers at the school with a unique teaching tool, and 3) provide the public with an online archive of weather data. The station contains sensors for measuring air temperature, air humidity, precipitation, solar radiation, wind speed, wind direction, vapor pressure, and barometric pressure. The station is powered by a solar panel with an option to utilize AC power.

Macon Middle School
1345 Wells Grove Road
Franklin, North Carolina 28734
828.524.3766

Collected by Heather Russell and submitted online summer 2000.

The Campbell 10X datalogger powers and controls all sensors below. Measurements are made on all sensors every 60 seconds and are averaged every 60 minutes. The exception to this is precipitation which is measured and recorded only when it occurs. Precipitation is measured in 5 minute time periods when it occurs to estimate precipitation and it also is summarized hourly and daily. The system contains the following data logger components and sensors. datalogger: Campbell 10X; power supply: CH12R power supply; precipitation: TE525WS tipping bucket (Texas Electronics); data storage: SM192storage module; air temperature: CS500 sensor; air relative humidity: CS500; solar radiation: Li200X pyranometer (Li-Cor); barometric pressure: C3105 pressure sensor; wind speed: 034A anemometer; wind direction: 034A anemometer.

The station is downloaded approximately every two months. Data are compared with output from Coweeta stations and from company specifications on sensor output. Data determined to be unreliable are deleted and replaced with a missing value “.” symbol before online data archiving.

Measurements are made on all sensors every 60 seconds and are averaged every 60 minutes. The exception to this is precipitation which is measured and recorded only when it occurs. Data are summarized and presented for each hour, day, and/or month. A description of the arrays (rows) of data is presented below.

Hourly Data Arrays (Column: Description)
A: array number (always 111)
B: year (e.g. 2000)
C: julian day (e.g. 297)
D: eastern standard time (e.g. 2200)
E: battery voltage minimum (e.g. 12.37 volts)
F: total hourly rainfall (e.g. 0.508 mm)
G: average air temperature (e.g. 12.56 C)
H: average air relative humidity (e.g. 97 %)
I: average vapor pressure (e.g. 0.48 kPa)
J: average vapor pressure deficit (e.g. 1.58 kPa)
K: average solar radiation rate (e.g. 980 umol m-2 s-1)
L: average barometric pressure (e.g. 614 mBar)
M: average wind speed (6.41 m s-1)
N: average wind direction (e.g. 322 degrees)
O: wind direction standard deviation (e.g. 103)

Daily Data Arrays (Column: Description)
A: array number (always 222)
B: year (e.g. 2000)
C: julian day (e.g. 297)
D: eastern standard time (always 2400 for end of day)
E: total daily rainfall (e.g. 3.058 mm)
F: minimum air temperature (e.g. 4.02 C)
G: maximum air temperature (e.g. 12.56 C)
H: minimum air relative humidity (e.g. 42 %)
I: maximum air relative humidity (e.g. 97 %)
J: minimum vapor pressure (e.g. 0.26 kPa)
K: maximum vapor pressure (e.g. 3.14 kPa)
L: minimum vapor pressure deficit (e.g. 0.01 kPa)
M: maximum vapor pressure deficit (e.g. 3.14 kPa)
N: total daily solar radiation flux (e.g. 7 w m-2)
O: minimum barometric pressure (e.g. 561 mBar)
P: maximum barometric pressure (e.g. 706 mBar)

Precipitation Intensity Arrays (Column: Description)
A: array number (always 199)
B: year (e.g. 2000)
C: julian day (e.g. 297)
D: eastern standard time (e.g. 2055)
E: five-minute rainfall intensity in mm (e.g. 0.254)

Monthly Data Array (Column: Description)
A: array number (always 31)
B: year (e.g. 2000)
C: month (e.g. March)
D: monthly precipitation (e.g. 139.43 mm)
E: mean temperature (e.g. 10.05 C)
F: mean maximum temperature (e.g. 18.64 C)
G: mean minimum temperature (e.g. 1.47 C)
H: absolute maximum temperature (e.g. 26.96 C)
I: absolute minimum temperature (e.g. -5.93 C)

Missing Data Codes: Period “.”

None.

Note:  Many of the links from Authors and/or Publications are external; if you experience a broken link, we would be grateful if you take the time to notify Coweeta LTER:  Broken Link Report.