Site Selection Criteria

  • 15m x 15m (50ft x 50 ft) space required and considered permanent (>10 year).  If located in a cropped area, field edges are preferred to allow access with minimal crop disturbance and reduce the likelihood of damage from farm equipment.  Must be fenced off or protected from livestock if applicable.
  • Vehicle access needed; no locked or fenced in locations that require special access.
  • The location must be at least 10 times the distance away from any obstruction as the height of that obstruction (building, shelterbelt, forest, large geological feature etc.). Example: If a 10m high shelterbelt is in the field, the site would have to be at least 100m away from this shelterbelt (preferably longer to account for future height growth).  Hydro lines and poles do not count as an obstruction.
  • Distance from a municipal road or highway should be >20m where possible.
  • Distance from any water body should be >100m where possible; site should not be prone to seasonal flooding.
  • Unsuitable locations include areas that may be considered for sale or future development; areas where the weather tower will impede application of inputs; areas where snow drifting is severe and areas that represent a micro-climate within a large region (e.g. a hillside site if the region is not generally hilly).

 

Each weather station site is visited by Manitoba Agriculture staff 2 or more times per year and we follow all biosecurity guidelines.  Requirements include accessibility to the site all year-round and we do not provide advance notice prior to site visits. Three concrete bases are poured to anchor the tower, pluvio (all-season precipitation) and the tipping bucket rain gauge. A 10 meter tower anchored with guide wires is installed to monitor wind speed and direction. Financial compensation are not provided, however, site maintenance such as grass cutting is carried out periodically. The real time data feed from the weather station is made available at no charge.

Each weather station reports data in near real time at that specific site and runs models like Potato Late Blight and Fusarium Head Blight.  The data is also used in flood and drought modelling for the Province of Manitoba.

 

 

For further information, contact: agriculture@gov.mb.ca