{"id":149456,"date":"2021-10-10T08:00:03","date_gmt":"2021-10-10T18:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=149456"},"modified":"2021-10-09T17:06:45","modified_gmt":"2021-10-10T03:06:45","slug":"hawaii-mesonet-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2021\/10\/10\/hawaii-mesonet-project\/","title":{"rendered":"$1.33<abbr>M<\/abbr> grant to better understand, forecast Hawai\u02bbi\u2019s complex weather and climate"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 4<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><div class=\"responsive-video-wrap-post\"><figure class=\"wp-block-embed wp-block-embed-youtube is-type-video is-provider-youtube epyt-figure\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><div class=\"epyt-video-wrapper\"><iframe  id=\"_ytid_78346\"  width=\"676\" height=\"676\"  data-origwidth=\"676\" data-origheight=\"676\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/umIhmY-gCO0?enablejsapi=1&origin=https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu&rel=0&autoplay=0&cc_load_policy=0&cc_lang_pref=&iv_load_policy=1&loop=0&fs=1&playsinline=0&autohide=2&theme=dark&color=red&controls=1&disablekb=0&\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  no-lazyload\" title=\"$1.33M grant to better understand, forecast Hawai\u02bbi\u2019s complex weather and climate\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/figure><\/div>\n<p>In a first, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/\">National Science Foundation<\/a> (<abbr>NSF<\/abbr>) has awarded the University of <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Hawai&#699;i<\/span> at M\u0101noa a three-year, $1,334,481 grant to deploy dozens of climate stations across the state. &ldquo;<span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Hawai&#699;i<\/span> Mesonet&rdquo; is a public impact research project to better understand and forecast the complex weather and climate of the Hawaiian Islands.<\/p>\n<p>The mesonet or mesoscale network is a densely located set of observation stations. This is the first time the <abbr>NSF<\/abbr> has funded a mesonet system under its highly competitive Major Research Instrumentation (<abbr>MRI<\/abbr>) Program.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Thomas Giambelluca<\/strong>, the project\u2019s principal investigator, and <abbr title=\"University of Hawaii\">糖心Vlog官方<\/abbr>\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrrc.hawaii.edu\/\">Water Resources Research Center<\/a> director and <a href=\"https:\/\/geography.manoa.hawaii.edu\/\">Department of Geography and Environment<\/a> professor, says the Hawaiian Islands have extreme differences in climate over a small land area. Long-term observational data on rainfall, temperature and soil are unavailable from many locations that would provide valuable information relevant to atmospheric science, hydrology and ecosystems science.<\/p>\n<p>According to Giambelluca, who has decades of experience studying <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Hawai&#699;i<\/span>\u2019s climate, &ldquo;Place-to-place climate differences found in <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Hawai&#699;i<\/span> are equivalent to those of a continent, but compressed into the small area of the islands. For example, rainfall changes from 20 to 400 inches per year over a distance of about 12 miles. While we already have hundreds of rain gauges, they are not enough, not located in all the right places, and many are not equipped to send out the data. Temperature, humidity, wind speed, solar radiation and other variables are measured at relatively few locations. The <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Hawai&#699;i<\/span> Mesonet will meet the needs of researchers, weather forecasters, farmers, conservation organizations and many others by providing high-quality, comprehensive measurements over the whole state.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The research team\u2019s co-principal investigators are <strong>David Beilman<\/strong>, Department of Geography and Environment professor; <strong>Abby Frazier<\/strong>, affiliate graduate faculty in the Department of Geography and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.soest.hawaii.edu\/GG\/\">Department of Earth Sciences<\/a>, and assistant professor at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/geography\/\">Clark University<\/a>; <strong>Alison Nugent<\/strong>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.soest.hawaii.edu\/atmo\/\">Department of Atmospheric Sciences<\/a> assistant professor; and <strong>Yin-Phan Tsang<\/strong>, <a href=\"https:\/\/cms.ctahr.hawaii.edu\/nrem\/\">Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management<\/a> associate professor.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_149465\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-149465\" style=\"width: 676px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/manoa-wrrc-geography-weather-climate-station-kula.jpg\" alt=\"weather station on mountain\" width=\"676\" height=\"381\" class=\"size-full wp-image-149465\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/manoa-wrrc-geography-weather-climate-station-kula.jpg 676w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/manoa-wrrc-geography-weather-climate-station-kula-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/manoa-wrrc-geography-weather-climate-station-kula-130x73.jpg 130w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-149465\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The new weather stations will be similar to this weather station at <abbr>糖心Vlog官方<\/abbr>&#8216;s Kula Agricultural Experiment Station on Maui, which was established in 1988.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Hands-on learning experience<\/h2>\n<p><abbr>糖心Vlog官方<\/abbr> M\u0101noa students and post-doctoral researchers will install 84 climate stations in some of the most remote parts of the state. Stations will each have a data logger, power supply with solar charging and a telecom device allowing for real-time data transmission. They will gain hands-on field experience in instrument installation, calibration and maintenance, while collaborating with water and natural resource managers, fire departments, and state and federal organizations. The data collected will be incorporated in classes and the researchers will work with programs intended to boost the involvement of Native Hawaiian students in research.<\/p>\n<h2>Project goals<\/h2>\n<p>After collecting and analyzing the data, Giambelluca hopes the team will eventually be able to predict the probability thunderstorms may form by a process called convective initiation; identify water basin storage thresholds to better estimate the risk of flooding to low-lying areas; and discover the interactive effects of temperature, moisture and solar radiation on ecosystems.<\/p>\n<p>Data will also be used to form the <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Hawai&#699;i<\/span> Climate Data Portal where users&#8212;including weather forecasters&#8212;can receive real-time data. Data will also be submitted to the National Mesonet Program supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.<\/p>\n<p>Beilman said, &ldquo;The real-time high-resolution data availability will be unprecedented, and will allow us to better know how &lsquo;hot moments&rsquo; and hotspots really work. A network in <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Hawai&#699;i<\/span> that connects climate from busy urban areas to remote mountains is truly novel.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Nugent, whose research focuses on atmospheric science and weather forecasting, said, &ldquo;I\u2019m most excited with having more observations. Right now, in order to get observations together to do more research, it takes a lot of pre-work. You have to make sure the time stamps are lined up correctly and the data is quality controlled. But this will put everything all in one place. It will make it much more useful and much easier for students to use and researchers to use.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Tsang\u2019s research is focused on hydrology (study on the distribution of water on or below the surface) and she is looking forward to having more data to understand the water balance across all Hawaiian islands.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The network we are building will include measurements of soil moisture, which is important in order to help us understand how to balance the water budget across all watersheds and describe the antecedent moisture condition to accurately predict floods. This will be a huge help to our emergency response agencies,&rdquo; Tsang said.<\/p>\n<p>Frazier added, &ldquo;I study the spatial patterns of climate in <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Hawai&#699;i<\/span> and how climate variations affect water resources, and this new network will allow us to better understand the spatial details of climate extremes like drought and heavy rainfall events.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2>Community engagement<\/h2>\n<p>Giambelluca\u2019s team is seeking assistance from the community for two reasons: 1) landowners willing to offer their area to host a weather station and 2) landowners or other community members willing to help the team maintain the stations over time. Those interested in assisting with the project may contact Giambelluca at <a href=\"mailto:HCDP@hawaii.edu\">HCDP@hawaii.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This work is an example of <abbr>糖心Vlog官方<\/abbr> M\u0101noa\u2019s goals of <a href=\"https:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/manoa-2025-strategic-plan.pdf#page=25\">Excellence in Research: Advancing the Research and Creative Work Enterprise<\/a> (<span class=\"small-text\"><abbr title=\"Portable Document Format\">PDF<\/abbr><\/span>), <a href=\"https:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/manoa-2025-strategic-plan.pdf#page=28\">Building a Sustainable and Resilient Campus Environment: Within the Global Sustainability and Climate Resilience Movement<\/a> (<span class=\"small-text\"><abbr title=\"Portable Document Format\">PDF<\/abbr><\/span>) and <a href=\"https:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/manoa-2025-strategic-plan.pdf#page=20\">Enhancing Student Success<\/a> (<span class=\"small-text\"><abbr title=\"Portable Document Format\">PDF<\/abbr><\/span>) three of four goals identified in the <a href=\"https:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/manoa-2025-strategic-plan.pdf\">2015&#8211;25 Strategic Plan<\/a> (<span class=\"small-text\"><abbr title=\"Portable Document Format\">PDF<\/abbr><\/span>), updated in December 2020.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;By <em>Marc Arakaki<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><abbr>糖心Vlog官方<\/abbr> M\u0101noa scientists will deploy dozens of climate stations to collect critical data.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[745,98,1187,38,1466,1467,1363,1314,544,92,73,9,1043,347],"class_list":["post-149456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","tag-atmospheric-sciences","tag-climate","tag-earth-science","tag-geography","tag-manoa-enhancing-student-success","tag-manoa-excellence-in-research","tag-manoa-research","tag-manoa-sustainability","tag-natural-resources-and-environmental-management","tag-school-of-ocean-and-earth-science-and-technology","tag-sustainability","tag-uh-manoa","tag-water","tag-water-resources-research-center","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149456"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149456\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":149505,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149456\/revisions\/149505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}