ComparisonComparison ofof RainRain GaugeGauge MeasurementsMeasurements inin thethe MidMid --AtlanticAtlantic RegionRegion Victoria Leigh McDowell Paul Bashor Ali Tokay Department of Earth and Environmental Science Computer Sciences Corporation Joint Center for Earth System Technology Susquehanna University NASA Wallops Flight Facility University of Maryland Baltimore County Selinsgrove, PA Wallops Island, VA NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
Automated Surface Observing Systems -ASOS Wallops Main, VA - G02 Newport News, VA- G12 Motivation 500 500 500 500 Weighted Bias While many scientists today debate on large-scale climate processes such as the global Daily Rainy Correlation Coefficient Bias Percent Bias Days TRMM TRMM, TRMM TRMM, Oper TRMM TRMM, Oper. TRMM TRMM, Oper. warming and El Nino, there are relatively fewer studies that question the instrument and (A,B) Operational (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) (%) (%) 100 100 100 100 measurement accuracy. The rain gauge, which is often considered a simple instrument, G01 (B) 168 (104) 0.895 (0.998) 0.878 (0.857) 3.61 (0.84) 1.51 (1.75) 4.38 (1.83) 4.11 (5.21) 31.35(5.34) 12.06(11.22) 50 50 50 50 suffers from systematic and random errors. Yet, they have been widely used in determining G02 (A) 128 (108) 0.875 (0.999) 0.996 (0.997) 1.34 (0.32) 0.91 (0.80) 2.66 (0.58) 1.51 (1.38) 13.55(2.98) 8.45 (7.15) the precipitation climatology of a city or region. Rain gauges are often employed in G07 (B) 142 (115) 0.997 (0.999) 0.990 (0.991) 1.00 (0.86) 1.14 (0.92) 1.76 (1.74) 1.31 (1.28) 7.74 (5.64) 9.01 (6.13) constructing and validating radar and satellite rainfall. Rain gauge measurements have a G12 (A) 176 (148) 0.997 (0.997) 0.934 (0.970) 0.74 (0.83) 2.50 (1.65) 1.74 (1.85) 3.36 (2.59) 5.79 (5.91) 20.68(12.11) 10 10 10 10 G02B Daily Rainfall (mm) Rainfall G02B Daily (mm) G02ASOS Rainfall Daily G12B Daily Rainfall (mm) Rainfall G12B Daily pronounced role in hydrological studies that focus on hydrological cycle, and urban and G21 (A) 177 (146) 0.938 (1.000) 0.994 (0.998) 1.71 (0.30) 0.75 (0.57) 1.69 (0.66) 0.95 (0.92) 13.73(2.16) 5.61 (3.99) 5 5 5 (mm) G12ASOS Rainfall Daily 5 large-scale flooding. G23 (B) 133 (107) 0.998 (0.998) 0.979 (0.998) 1.11 (1.26) 1.75 (1.24) 4.79 (4.89) 3.24 (2.70) 8.95(8.66) 13.66(8.11) 128 rainy days 128 rainy days 103 rainy days 103 rainy days G24 (B) 129 (107) 0.993 (0.994) 0.682 (0.999) 0.62 (0.39) 1.95 (0.48) 0.86 (0.68) 7.55 (0.59) 5.56 (3.39) 18.13(4.17) 1 1 1 1 Objective Weighted Bias 1 5 1050 100 500 1 5 1050 100 500 1 5 1050 100 500 1 5 1050 100 500 Monthly Rainy Correlation Coefficient Bias Percent Bias G02A Daily Rainfall (mm) G02A Daily Rainfall (mm) G12A Daily Rainfall (mm) G12A Daily Rainfall (mm) ’ 500 500 The gauge network is originally deployed to evaluate NASA s polarimetric radar (NPOL) Months TRMM TRMM, TRMM TRMM, Oper TRMM TRMM, Oper. TRMM TRMM, Oper. 500 500 rainfall estimate. In that regard, we considered to use the National Weather Service (NWS) (A,B) Operational (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) (%) (%) and other federal and state gauges as an additional resource. The research presented in this G01 (B) 13 0.999 0.903 5.00 14.24 5.47 18.96 4.41 12.76 100 100 100 100 poster intends to bring some evidence at what extent the operational gauges can be used for G02 (A) 20 0.997 0.995 1.51 3.38 1.50 3.48 2.34 5.02 50 50 50 50 research applications. G07 (B) 18 1.000 0.996 4.23 6.53 4.23 7.56 4.39 7.02 G12 (A) 25 0.999 0.955 3.79 14.57 5.34 14.45 4.14 16.81
Rain gauge Network G21 (A) 20 0.999 0.998 2.16 3.51 2.90 4.50 2.07 3.32 10 10 10 10 G12B Monthly Rainfall (mm) G12B Rainfall Monthly (mm) G12ASOS Rainfall Monthly As part of the NASA Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) ground validation G23 (B) 22 0.998 0.963 6.38 7.93 10.78 7.71 8.46 10.12 (mm) Rainfall G02B Monthly 5 (mm) G02ASOS Rainfall Monthly 5 5 5 program, a mid-latitude coastal ground validation site has been operating in the Mid-Atlantic G24 (B) 19 0.999 0.700 1.42 11.25 1.56 14.13 1.67 15.69 20 rainy months 20 rainy months 25 rainy months 25 rainy months region for over two years. The network includes 23 tipping bucket rain gauge stations All sites are equipped with heated tipping bucket gauge manufactured by Frise engineering Company. The diameter of 1 1 1 1 within 150 km of NPOL and 200 km of NWS S-band Doppler radar (KAKQ), located at 1 5 1050 100 500 1 5 1050 100 500 1 5 1050 100 500 1 5 1050 100 500 the funnel is 12 inch, 1.5 times TRMM gauge, but the resolution, 0.01 inch per tip, is the same for both gauges. The G02A Monthly Rainfall (mm) G02A Monthly Rainfall (mm) G12A Monthly Rainfall (mm) G12A Monthly Rainfall (mm) Wakefield, Virginia. With the guidance of the NWS Wakefield Office, the gauge stations output is one-minute accumulation and a precipitation correction algorithm is applied to correct the measurement, were collocated with seven Automated Surface Observing Systems (ASOS) and seven co-op particularly in heavy rain. We received daily ASOS gauge rainfall from three different sources, North Carolina State sites. Additionally, we had four gauges at Automated Weather Observing Systems (AWOS) Climate Office (NCSCO), National Climate Data Center (NCDC), and a private web server (wunderground.com) which site, three at Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station (VAES), one at Fire Management Wallops Main, VA broadcasts METAR reports. The NWS Wakefield web site also reports three out of seven sites. While NCSCO and Newport News, VA (FM) site, and another one at Climate Reference Network (CRN) site. Triple gauges were private web site output matched well, there were inconsistencies between the three of the data sources. In this study, we deployed at each site except at ASOS sites where dual gauge platforms were situated. used NCDC after diagnosing all the problematic features of the data sets. The readings of the ASOS daily rainfall in NCDC are all in local standard time. The missing data and/or malfunction of the gauge are the leading factors for the 39 N poor performance of the ASOS gauges. In the presence of heavy rain, identified by ASOS present weather algorithm and collocated TRMM gauges, ASOS gauges, in some cases, either stop reading or not report at all. On other occasions where the conditions were calm or cloudy, ASOS gauge read 40 mm in one hour! The false tips were also resulted from deposition, identified by present weather algorithm and marked next to the rainfall in NCDC report. Although Ocean City deposition results in single tip, NCDC daily accumulation showed false tips up to 5 mm. These marked false tips and Salisbury snowy days also identified by present sensor algorithms were excluded from the analysis. In the absence of heating 38 N Pokomoke City mechanism, snow mounted on TRMM gauges and melted in following days resulting in false tips. We disregarded Warsaw Wallops these false tips from the analysis as well. Wallops Island Onley Shacklefords 150 km Holland, VA- G18 Petersburg, VA- G13 Ashland Painter The Cooperative Observer Program- Coop Milford Haven 500 500 500 500 150 km Melfa Daily Rainy Correlation Coefficient Bias Weighted Bias Percent Bias Days Oyster 50 km Site TRMM TRMM, TRMM TRMM, Oper TRMM TRMM, Oper. TRMM TRMM, Oper. Williamsburg 100 km (mm) (%) 100 km Petersburg (A,B) Operational (mm) (mm) (mm) (%) 100 100 100 100 Kiptopeke Newport News G01 (B) 181 (104) 0.899 (0.998) 0.941 (0.961) 3.36 (0.92) 2.07 (2.30) 4.34 (1.93) 3.70 (3.90) 31.34(5.8 1) 16.51(14.0 7) 37 N 50 50 50 50 Wakefield G03 (A) 111 (72) 0.998 (0.997) 0.599 (0.955) 0.83 (1.11) 4.84 (2.06) 1.89 (1.98) 9.80 (3.40) 7.27 (7.44) 40.08(13.2 8) 50 km Back Bay Wildlife G06 (A) 204 (184) 0.995 (0.995) 0.968 (0.994) 0.87 (0.93) 2.32 (0.90) 1.60 (1.60) 3.13 (1.66) 7.14 (7.00) 19.32(6.6 9) latitude Holland G11 (A) 115 (77) 0.901 (0.998) 0.844 (0.980) 2.21 (0.84) 3.47 (1.34) 2.97 (1.54) 4.29 (2.01) 18.74(5.4 8) 28.59(8.3 5) 10 10 10 10 G18B Daily Rainfall (mm) Rainfall G18B Daily (mm) G18COOP Rainfall Daily G13B Daily Rainfall (mm) Rainfall G13B Daily 5 (mm) G13COOP Rainfall Daily Murfreesboro G13 (A) 117 (76) 1.000 (1.000) 0.473 (0.801) 0.47 (0.44) 6.88 (4.15) 1.08 (0.72) 13.30 (6.17) 3.90 (3.31) 59.02(28.3 3) 5 5 5 G18 (A) 116 (90) 0.997 (0.997) 0.915 (0.970) 0.72 (0.82) 3.16 (2.15) 1.51 (1.53) 4.14 (3.11) 5.65 (5.29) 24.16(13.6 3) Elizabeth City 116 rainy days 116 rainy days 117 rainy days 117 rainy days G20 (A) 108 (91) 0.999 (1.000) 0.968 (0.977) 0.32 (0.31) 2.03 (1.69) 0.42 (0.47) 2.76 (2.63) 2.68 (2.29) 16.60(12.0 2) 1 1 1 1 36 N 1 5 1050 100 500 1 5 1050 100 500 1 5 1050 100 500 1 5 1050 100 500 Monthly Rainy Correlation Coefficient Bias Weighted Bias Percent Bias G18A Daily Rainfall (mm) G18A Daily Rainfall (mm) G13A Daily Rainfall (mm) G13A Daily Rainfall (mm) Site Months TRMM TRMM, TRMM TRMM, Oper TRMM TRMM, Oper. TRMM TRMM, Oper. 500 500 500 500 (A,B) Operational (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) (%) (%) G01 (B) 13 0.999 0.998 5.00 8.05 5.47 10.74 4.41 6.50 100 100 100 100 G03 (A) 13 0.999 0.998 7.05 4.53 7.79 6.11 7.13 4.38 50 50 50 50 G06 (A) 25 0.998 0.995 5.19 8.42 6.07 10.18 5.19 8.51 35 N G11 (A) 12 0.999 0.985 4.17 7.51 3.57 8.16 4.07 7.18 79 W 78 W 77 W 76 W 75 W 74 W G13 (A) 13 1.000 0.925 4.08 20.75 5.79 35.64 3.75 19.54 10 10 10 10 G18B Monthly Rainfall (mm) Rainfall G18B Monthly (mm) G18COOP Rainfall Monthly longitude G18 (A) 13 0.998 0.987 3.61 9.67 6.16 12.27 3.14 8.23 5 5 (mm) Rainfall G13B Monthly 5 (mm) G13COOP Rainfall Monthly 5 G20 (A) 13 0.999 0.997 2.50 8.28 3.86 10.57 2.53 8.11 13 rainy months 13 rainy months 13 rainy months 13 rainy months Automated Surface Observing System- ASOS (7) Climate Reference Network- CRN (1) 1 1 1 1 The coop sites are equipped with 8-inch diameter non-recording stick gauge that has an increment of 0.01 inches. A 1 5 1050 100 500 1 5 1050 100 500 1 5 1050 100 500 1 5 1050 100 500 Automated Weather Observing System- AWOS (4) Fire Management- FM (1) volunteer observer read the gauge with NWS instructions on a daily basis. The time of the reading changes from one site G18A Monthly Rainfall (mm) G18A Monthly Rainfall (mm) G13A Monthly Rainfall (mm) G13A Monthly Rainfall (mm) Cooperative Observer Program- Coop (7) NASA (5) to another. More importantly, it is not reported and therefore the comparison between TRMM and stick gauges could Virginia Agricultural Experimental Station- VAES (3) small scale network (1) inherent daily bias. If it is raining, the observer still takes the measurement but does not empty the bucket. The difference in rainfall between the two consecutive days is reported as the second day rainfall. This erupts another measurement error and can result in overflowing in the presence of consecutive rainy days. The stick gauge performs The deployment of the NASA TRMM rain gauges started with the deployment of the poorly in snowy conditions. We received the coop gauge report from NCSCO and NCDC. They agreed NPOL on February 2004 and completed on August 2004. All rain gauges was Site Obs. Time (LT) G01 2400 each other as expected. We included seven coop sites in study. The TRMM and coop gauges were 70 manufactured by Met One Instruments (Model 370C), where each tip corresponds to G03 1600 m, 635 m, and 300 m apart in G01, G06, and G13, respectively. The G01 was also ASOS site where ± 0.01 inches with an accuracy of 1% at 1 inch/hour to 3 inches/hr. A Megtec logger G06 1700 TRMM gauges were situated. The G06 and G13 coop sites were not open area and therefore our gauges that includes a lithium battery was placed G11 1800 Jan Jul Jan Jul Jan Jul were moved nearby. A number of coop sites has also Fisher-Porter weighting bucket recording gauge G13 600 2004 2004 2005 2005 2006 2006 in a small waterproof box that fits and NWS is modernizing the gauge ’s recording system. The stick gauge that has been used for over 100 G18 900 Williamsburg, VA inside the cylinder of the gauge. The years is still considered as official gauge. Holland, VA Wakefield, VA(G01) logger was connected to the gauge ’s G20 800 Wallops Main, VA(G02) magnetic switch by two short cables. Climate Reference Network (CRN), Fire Management (FM), Virginia Agricultural Experimental Station (VAES), and Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS) FM- Back Bay, VA - G17 Painter, VA(G03) The logger was programmed for the Daily Rainy Correlation Coefficient Bias Weighted Bias Percent Bias CRN- Oyster, VA - G04 500 500 500 500 Oyster, VA(G04) time of each tip at one-second Site Days TRMM TRMM, TRMM TRMM, Oper TRMM TRMM, Oper. TRMM TRMM, Oper. Kiptopeke, VA(G05) interval. At this rate, the lifetime of (A,B or B,C) Operational (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) (%) (%)
Warsaw, VA(G06) CRN ) the battery was less than 6 months. 100 100 100 100 Ashland, VA (G07) Each gauge was visited by a G04 (A) 116 (107) 1.000 (1.000) 0.992(0.992) 0.52 (0.55) 0.97 (0.97) 1.18 (1.19) 1.89 (1.90) 4.69 (4.66) 9.22 (8.61) 50 50 50 50 Shacklefords, VA (G08) technician once a month except for FM Milford Haven, VA (G09) fourth month winter break due to G17 (A) 168 (135) 0.937 (1.000) 0.982(0.991) 1.08 (0.21) 1.17 (0.87) 1.50 (0.34) 1.20 (1.06) 9.48 (1.61) 9.75 (6.48)
Williamsburg, VA (G11) limited funds. Despite the occasional VAES 10 10 10 10 G04CRN Daily Rainfall (mm) Rainfall G04CRN Daily G04C Daily Rainfall (mm) Rainfall G04C Daily G17B Daily Rainfall (mm Rainfall G17B Daily Newport News, VA (G12) ’ G03 (A) 94 (53) 0.959 (0.997) 0.714(0.801) 2.36 (1.19) 5.28 (4.42) 2.82 (2.09) 9.81 (8.80) 22.57(7.98) 53.25(32.51) (mm) G17FM Rainfall Daily gauge s pivotal point failure and 5 5 5 5 Petersburg, VA (G13) logger ’s low battery, the data quality G06 (A) 195 (174) 0.996 (0.995) 0.971 (0.976) 0.85 (0.92) 2.56 (2.53) 1.40 (1.42) 4.54 (4.53) 6.70 (6.55) 21.39(19.20) 116 rainy days 116 rainy days Back Bay, VA (G17) was very good at each site. G18 (B) 71 (61) 0.999 (0.999) 0.994 (0.997) 0.72 (1.71) 1.61 (2.56) 2.79(2.85) 4.14 (4.11) 6.38(6.24) 14.47(10.74) 167 rainy days 167 rainy days 1 1 1 Holland, VA (G18) Considering the gauges relocation, AWOS 1 5 1050 100 500 1 5 1050 100 500 1 5 1050 100 500 11 5 1050 100 500 Murfreesboro, NC (G20) G04A Daily Rainfall (mm) G04A Daily Rainfall (mm) G17A Daily Rainfall (mm) G17A Daily Rainfall (mm) G04 site was relocated from NPOL to G08 (B) 70 (40) 0.996 (0.996) 0.370 (0.581) 0.65 (0.64) 8.70 (7.45) 1.29 (0.99) 15.29(12.24) 5.64 (4.96) 115.20(80.52) 500 500 500 500 Elizabeth City, NC (G21) CRN site in October 2004. In May G11 (B) 85 (60) 1.000 (1.000) 0.817 (0.959) 0.33 (0.39) 4.84 (3.66) 0.74 (0.79) 7.98 (6.11) 2.74 (2.85) 50.64 (30.99) Salisbury, MD (G23) 2005, G11 and G13 were moved from G13 (B) 75 (68) 0.996 (0.996) 0.970 (0.970) 0.84 (1.61) 2.74 (3.99) 1.69 (1.71) 4.51 (4.53) 6.96 (6.90) 26.96 (25.75) Ocean City, MD (G24) 100 100 100 Coop to AWOS sites, G03 and G18 G27 (B) 78 (64) 0.994 (0.989) 0.588 (0.956) 1.13 (1.22) 5.00 (3.49) 2.30 (1.89) 13.06 (6.01) 8.70 (9.14) 46.04 (29.46) 100 Onley, VA (G25) 50 50 50 50 were relocated from Coop to VAES Monthly Rainy Correlation Coefficient Bias Weighted Bias Percent Bias Pocomoke City, MD (G26) sites, and G20 was closed and gauges Site Months TRMM TRMM, TRMM TRMM, Oper TRMM TRMM, TRMM TRMM, Melfa, VA (G27) moved to a new site, G27. (A,B or B,C) Operational (mm) (mm) (mm) Oper. (mm) (%) Oper. (%) 10 10 10 10 CRN G17B Monthly Rainfall (mm) Rainfall G17B Monthly (mm) G17FM Rainfall Monthly G04C Monthly Rainfall (mm) G04C Rainfall Monthly (mm) G04CRN Rainfall Monthly Methodology (Rainfall Statistics) G04 (A) 20 1.000 0.991 2.92 3.92 3.76 4.95 4.69 9.22 5 5 5 5
A package of rainfall statistics were applied to daily and monthly gauge ran totals to FM 20 rainy months 20 rainy months 18 rainy months 18 rainy months G17 (A) 20 1.000 0.993 0.89 4.04 0.94 4.29 1.00 9.48 evaluate the performance of operational rain gauges. The statistical package included the 1 1 1 1 1 5 1050 100 500 1 5 1050 100 500 1 5 1050 100 500 1 5 1050 100 500 Pearson correlation coefficient, absolute mean rainfall difference, weighted absolute mean VAES G04A Monthly Rainfall (mm) G04A Monthly Rainfall (mm) G17A Monthly Rainfall (mm) G17A Monthly Rainfall (mm) G03 (A) 7 0.998 0.753 4.28 30.41 4.32 33.92 3.99 32.15 rainfall difference, and percent absolute mean rainfall difference. The Pearson correlation VAES- Holland, VA - G18 AWOS- Petersburg, VA - G13 G06 (A) 25 0.998 0.996 5.09 15.71 5.97 22.70 5.09 16.58 coefficient (r) may be defined as the ratio of the sample covariance of the two gauge rain 500 500 500 500 totals (l1, l2) to the product of the standard deviations. G18 (B) 10 0.999 0.999 4.11 6.91 5.73 8.70 5.04 8.61 Cov( l1,l2) AWOS 100 100 100 100 r = 1/ 2 G08 (B) 12 0.997 0.682 3.05 50.02 4.01 66.53 4.42 110.91 ()Var() l1 Var() l2 G11 (B) 13 1.000 0.846 1.86 32.24 2.37 37.71 2.31 50.93 50 50 50 50 The mean absolute difference between the two gauge totals (l1, l2) is named as bias. G13 (A) 13 0.995 0.983 3.34 15.43 4.29 19.01 5.00 26.63 N G27 (B) 13 0.990 0.671 6.08 29.62 8.24 40.99 7.58 44.69 1 10 10 10 10
= − (mm) Rainfall G18C Daily bias | l1 l2 | (mm) G18VAES Rainfall Daily G13AWOS Daily Rainfall (mm) G13AWOS Rainfall Daily ∑ i i (mm) Rainfall G13C Daily All CRN sites are equipped with a siphon tipping bucket gauge that is manufactured by Hydrological Services (model 5 5 5 5 N i=1 where N represents the rainy days or rainy months. Weighted bias is a statistic where the TB3). The gauge has 8-inch diameter funnel and has 0.01 inch resolution with an accuracy of ±2% at 25-100 71 rainy days 71 rainy days 76 rainy days 76 rainy days
mm/hr. The CRN web site reports hourly rainfall, given both standard and universal time. In addition to tipping 1 1 1 1 bias is weighted basedN on rain amount. 1 5 1050 100 500 1 5 1050 100 500 1 5 1050 100 500 1 5 1050 100 500 G13B Daily Rainfall (mm) (l1i + l2i )/ 2 bucket, CRN sites are equipped with three vibrating wire weighing bucket gauges. To minimize the wind-loss, both G18B Daily Rainfall (mm) G18B Daily Rainfall (mm) G13B Daily Rainfall (mm) weighted _ bias = ∑ω | l1 − l2 | ω = 500 500 500 500 i i i , where the weighting function is i < l1,l2 > are located within double fenced area. There is no present weather sensor at CRN site and therefore nearby AWOS i =1 site is employed to determine the snowy days. The CRN sites are operated by NCDC and are designed to meet the As a normalized statistic, we defined the percent bias where bias is divided with the requirements of the Global Climate Observing System. FM site was equipped with a weather station that included a 100 100 100 100 mean gauge rain totals,
1 1 1 1 For the daily rainfall, we run the statistical package in two different conditions. First, tipping bucket gauge that is manufactured by Texas Electronics (model 6118-1). The gauge has an 8-inch diameter 1 5 1050 100 500 1 5 1050 100 500 1 5 1050 100 500 1 5 1050 100 500 we requested that either TRMM or operational gauge had at least 1.2 mm of rainfall. funnel and the resolution is 0.01 inches. Although METAR codes reports daily rainfall, it was inconsistent with the G18B Monthly Rainfall (mm) G18B Monthly Rainfall (mm) G13B Monthly Rainfall (mm) G13B Monthly Rainfall (mm) This eliminates very light rainy days from the rainfall statistics, but not gauge sum of 24-hour rainfall. We received AWOS gauge reports from NCSCO, NCDC, and private web site. Like in malfunction that often results in no rain record. The rainfall statistics between the ASOS, we found inconstancy between private web site and NCDC and decided to use NCDC hourly rainfall which is TRMM gauges intend to be used as a reference and therefore we did not include the given in local standard time. Like ASOS, AWOS sites are equipped with present weather sensor that is used to rainy days if only one of the TRMM gauge record 1.2+ mm of rainfall. Second, we determine the snow days. requested that both TRMM and operational gauges had at least 1.2 mm of rainfall. This FM- Back Bay, VA subset demonstrates the agreement between the gauges when all were operating. AWOS- Petersburg, VA
Acknowledgments CRN- Oyster, VA The leading author would like to thank the Joint Center for Earth and System Technology of University of Maryland Baltimore County for funding the project and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center for providing the workspace. We would like to acknowledge the National Climate Data Center, the North Carolina State Climate Office, the Climate Reference Network, the National Weather Service Wakefield Office, Fire Management, the Virginia Agricultural Experimental Station, the Cooperative Observer program, the Automatied Surface Observing System, for VAES- Holland, VA providing data and/or feedback on data collection and quality.