Weather information offered by the National Agroclimate Information Services will soon be broader, says an agroclimate specialist.
“We’re building on what our successes of the past (have been),” said Ted O’Brien.
NAIS, a branch of the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration, offers a network of weather and climate information targeted toward the agricultural sector. The goal of NAIS is to act as an early warning system to identify future climate risks.
“A lot of decisions are made that are ultimately determined in part by our weather and climate in the growing season,” said O’Brien.
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In the past, Environment Canada has provided the bulk of weather products to farmers, but recently, it changed its focus to encompass a broader environmental scope. NAIS is taking on more responsibility to ensure agroclimate information is available.
“We’re in a step-by-step process to build resources in order to provide more support for near real time monitoring of conditions for the agriculture and agriculture support sectors,” O’Brien said.
NAIS uses information from about 200 weather data collection stations on the Prairies and about 80 from elsewhere in Canada. He said the number of near real time stations will be increased.
“So we anticipate that we will have in the order of 700 stations that will be reporting across the agricultural landscapes by the spring.”
NAIS will be working with data sources across Canada. O’Brien said initial data will be collected from Environment Canada, but he hopes to establish other partnerships with new organizations.
“There’s other stations that are reporting but they just haven’t been accessible to us and we’re gaining access to them,” said O’Brien.
“We’re doing it with partners like the Canadian Forestry Service.”
O’Brien said NAIS hopes to process near real time information on a rapid turnaround with quality assurance. He said the larger number of data stations could prolong the process.
“Whether it’s going to end up being every 24 hours, it’s going to be a challenge to do that. It might have to be every 48 hours or something like that at that scale (of 700 stations),” O’Brien said.
A standardized precipitation index is also in the works.
“The idea is we can actually compare back as far as five years over a monthly time step.”
Since droughts often fall in 10-year cycles, the index would allow those in the agricultural sector to compare periods of extended dryness. O’Brien said it creates a better short-term and long-term perspective.
NAIS is expanding its services to address a growing need for a broader base of weather products.
“The focus of (NAIS) was drought, but we know there are a lot of other extremes. So as time goes on, we’re going to add more different types of extremes to that (service base).”
Ever-changing environmental conditions created a need for updated services. O’Brien said NAIS would like to work within the research industry to bring new information that would help reduce vulnerability in the agricultural sector.
A historical database of temperature and precipitation is being created to offer researchers and the agricultural community access to better information to analyze farm adaptation measures, O’Brien said.
The weather services will help farmers and others develop a better understanding of the climate and its stresses. O’Brien said weather information could help develop more efficient production and result in better incomes for producers.
