TAMILNADU AGRICULTURE WEATHER NETWORK AND WEATHER BASED ADVISORY - R.Jagannathan Professor of Agronomy Department of Agronomy

TAMILNADU AGRICULTURE WEATHER NETWORK
                  AND
       WEATHER BASED ADVISORY

               R.Jagannathan
           Professor of Agronomy
          Department of Agronomy
             jagan@tnau.ac.in

Issues - Why TAWN
 Farmers need to be provided with weather information on
  real time for weather based risk management
 Farmers require high resolution medium range forecast at
  block level for weather based tactical farm decisions
 Weather based crop insurance requires dense precipitation
  observation for narrowing down spatial & temporal variability
 Good weather network is required to monitor global
  warming and plan for mitigating climate change

About the project

 TNAU a leader in agricultural information technology in the
  country proposed a project under NADP for establishing
  TAWN to provide real time weather & forecast
 Project envisages establishment of 224 AWS throughout
  Tamilnadu with a cost of 16.90 crores
 AWS has to be installed in remote places in crop
  environment
 Atmospheric conditions recorded on hourly basis has to be
  made available to the farmers on real time - not attempted
  before in India
 Hence, timely communication here is a vital issue and there
  are wide options

Automatic Weather Station at block level
1. Temperature                    6. Solar radiation
2. Relative Humidity              7. Atmospheric Pressure
3. Rainfall                       8. Soil Temperature
4. Wind speed                     9. Soil Moisture
5. Wind direction                 10. Leaf Wetness

Satellite communications for AWS
 Logged data pushed through directional antenna to the
  satellite (Rs. 50,000/- /antenna)
 Transmitter uses Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)
  technique to reach satellite, failing which data loss is likely
 World wide it was reported
                                         ISRO AWS
  to be around 5 %
 Similar experience with AWS
  installed by ISRO                      Yagi Antenna

 To retrieve the lost data one has
  to visit each AWS logger
 Another huge expense is
  an earth station (Rs.10 million)
 One way communication
 Recurring expense is Rs.35,000/-
  paid annually to the Dept. of T

Dial up modems
 Telemetry services can be used to dial up individual AWS
  and get the data & requires wired connection
 Practically very difficult to dial all the AWS every hour to
  receive data in real time basis
 In case of failure of telemetry network one has to watch
  and redial to get all the data
 Cost per month will be around Rs.500/- per month for 24
  calls per day
 Communicating to all the stations at a time is difficult here
 One way communication

LAN & BROADBAND
   TN government was interested in utilizing their TNSWAN
    for this purpose
   Possibility for an Internet Service Provider to establish
    broadband connection for all the AWS, again problem is
    wired connection
   Cost of broadband connectivity at the minimum is
    expected around Rs. 500/- per month.
   Two-way communication possible provided a configured
    communication device is set up to do the scheduled job
   Any type of modification between communication unit and
    receiving unit is possible

GSM SMS
 GSM can used for data transfer via SMS to the
  receiving unit
 May cost cheaper per message but there is possibility
  of clogging of receiving unit due to more SMS
 Some time the SMS are not delivered in time, which
  may create problems in hosting the data in real time
 Two-way communication possible
 SMS can initiate action in a device but the work that can
  be accomplished through internet will not be possible

GSM-GPRS
 GSM-GPRS is a wireless data transmission technology
  via internet as users connected directly to an ISP
 Main benefits of this packet-switched technology is that
  users are always connected, always on-line, and may be
  charged only for the amount of data that is transported.
 Voice calls can be made simultaneously while a data
  connection is operating
 There may be latency issues as theoretically a maximum
  transmission rate of 115 Kbps possible but real-world
  throughput is around 20 to 50 Kbps
 GSM uses TDMA technology, but the overlay of GPRS on
  GSM makes it as reliable and cheaper transmitter

GSM-GPRS - contd
 EDGE (Enhanced Data Rate for Global Evolution), is
  another GSM technology for Global Internet Connectivity
 This technology provides data transmission rate of 384
  Kbps nearly three times over GSM-GPRS.
 Now we have third generation 3G mobile technologies
  This technology enables network operators to offer
  broadband wireless data in a mobile environment and the
  expected data transfer is 5-10 Mbps
 Cost of operation cheaper (Rs.100 to 200 / month / AWS)
 Communication device used to transmit the data will cost
  less than Rs.10,000/-.
 Offers two-way communications as each AWS can be
  contacted separately or all at a time.

CDMA

 Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) is another
  wireless mobile technology
 It allows simultaneous conversations and the provider
  can handle more subscribers
 The extended reach offers an opportunity to reach
  subscribers in rural packets
 The major disadvantage is the lack of international
  roaming as the CDMA is mostly available in Asia and
  North America and not in other countries
 The availability of Subscriber Identity Modules (SIM),
  which are smart cards that provide secure data
  encryption give GSM a commercial advantage

Data logging, Transmission, Archival, Web hosting

                 Communication device

Deliverables from TAWN
1. All concerns with agriculture including farmers will be
provided with real time weather information

    tawn.tnau.ac.in - demo pages

Deliverables from TAWN
  2. Medium range weather forecast can be improved

3. Forecast helps in taking short term farm decisions

      IRRIGATION                    FERTILIZER

      SPRAYING                        HARVESTING

4. Weather based pest and disease forewarning
Paddy Blast
 Cloudy weather + drizzling +
 High RH + low night temperature
Sucking pests in Cotton
 High day time temperature
 coupled with dry weather

Deliverables contd ..

5. With dense rainfall observation Rainfall Distribution Index
   (RDI) can be developed for crop insurance
6. Mid season yield prediction for policy decision through crop
   simulation model is possible
7. The project will create a good amount of data base which is
   highly useful for understanding global warming and form as
   base for climate change mitigation process

8. Used for developing response farming practices

AUTOMATIC                                Sowing rain
RAIN GAUGE                               Accumulated rain for
                                         fertilizer top dressing
                                         Run-off & erosion
                                         RDI
                                         Research - Satellite
                                         data downscaling

AGRICULTURAL METEOROLOGY SERVICES

 Agriculture is highly weather dependent compared to
  other branch of human activities
 Despite advances in agricultural technology still we
  depend on weather and climate
 Strategic decisions
     ♦   designs of irrigation and drainage schemes,
     ♦   decisions on land-use and farming patterns,
     ♦   selections of crops and animals,
     ♦   selections of varieties and breeds, and
     ♦   selections of farm machinery
 Tactical farm decisions

Applications of agrometeorological services

 Regional level accurate forecasts and advisories for the
  farming community
 Management and modification of microclimate
 Weather based pesticides/insecticides applications
 Planning, scheduling and guiding irrigation and drainage
 Workday probabilities (soil cultivation and fishing)
 Crop weather modeling (crop growth simulation models)
 Communication of information in a format/language
  understandable to users
 Use of remote sensing, GIS and internet for effective and
  quicker dissemination

Crop simulation models
Crop simulation models are computer programs that mimic the growth and development of crops.

                                      Weather                          Can be used
                                                                        to perform
                                                                          what if
                                               Crop                    experiments
                                               Management

                                                 Cultivar
                                                 Character          Crop yield
                                                                    maturity date
                                                                    efficiency of fertilizer
                                           Soil properties
                                                                    application

The calculations are based on existing knowledge of the physics, physiology and ecology of crop
                                 responses to the environment.

Microclimate modification

Process involved in preparation of AAS
Weather condition                    Satellite observation        Data decoding

                                     Dissemination of AAS

  Weather based                AAS
agricultural practices

                                     AIR/ TV/ Newspaper
                                       E-mail/ phone         Data transformation

Essentials for preparation AAS
•   Real time information on the crops
•   Identification of weather sensitive farm operation
•   Accurate weather forecast
•   Reliable source of information
•   Preparation of crop weather calendar
•   Language
•   Materials
•   Quick dissemination
•   Community activities
•   Government interventions

Benefits of AAS
•   Field Preparation
•   Date of showing
•   Seedling emergence
•   Fertilizer application
•   Irrigation
•   Pest & disease outbreak
•   Harvesting operations

Format
•   Past weather summary
•   Crop phenology
•   Forecast (summary and table)
•   Agro-advisory

Case Study
         Past weather (one week)
         Cloud cover               : Partly cloudy
         Rainfall                  : 0 mm
         Maximum temperature       : 34.0° to 37.5°C
         Minimum temperature       : 23.6°C to 25.6°C
         Morning RH                : 85 to 94 %

         Weather forecast

Day      Rainfall   Cloud      Wind       Wind     Maximum       Minimum
          (mm)      cover    direction    speed   Temperature   Temperature
                    (Okta)               (KMPH)      (°C)          (°C)
 1          5         5        230         6            33          21
 2         10         6        230         4            34          22
 3         10         5        230         6            35          21
 4         10         6        230         4            35          22
 5          5         5        230         6            34          23

     July second week

Questions ?

              Answers !

                          THANKS