Three Rains in May... or How to Collect Weather Data

Weather monitoring is an important task for agricultural business owners, since weather conditions and the accuracy of their forecasting play a key role in agriculture. Due to climate change, farmers are forced to look for and implement new effective practices in their work. They use innovative technologies such as GPS monitoring of equipment, online control of completed work, satellite images that determine the NDVI index, agro-scouting, data from weather stations, which, if used correctly, make it possible to preserve and increase future harvests.

Considering the importance of weather forecasting in agriculture, farmers strive to receive the most reliable information. Open sources do not always provide accurate data, which can have an extremely negative impact on crop growth, especially in conditions of unexpected weather changes. The Soft.Farm team offers users of the web service improved functionality, as it understands the need to use forecasts compiled for specific areas based on highly accurate data. This functionality is aimed at the automated collection of weather information and serves to interact with specialized weather stations that help determine the parameters of the microclimate of fields for the correct and timely organization of work. Reliable data allows you to minimize or avoid crop losses due to adverse weather conditions, thereby increasing the economic and social efficiency of agriculture.

Modern agrometeorological stations are completely autonomous. They are placed directly in the fields. All information collected over a certain period is processed, summarized and graphically visualized by the data recording device. After integrating the station with the Soft.Farm web service, farmers can access the necessary information at any time on detailed pages of geozones and perform the necessary analysis. Based on the received meteorological data, it is possible to adjust the time of watering, pest control, and fertilization, which will help optimize the sowing campaign. Thanks to the user-friendly interface of Soft.Farm, users have constant access to the system functions that make the work of the entire enterprise more productive.

The web service combines information from weather stations of different manufacturers in one interface. The system integrates services of such reliable providers as MeteoTrek, Metos, Davis and It-Lynx, which use modern equipment and software. When conducting professional monitoring using weather stations connected to Soft.Farm, all data is stored in the SF Cloud cloud storage. They are available in the form of graphs, tables and reports at any time from anywhere in the world. Collecting microclimate information provides detailed information about weather conditions in a specific area of ​​the field. Location sensors use a GPS signal to determine the latitude, longitude and height of any object in the field. Optical sensors installed on satellites or drones measure soil properties based on light characteristics, assessing the content of clay, organic matter and moisture. Electrochemical sensors detect specific ions in the soil, providing farmers with data on pH and nutrient levels. The system’s automatic generation of a wind rose for each field over a long period, as well as establishing wind speed and direction at a certain time, is important for assessing pollination conditions and planning the application of pesticides and fertilizers. Measuring light and ultraviolet radiation levels helps to understand whether plants are receiving enough light for effective photosynthesis.

The meteorological functions available in the Soft.Farm system allow users to plan agricultural work based on 14-day weather forecasts, as well as determine general climate change trends based on historical data accumulated using a weather log or obtained from public stations.

It is impossible to influence the weather, but reliable meteorological data will allow you to quickly make the necessary and timely production decisions today.