Utah AgriMet Network

Utah AgriMet network (UAgriMet) is a collection of 19 US Bureau of Reclamation AgriMet weather stations in Utah and near-boarder Wyoming and Idaho locations. These stations, installed in 2013 and 2014 are maintained by the Utah Climate Center. In 2012 Utah's AgWx 32 station network became part of AgriMet, which provides Utah municipalities, farmers, ranchers and others weather and evapotranspiration (ET) data. Stations have research grade sensors that measure solar radiation, wind, pressure, relative humidity, air temperature, and precipitation. For a complete list of AgriMet stations and crop water use tools visit http://www.usbr.gov/pn/agrimet/wxdata.html

Reference ET is calculated by the ASCE standardized reference ET equation (ASCE-EWRI 2005) - often referred to as the Penman-Monteith method. This method calculates an estimated reference ET for both short crops (similar to clipped grass) (ETo) and tall crops (similar to full-cover alfalfa) (ETr). The calculations are made utilizing individual site level information (latitude, longitude, and altitude) and measured variables (air temperature, humidity, wind, and solar radiation). Since actual ET (Eta) is both difficult and expensive to measure, a crop ET (ETc) can be calculated by the user as the product of ETo or ETr. Obtaining crop coefficients for specific crops and growth stages can be obtained from a variety of sources. The choice of whether to utilize ETo or ETr largely depends on the overall crop height.