The Florida Automated Weather Network (FAWN) is composed of 16 automated weather stations located at UF/IFAS Research and Education Centers and Extension Service Sites in Central and South Florida. Its mission is "to provide accurate and timely weather data to a wide variety of users." Because of the importance of weather in agriculture, every effort is made to have data collected and reported every 15 minutes.

Each Fawn Site collects the temperature at 2, 6 and 30 feet, a soil temperature at 4 inches, wind speed and direction at 30 feet, relative humidity, rainfall, barometric pressure and radiation. Leaf wetness will be added soon. The information is transmitted to Gainesville where it is then distributed through the Internet (web site http://fawn.ifas.ufl.edu) and by way of a dial-up voice data system.

Weather information is essential for agriculture and natural resource management. Although the initial motivation for the development of FAWN was a real-time data collection and delivery system for agriculture, interest and requests for the data have come from a wide variety of users. Water management districts, emergency service agencies, National Weather Service, private forecasters, and private industry such as construction, service, manufacturing, etc. are interested in the data. Growers are encouraged to use FAWN and provide comments so the system can be improved. Plans call for expansion to North Florida, improving the database, linking models such as chemical movements in soils, minimum temperature predications, DISC (decision information system for citrus), and others.

If your browser supports java you can obtain graphic weather data (above) from FAWN.

FAWN and the Minor Freeze of January 6, 1999.

An impact study being circulated documents how growers using FAWN were able to utilize this timely information to delay turning on water for crop protection by 2.5 hours and were able to shut these systems down 1.5 hours earlier than in the past. The savings for this 4 hour period for citrus, strawberry and fern growers in Central Florida was calculated to be 2,777,898,000 gallons of water, which represents a savings of $1,457,882 in irrigation costs.

Special thanks need to be expressed to the Agricultural Weather Task Force for the guidance and support they provided for FAWN. The members are:

• Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association
• Florida Citrus Mutual
• Florida Dept of Agriculture
• UF/IFAS
• Florida Farm Bureau
• Florida Nurseryman and Growers Association
• Office of Senator Bob Graham

FAWN Members:

• John Jackson, multi-county citrus agent, Lake County
• Howard Beck, extension specialist, agricultural and biological engineering
• Fedro Zazueta, Information Technologies
• Thomas Hintz, Information Technologies
• Lawrence Treadaway, Information Technologies
• Chuck Woods, IFAS Communication Services
• Mike Baker, IFAS Communication Services
• Everett Emino, Assistant Research Dean
• James App, Assistant Extension Dean

This is the second Davis Productivity Award Dr. Howard Beck has been associated with. He was a member of the CD-ROM Development Group producing the FAIRS series of CD-ROMs, which received an Outstanding Award for Innovative Dissemination of Agricultural Information in 1994 . Several members of this group continue to work for the Office of Information Technologies.

Further Information:

• FAWN story from IMPACT magazine (Spring 1998)
• UF/IFAS Wins Three Davis Productivity Awards
• FAWN Wins Davis Productivity Awards
• Davis Productivity Awards Winners
• New Florida Automated Weather Network (FAWN) Goes Online