Data from: Spatiotemporal analysis of meteorological factors on dairy manure temperature during storage in an earthen pit, located in Franklin County, Virginia, U.S.A.

This study was conducted at a full-scale liquid manure storage pit located on a dairy farm in Franklin County, Virginia, USA. The farm milks approximately 90 cows housed in a compost-bedded pack barn. Manure from the barn alleys is scraped twice daily and deposited into an oval-shaped clay-lined earthen storage pit. The pit surface dimensions are approximately 60 m by 27 m and an average depth of 3.8 m.The study commenced on February 18, 2019, when the pit was approximately 30-40% full, and continued through seven consecutive storage periods (I to VII) over a three-year period, ending on March 31, 2022.Manure temperatures were measured using HOBO TMCx-HD sensors connected to HOBO UX120-006M 4-channel data loggers (Onset Computer Corp., Bourne, MA, USA). The data for this study were from sensors deployed at four fixed vertical heights, measured from the bottom of the pit, at 0.45 m, 0.90 m, 1.68 m, and 2.44 m. The sensors were mounted on sturdy poles installed in the manure pit, with one positioned near the inlet where the manure enters, another at the mid-section, and a third near the outlet. These sensors were submerged as the pit filled with manure, starting with 045 and continuing to the top layer at 244. The readings of a temperature sensor were only considered valid once it was completely submerged in manure. The reported temperature at any depth is an average of three readings from the sensors' locations described above.Meteorological parameters were recorded by an on-site weather station (DYACON® MS-130, DYACON Inc., Logan, UT, USA) installed on the berm of the manure storage pit. The sensors for measuring AAT, wind speed (WS), wind direction (WD), relative humidity (RH), and solar radiation (SR) were mounted approximately 3 meters above the ground. The rain gauge was installed about 1 meter above ground level. Both manure temperatures and meteorological data were recorded continuously at 30-minute intervals throughout the study.