In situ observations of the Italian National Agrometeorological Network (RAN) from 2023 onward

Abstract The Italian National Agrometeorological Network (RAN) is part of the Agro-meteorological Data Portal, which is managed by the Observatory for Agro-Meteorology and Climatology of the Research Centre for Agriculture and Environment (CREA-AA), within the Council for Agricultural Research and Economics (CREA). It provides free access to data with the aim of supporting agrometeorological services at national level. Furthermore, RAN supports the institutional functions of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forests (MASAF) and constitutes a key infrastructure for the scientific and technical community. This allows for the improvement and refinement of agro-meteorological and climatological analyses in Italy, particularly in the context of climate change monitoring and the assessment of extreme events. Moreover, RAN will become part of AZINET, the digital platform that connects and enhances the national network of CREA’s experimental agricultural farms. The network will consist of approximately 120 agrometeorological stations distributed across the Italian territory. The development of RAN is supported by national investments promoted by MASAF and the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security (MASE) within the framework of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR). Currently, approximately thirty stations have been set up. The RAN is the only national agrometeorological network that provides a comprehensive and spatially consistent representation of the main agrometeorological processes influencing agricultural regions across the country. RAN is integrated into a cloud-based operational platform developed for the visualization, management and dissemination of agrometeorological observations and station metadata https://agrometeorological.crea.gov.it/RAN.html. The platform allows users to visualize the geographical distribution and operational status of the stations through interactive maps and metadata panels. The current operational platform differentiates between stations that are active and those that are awaiting activation. The World Meteorological Organization's (WMO) standards for station siting, instrumentation, and observational techniques were followed in the creation of RAN. Attached content The attached documentation includes the following files: Section Description RAN technical documentation Documentation describing the Italian National Agrometeorological Network (RAN), including the network overview. Github repository Jupyter notebook demonstrating access to the RAN dataset, including data download, metadata exploration, dataset structure, basic statistics and example analysis workflows. RAN station information for CREA sites Documentation containing the list of RAN stations managed by CREA, including station names, the corresponding CREA Research Centre and related web links, the associated experimental farm, NUTS codes identifying the administrative and statistical regions where the stations are located and geographical location. Aggregation methods for RAN data Documentation describing the available parameters and aggregation methods. RAN sensor information Documentation describing the sensors deployed within the RAN network, including sensor types, measured variables, technical specifications, measurement units, sampling intervals, installation characteristics, and associated metadata.