A Web Application for Managing Regional Crop Production: The West Texas Mesonet Agro‐Climate Monitor Agronomy Journal

Although dependent on rainfall and other climate factors to produce crops, West Texas crop consultants, extension agents, and agricultural producers have few tools that allow them to track the current growing season’s climate conditions and deter-mine how current conditions compare with those of past years. Th e West Texas Mesonet Agro-Climate Monitor (ACM), a JavaScript web application based on daily data from Texas Tech University’s mesonet weather station network, was designed to meet this need. By displaying continuously updated informa-tion on variables such as soil temperature, cumulative growing degree days (GDD), cumulative precipitation, and fi rst freeze dates, the ACM allows producers to monitor planting condi-tions, track crop development, and compare current condi-tions with those during the previous 10 yr’s growing seasons. In illustrating how mesonet data might be used as an operational climate data resource, the ACM might also serve as a concep-tual model for other high resolution climate tools that estimate measures of current climate using continuously updated daily data sets. S.A. Mauget and G.L. Leiker, U.S. Dep. of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, USDA Plant Stress and Water Conservation Lab., Lubbock, TX 79415; J. Schroeder, B. Hirth, and W. Burgett, National Wind Institute, Texas Tech Univ., Lubbock, TX, 79409; K.B. Haynie, NOAA National Weather Service, Lubbock, TX. Received 21 July 2016. Accepted 18 Mar. 2017. *Corresponding author (Steven.Mauget@.ars.usda.gov). Abbreviations: ACM, agro-climate monitor; Ajax, Asynchronous JavaScript and XML; DTR, daily temperature range; DPCP, daily precipitation; FRHR, daily freeze hours; GUI, graphical user interface; GDD, growing degree days; HDD, heating degree days; JSON, JavaScript object notation; LDM, local data manager; QC, quality control; ST20, soil temperature at 20 cm; TMIN, daily minimum temperature; TMAX, daily maximum temperature; PSWCL, USDA Plant Stress and Water Conservation Laboratory; USHCN, U.S. Historical Climatology Network; WTM, West Texas Mesonet.Core Ideas