By Tracy Turner
When the weather turns, farmers aren’t the only ones who need to know what’s happening on the ground.
In some of Ohio’s most rural counties — especially across the northwest, northeast and southeast — radar and satellite tools often scan too high or too far to detect what matters most: soil moisture at the root zone, wind gusts at field level or storms forming just above the tree line.
These regions also tend to have the weakest radar coverage, leaving dangerous gaps in the state’s ability to monitor flash flooding, damaging winds and fast-developing severe storms. Without localized data, farmers and emergency managers are forced to make critical decisions with limited information — putting crop yields and public safety at risk.
A new statewide network led by the State Climate Office of Ohio and The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) aims to close those gaps.
Source : osu.edu