A listener asked “What is a mesonet”? In meteorology, and climatology, a mesonet is a network of weather stations designed to measure mesoscale weather events. The term comes from the combination of “meso” for medium and “net” for network. A mesonet measures events between the synoptic (large scale) and microclimate (fine scale) events. Mesonet stations are more closely spaced that synoptic weather stations but not as closely as a micro net. They also report on a more frequent basis than synoptic systems. For example, the National Weather Service’s Automated Surface Observation System (ASOS) reports on an hourly basis. Their Cooperative Observer network reports on a daily basis. The Kansas Mesonet, mesonet.ksu.edu, reports every 5 minutes.
Mary Knapp, Weather Data Library
mknapp@ksu.edu