Specifications include, but are not limited to: Our Request for Proposal will allow us to add an additional 118 weather stations in the ZiaMet network, for a total of 215 stations throughout the state of New Mexico. This Phase II expansion is for purchasing weather station components and equipment to complete and equip three sizes of weather station towers, 10 m, 3 m and 5 ft. tripod to be equipped with components to monitor, record and transmit real‐time weather data. Our current weather monitoring network consists of 97 weather stations throughout New Mexico. All of these stations measure air temperature and precipitation every 5‐minutes. These stations also measure wind speed and direction, relative humidity, solar radiation, and soil temperature. Data from these stations are used by farmers for crop irrigation, crop planting, and determining optimal conditions for pesticide applications. Ranchers regularly use our data for estimating drought. Our data is also used for improving weather forecasts and during natural disasters such as floods, winter storms, high winds, and dust storms. This data is also key for tracking climate change across the state. Locations for the stations will be determined based on proximity to existing National Weather Service and NRCS SNOTEL stations, topography, population, and radar coverage. Some stations will be useful to transportation decision makers and will be installed near roadways.
