Using the HydraProbe Soil Sensor for Determination of Flood Risk in the New York State Mesonet

In January 2014, the Department of Homeland Security established the New York State Early Warning Weather Detection System. The centerpiece of the system is the New York State Mesonet, a network of 125 weather stations across the state, with at least one site in every county. Each site measures temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, pressure, radiation, and soil information (provided by the HydraProbe). Special subsets of 17 sites provide additional atmospheric vertical data (up to 2 miles above ground), flux data (the amount of heat and moisture exchange near the ground) and snow depth data. Sampling is done every 3 to 30 seconds, and data are then packaged into 5 minute averages, and then transmitted in real-time to a central facility located at the University at Albany (UA). At UA, data from all sites are quality-controlled, and then processed into files which are then disseminated to customers for use in feeding weather prediction models and decision-support tools for users across the greater New York region.