The mesonet station located at Southeast Purdue Agricultural Center in Jennings County. A similar mesonet station is going to be installed on Endress+Hauser property in Greenwood, helping provide real-time weather and soil data to the Indiana State Climate Office while also serving as an educational tool for local students to learn STEM. SUBMITTED PHOTO
Indiana, severe weather sweeping through is inescapable.
Flood-causing rains, dangerous winds, tornadoes and more impact nearly aspect of life in the state, including in Johnson County. Local residents rely on accurate, timely forecasts to stay safe, plan public events, set timetables for farming and many other facets.
But without a statewide network providing data on a range of weather conditions, forecasters are challenged to make those vital predictions.
The Indiana Mesonet aims to change that. And Johnson County is going to be part of it.
With a $26,000 grant from the Johnson County Community Foundation, a specialized station will be installed at Endress+Hauser’s facility in Greenwood designed to gather weather and soil information on a constant basis, providing more accurate information for meteorologists and improving public safety.
The station will enable more accurate and more timely information critical to public safety, forecasting, utility management and pinpoint agricultural advice, among other uses.
“The idea is that, if we grow it to make it more spatially dense — having more stations in more places closer together — it improves not only accuracy but timeliness,” said Don Cummings, a Greenwood resident and member of the Indiana Mesonet advisory body. “The timeliness of now is about emergency management. The timeliness of the next few days is about weather forecast. And then the archiving of data makes it possible for people to do research.”
While the improvement to weather forecasting is the core objective of the station, area students will also be able to learn valuable STEM skills by analyzing the collected data at Endress+Hauser’s Design & Innovation Studio.
“We can develop, and have started developing, activities and curriculum that can teach students all the way from kindergarten to high school the skills needed for future careers,” said Andrew Castner, workplace development partner at Endress+Hauser. “All of that can come from some of these metrics, as we’re able to watch live, and the students can watch live, as this station tracks things in real time.”
The project is the result of a partnership between Endress+Hauser, the Indiana State Climate Office and others. Discussions for joining the Indiana Mesonet have been ongoing for the past few years.
What is Indiana Mesonet
The Indiana Mesonet is an environmental monitoring network infrastructure providing high-quality, frequent weather, water, and soil observations across the state of Indiana. Two separate networks, who until 2024 had worked independently, make up the network: the Purdue Mesonet, operated by the Indiana State Climate Office, and the Indiana Water Balance Network, managed by the Indiana Geological and Water Survey.
To create the mesonet, organizers have installed several high-resolution weather monitoring stations with high-quality instruments that are being managed through a designated, skilled center. They collect a variety of data for forecasters in real-time, including air and soil temperatures, solar radiation, relative humidity, precipitation, wind speed and wind direction.
As opposed to the network of “backyard” weather stations set up by private residents and used by meteorologists to make forecasts, the mesonet stations are regularly maintained and inspected to ensure accuracy.
“They’re known to be reliable. At this point, it’s quarterly when technicians come out, recalibrate and replace anything that’s not up to standards,” Cummings said. “Anybody who uses the data knows that anything from these stations is reliable.”
The benefits of a mesonet are numerous, even beyond predicting weather hazards: providing information to foster economic growth; optimizing the time farmers apply pesticides and schedule irrigation; enhance water supply monitoring; and help public health by facilitating protection from heat illness and assisting in food and water security decisions.
But in order for the mesonet to meet its potential, a broad network of stations needs to be set up. Surrounding counties, such as Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio, are ahead of Indiana in building out a spatially dense measurement/monitoring network for weather and water data, Cummings said.
So Indiana Mesonet officials have set a goal of installing a station is all 92 Indiana counties. Currently, about 30 such stations are set up across the state.
A local station
The idea to set up a station in Johnson County came about after Cummings read a Daily Journal story from Aug. 21, 2023, which stated the Indiana State Climate Office was hoping to create a mesonet advisory body and that there was a need for a station in Johnson County. With his long career in sensing technology, his interest in meteorology and his connections, he felt he’d be a good fit and volunteered to be on the board.
Cummings started laying the groundwork to bring a station to Johnson County. He was having lunch with a former colleague at Endress+Hauser, Brandyn Ferguson, who is the vice president of human resources at the company. Discussion turned to the Indiana Mesonet, and Ferguson suggested putting it on a piece of property Endress+Hauser had.
They worked with Nicole Otte, director of workplace development, and Jerry Spindler, who was the workplace development partner until retiring in April, to get it in place.
“Endress+Hauser happened to be in the middle of a building project here, and that new building came with some extra land we had purchased,” said Castner, who took over for Spindler. “That provided a perfect spot; they need undisturbed soil that hasn’t been turned up by anything else, so that land at Worthsville (Road) and U.S. 31 provides that footprint that we’re going to donate.”
Beyond the value of the weather data for public safety, the collection of the information provides for a perfect opportunity for education of Johnson County students.
Endress+Hauser has had its Design & Innovation Studio for the past three years, partnering with the Purdue Indiana Next Generation Manufacturing Competitiveness Center to make it a reality in 2022. Inside it, students can using 3D printers, robotics, Sphero BOLTS, engineering and sciences modules, and coding activities to gain insight into various STEM areas.
The mesonet station adds to the types of learning kids can engage in, Castner said.
Early knowledge of the technology behind weather monitoring and predicting also could foster interest in careers in data analysis, network engineering, sensor tech support, and potential AI developments for public safety. Weather is already a part of the state science curriculum in kindergarten and third, fifth, seventh and eighth grades, which the meseonet station could be an asset to.
Community investment
The educational appeal of the station stood out to the Johnson County Community Foundation.
“By locating this station at the Purdue-sanctioned Innovation Center at Endress+Hauser in Greenwood, we’re reinforcing hands-on, STEM-based learning for K–12 students. With thousands already participating in programming at the Innovation Center, this new resource will enrich the curriculum and inspire students to explore future careers in science, engineering, and climate research,” said Kim Kasting, president and CEO of JCCF.
In May, the JCCF announced that the Indiana State Climate Office had received the $26,000 grant to help install a mesonet station in Greenwood.
“This investment not only enhances access to hyper-local, real-time data on weather, water and soil conditions for everyone — from farmers to emergency services — but also plays a critical role in preparing the next generation of STEM leaders,” Kasting said. “We recognized this as a valuable program operating outside of traditional state funding, and saw a great opportunity to step in as a partner. By helping bring this station to life, we’re strengthening community and expanding educational opportunities in meaningful ways.”
Local government officials are also seeing the value in adding the station. When members of the Indiana Mesonet advisory body met with Mike Campbell, a member of Greenwood city council, he was an enthusiastic supporter. Campbell spoke with Mayor Mark Myers about supporting the cause, and in 2024, the city council approved $1,500 to go towards the maintenance of the station, including quarterly repairs, replacements and recalibrations.
Other communities have expressed interest in supporting the station as well, Castner said.
“We hope that collaboration between corporate, local government and two universities will be a model for what can be done, not only in counties here in Indiana but in other states. All of that collaboration could have a great public benefit,” he said.
With annual maintenance costs of $5,000 per year, the challenge moving forward will be securing the proper funding moving forward, Cummings said.
Still, reaching the point where a mesonet station could be installed is a major victory.
“Getting one in Johnson County doesn’t fix the whole state’s problem, but it is a step. It helps us being an active partner in getting that done,” Cummings said. “It’s going to help students and teachers right away, it’s going to be sending data to the state and National Weather Service … and usually some success breeds success.”
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