Cotton Farming

When a low frequency radio signal transmitted into space reflects off ionized gas from vaporizing meteor dust and then returns to a receiving station on earth, it provides a means of communication called “meteor burst.”

In October 2000, a meteor burst master station began operating at the Delta Research and Extension Center’s Weather Geographic Information System (GIS) Data Center, Stoneville, Miss. This facility is a joint project of Mississippi State University, the National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) National Water and Climate Center (NWCC), Portland, Ore., the World Agriculture Outlook Board (WAOB), Washington, D.C. and Meteor Communications, Kent, Wash.

Once installed and put into operation, meteor burst functions on its own to provide extremely reliable weather data and is not dependent upon satellites, which are both costly and prone to occasional breakdowns.

As a sort of “poor man’s satellite,” meteor burst has been used for more than a half century. Relying on “space dust,” the system is not susceptible to disturbances or unauthorized listeners and can be located anywhere without phone lines, commercial electricity or operators.

In its current configuration at Stoneville, the meteor burst system consists of the master station and seven remote stations. The master station has a 1500-watt transmitter, tower with transmitting antenna and eight receiving antennas.
The remote stations receive power from two batteries charged by solar panels and operate automatically, requiring no commercial electrical source. Except for calibration, these remote stations need no operators.

The Stoneville master station continuously transmits low frequency radio signals (carrier tones) while the remote stations remain in receiving mode. When a meteor trail comes into
range, the master station’s carrier tone reflects from it and is instantly audible to the remote stations. Immediately upon reading the carrier tone, the remote stations switch into transmission mode and “burst” a shot of data to the master station. When the meteor trail fades, the remote stations return to receiving mode until hearing another carrier tone.

“The weather parameters measured are air temperature, soil temperature, soil moisture, relative humidity, precipitation, sunlight, wind speed and wind direction,” explains Bart Freeland of the Stoneville Data Center.
The remote station data are currently transmitted and stored daily, on an hourly basis, and are available 20 minutes after each hour by logging on to Delta Center’s Weather internet site at www.deltaweather.msstate.edu. Currently, the web site is averaging more than 10,000 hits per month worldwide.

All meteor burst systems depend on meteors that are higher than 60 miles up in the sky, so the low-frequency waves used normally have a 90-mile range. If a low frequency radio signal is sent to the right spot at the right time, it can bounce as far as 1,400 miles away. Thus, the Stoneville Master station is able to access up to 5,000 data stations from the entire eastern third of the United States, the Caribbean and part of Mexico.

The Delta Weather Center’s goal is to eventually have one automated remote station in each of the 19 Delta or part-Delta counties.

Predicting Weather With 'Poor Man's Satellite'
By Jimmy Reed Senior Writer
When a low frequency radio signal transmitted into space reflects off ionized gas from vaporizing meteor dust and then returns to a receiving station on earth, it provides a means of communication called “meteor burst.” In October 2000, a meteor burst master station began operating at the Delta Research and Extension Center’s Weather Geographic Information System (GIS) Data Center, Stoneville, Miss. This facility is a joint project of Mississippi State University, the National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) National Water and Climate Center (NWCC), Portland, Ore., the World Agriculture Outlook Board (WAOB), Washington, D.C. and Meteor Communications, Kent, Wash. Once installed and put into operation, meteor burst functions on its own to provide extremely reliable weather data and is not dependent upon satellites, which are both costly and prone to occasional breakdowns. As a sort of “poor man’s satellite,” meteor burst has been used for more than a half century. Relying on “space dust,” the system is not susceptible to disturbances or unauthorized listeners and can be located anywhere without phone lines, commercial electricity or operators. In its current configuration at Stoneville, the meteor burst system consists of the master station and seven remote stations. The master station has a 1500-watt transmitter, tower with transmitting antenna and eight receiving antennas. The remote stations receive power from two batteries charged by solar panels and operate automatically, requiring no commercial electrical source. Except for calibration, these remote stations need no operators. The Stoneville master station continuously transmits low frequency radio signals (carrier tones) while the remote stations remain in receiving mode. When a meteor trail comes into range, the master station’s carrier tone reflects from it and is instantly audible to the remote stations. Immediately upon reading the carrier tone, the remote stations switch into transmission mode and “burst” a shot of data to the master station. When the meteor trail fades, the remote stations return to receiving mode until hearing another carrier tone. “The weather parameters measured are air temperature, soil temperature, soil moisture, relative humidity, precipitation, sunlight, wind speed and wind direction,” explains Bart Freeland of the Stoneville Data Center. The remote station data are currently transmitted and stored daily, on an hourly basis, and are available 20 minutes after each hour by logging on to Delta Center’s Weather internet site at www.deltaweather.msstate.edu. Currently, the web site is averaging more than 10,000 hits per month worldwide. All meteor burst systems depend on meteors that are higher than 60 miles up in the sky, so the low-frequency waves used normally have a 90-mile range. If a low frequency radio signal is sent to the right spot at the right time, it can bounce as far as 1,400 miles away. Thus, the Stoneville Master station is able to access up to 5,000 data stations from the entire eastern third of the United States, the Caribbean and part of Mexico. The Delta Weather Center’s goal is to eventually have one automated remote station in each of the 19 Delta or part-Delta counties.
Contact Jimmy Reed at (901) 767-4020 or by e-mail at jreed@vancepublishing.com
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