Weather Whys; Agriculture Meteorology

This is Weatherwise. The only contact many people have with the fields of meteorology and climatology may be in the form of the information and forecasts given out by TV, radio, and the newspapers. However, meteorology is a broad field with many different specializations and classifications, some of which are better known than others. One of the lesser known subcategories is agricultural meteorology. This is the study of how weather and climate affect agriculture, both on a daily basis and over the long term. Agro meteorologists look at how sunlight, temperature, and precipitation affect the growth and health of various plants. They also study the microclimate or the climate of the area very near a particular field. They do that to see how the plants themselves may change the environment. Agro climatology is another related specialization. Agro climatologists study the long-term weather characteristics of a region and how they might

be changing. They compute statistics on the length of the growing season and the average dates of the first and last frost, and they try to determine the climate logically optimum areas for the production of various crops. They note drought statistics for various regions and track trends in the climate that might hold keys to the future. They also study the best ways local weather conditions might be modified to protect the growing crops. One example of that modification is when citrus growers use heaters and wind machines to protect their groves from frost. Agricultural meteorology is of great practical value because it helps increase crop production and so gives consumers more for their money. Weather-wise is produced with the assistance of the Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies, the Oklahoma Climateological Survey, and the School of Meteorology, all at the University of Oklahoma. But weather-wise, I'm Drew Barlow.