ET network for High Plains improved
New improvements to the Texas High Plains Evapotranspiration Network (TXHPET) that provides daily weather data, including evapotranspiration-based crop water use, should make it easier for High Plains farmers and others to use the network to schedule irrigation of their crops and conserve the limited supplies of water.
The improvements, developed by Thomas Marek, research agricultural engineer at the Texas A&M University System Agricultural Research and Extension Center – Amarillo; Dr. Dana Porter, Extension Agricultural Engineer, the Texas A&M University System Agricultural Research and Extension Center – Lubbock; and Terry Howell, research leader, U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service, Bushland; include a new database system, listserv and more user-friendly Web site.
The new Web site for the TXHPET is http://txhighplainset.tamu.edu and provides convenient access to data sets, background information of data applications, networks structure, as well as other information and tools, representing significant improvements.
The new TXHPET network listserv allows users to select individual or multiple station files regarding crop water use and meteorological data. The selection profile for users is then used to automatically e-mail the selected files daily to the irrigators. Currently the sign-up site is located at http://amarillo2.tamu.edu/nppet/listserv.
The TXHPET is comprised of the North Plains ET and South Plains ET networks containing 18 weather stations in 15 Texas counties. These networks were established in the 1990s to provide convenient and timely access to agriculturally based weather data for use by producers, agricultural researchers, and others interested in agriculturally relevant meteorological data.
This precision information helps farmers know when and how much irrigation water to apply to their various crops which, in turn, results in better water management and water savings for the future.
The TXHPET network covers approximately four million acres on the Texas High Plains and currently disseminates more than 800 pages of irrigation information daily to producers through delivery of more than 400 faxes each morning and 400 web-based downloads a day.
The TXHPET Network is the product of excellent collaboration between engineers and scientists of the North Plains ET (NPET) Network, based at Amarillo, and the South Plains ET (SPET) Network, based at Lubbock. The network depends upon agricultural research and Extension personnel to provide the best estimates of water use for reference and crops grown within the region.
