Standard Quality Controlled Research Weather Data – USDA-ARS, Bushland, Texas

Metadata Updated: April 21, 2025

[ NOTE – 2022/05/06: this dataset supersedes the earlier versions https://doi.org/10.15482/USDA.ADC/1482548 and https://doi.org/10.15482/USDA.ADC/1526329 ]. This dataset contains 15-minute mean weather data from the USDA-ARS Conservation and Production Laboratory (CPRL), Soil and Water Management Research Unit (SWMRU) research weather station, Bushland, Texas (Lat. 35.186714°, Long. -102.094189°, elevation 1170 m above MSL) for all days in each year. The data are from sensors placed at 2-m height over a level, grass surface mowed to not exceed 12 cm height and irrigated and fertilized to maintain reference conditions as promulgated by Allen et al. (2005, 1998). Irrigation was by surface flood in 1989 through 1994, and by subsurface drip irrigation after 1994. Sensors were replicated and intercompared between replicates and with data from nearby weather stations, which were sometimes used for gap filling. Quality control and assurance methods are described by Evett et al. (2018). Data from a duplicate sensor were used to fill gaps in data from the primary sensor using appropriate regression relationships. Gap filling was also accomplished using sensors deployed at one of the four large weighing lysimeters immediately west of the weather station, or using sensors at other nearby stations when reliable regression relationships could be developed. The primary paper describes details of the sensors used and methods of testing, calibration, inter-comparison, and use. The weather data include air temperature (C) and relative humidity (%), wind speed (m/s), solar irradiance (W m-2), barometric pressure (kPa), and precipitation (rain and snow in mm). Because the large (3 m by 3 m surface area) weighing lysimeters are better rain gages than are tipping bucket gages, the 15-minute precipitation data are derived for each lysimeter from changes in lysimeter mass. The land slope is <0.3% and flat. The mean annual precipitation is ~470 mm, the 20-year pan evaporation record indicates ~2,600 mm Class A pan evaporation per year, and winds are typically from the South and Southwest. The climate is semi-arid with ~70% (350 mm) of the annual precipitation occurring from May to September, during which period the pan evaporation averages ~1520 mm. These datasets originate from research aimed at determining crop water use (ET), crop coefficients for use in ET-based irrigation scheduling based on a reference ET, crop growth, yield, harvest index, and crop water productivity as affected by irrigation method, timing, amount (full or some degree of deficit), agronomic practices, cultivar, and weather. The data have utility for testing simulation models of crop ET, growth, and yield and have been used by the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP), by OPENET, and by many others for testing, and calibrating models of ET that use satellite and/or weather data. See the README for details of each data resource.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: Creative Commons CCZero

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Dates

Metadata Created Date	March 30, 2024
Metadata Updated Date	April 21, 2025
Data Update Frequency	irregular

Metadata Source

Data.json Data.json Metadata
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Harvested from USDA JSON

Additional Metadata

Resource Type	Dataset
Metadata Created Date	March 30, 2024
Metadata Updated Date	April 21, 2025
Publisher	Agricultural Research Service
Maintainer	Evett, Steven R.
Identifier	10.15482/USDA.ADC/1526433
Data Last Modified	2024-03-01
Public Access Level	public
Data Update Frequency	irregular
Bureau Code	005:18
Metadata Context	https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Schema Version	https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby	https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id	5504b81a-3c5a-4fc5-83e2-11ed3c9ba583
Harvest Source Id	d3fafa34-0cb9-48f1-ab1d-5b5fdc783806
Harvest Source Title	USDA JSON
License	https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
Old Spatial	{"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -102.09906463948, 35.191719970106, -102.07671433134, 35.19121493622, -102.07678299485, 35.1865853205, -102.07609634934, 35.177044674547, -102.09913330298, 35.177072738625, -102.09906463948, 35.191719970106}
Program Code	005:040
Source Datajson Identifier	True
Source Hash	bb04725965c409d809145525bc7f37485f6d8cc4e3681bda710728604e2007b1
Source Schema Version	1.1
Spatial	{"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -102.09906463948, 35.191719970106, -102.07671433134, 35.19121493622, -102.07678299485, 35.1865853205, -102.07609634934, 35.177044674547, -102.09913330298, 35.177072738625, -102.09906463948, 35.191719970106}
Temporal	1987-01-01/1987-01-01

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