Weather variability impacts all of the ecological processes underlying the EBIPM model. Hardegree et al. (2011) reviewed the impacts of weather, climate and microclimatic variability on rangeland restoration success and Hardegree et al. (2012) suggested some strategies and approaches for using weather and climate information in rangeland restoration planning. EBIPM uses an adaptive management strategy for restoration planning in our highly variable rangeland systems (Reever-Morghan et al. 2006; Sheley et al. 2009).

Use of weather and climate data for adaptive management was the subject of a presentation at an EBIPM symposium "Science You Can Use" at the 2012 Society for Range Management Meeting. "Weather data, site variability and probabilities of success: a practical perspective on adaptive management" outlined some specific strategies for using weather information in the EBIPM planning process and this web site was developed to facilitate weather data access and interpretation. This information is also outlined in one of our latest EBIPM guidelines, Using Weather Data to Improve Decision-making for Rangeland Restoration Efforts. This guideline is available for download as a pdf or contact us and we can send you a free copy in the mail.

This page will continue to develop and expand as we develop new tools, databases and guidance for adaptive management planning.

Core Weather Data Access

Weather information in the western United States is collected and distributed by a large number of agencies and organizations. Fortunately, most of these providers now have web-based data access.

• NOAA weather data are available through the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC; http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/ncdc.html).
• There are a number of regional, application-specific, weather networks in many states, such as the Pacific Northwest Cooperative Agricultural Weather Network (AgriMet; http://www.usbr.gov/pn/agrimet/) operated by the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Washington State Agricultural Weather Network (AgWeatherNet; http://weather.wsu.edu/).
• The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) deploys a large number of Remote Automatic Weather Stations (RAWS; http://raws.fam.nwcg.gov/) throughout the western US, primarily to monitor fire danger. RAWS stations are generally deployed in relatively remote locations in comparison to other weather networks.
• The Natural Resources Conservation Service operates the Snow Telemetry (SNOTEL; http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/snow/) and Soil Climate Analysis Networks (SCAN; http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/scan/).
• Several organizations provide consolidation of weather-information sources and climatological products that may also be useful in planning such as the NRCS National Water and Climate Center (http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/), Western Regional Climate Center (http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/) and the World Meteorological Organization (www.wmo.int/pages/members/members_en.html).
• Multiple sources are now available for interpolated and modeled historical weather data at monthly (PRISM, http://www.prism.oregonstate.edu/), and daily (Abatzoglou 2011) time-steps. Spatial weather data from the Daymet (http://daymet.ornl.gov/) program accounts for the complex topography typical of rangelands in the western United States (Thornton and Running 1997). These gridded data products are especially useful in areas that do not have local weather data.

• Consolidated data access for weather networks in the western US.
• Location-specific lookup table for gridded weather data products.
• Data manipulation and visualization tools for site-specific management planning.
• EBIPM guide for use of weather and climate data in adaptive management planning.
• Educational modules for EBIPM weather and climate applications.

Abatzoglou, J.T.  2011.  Development of gridded surface meteorological data for ecological applications and modelling.  International Journal of Climatology DOI: 10.1002/joc.3413.  pp. 1-11.

Hardegree, S.P. and S.S. Van Vactor.  2004.  Microclimatic constraints and revegetation planning in a variable environment.  Weed Technology 18:1213-1215. pdf.

Hardegree, S.P., T.A. Jones, B.A. Roundy, N.L. Shaw and T.A. Monaco.  2011.  Assessment of range planting as a conservation practice.  Chapter 4, In. D.D. Briske (ed.).  Conservation Benefits of Rangeland Practices: Assessment, Recommendations, and Knowledge Gaps.  Allen Press, Lawrence KS.  pp 171-212. pdf.
Appendix 1 (pdf)
Appendix 2 (pdf)

Hardegree, S.P., J. Cho and J.M. Schneider.  2012.  Weather variability, ecological processes, and optimization of soil micro-environment for rangeland restoration.  In: T.A. Monaco and R.L. Sheley (Eds.).  Invasive Plant Ecology and Management: Linking Processes to Practice.  CAB International, Wallingford, Oxon. pp. 107-121. pdf.

Hardegree, S.P., J.M. Schneider and C.A. Moffet.  2012.  Weather data, site variability and establishment success: a practical perspective on adaptive management.  (Draft Manuscript).

Reever-Morghan, K.J., R.L. Sheley, and T.J. Svejcar.  2006.  Successful adaptive management - the integration of research and management.  Rangeland Ecology and Management 59:216-219. pdf.

Sheley, R., B. Smith, K. Reever-Morghan and T. Svejcar.  2009.  Adaptive management for invasive annual grasses.  A step-by-step User's Guide.  USDA Agricultural Research Service.  32 p. pdf.

Thornton, P.E., and S.W. Running.  1997.  Generating surfaces of daily meteorological variables over large regions of complex terrain.  Journal of Hydrology 190: 214-251