Degree days have been featured on the Kansas Mesonet page since the beginning. However, the reports were limited to the growing season (April-October) and to corn and sorghum. The new Degree Days page is designed to provide greater flexibility for our users, including options to select the time period and more built-in calculations. Because of the flexibility, it is somewhat more complicated than the old version. Here’s a run-down of the new features.
Inputs
- Station selection: Instead of the old “select by region” scheme, stations can now be selected by name from the selection menu. On desktop computers, a map is also displayed and can be used to select stations. From this menu, the option is also available to select multiple stations. On desktop computers, use ctrl-click to highlight the stations wanted.
- Calculation selection: We have expanded the list of possible degree days or growing degree units users can calculate. If none of these quite fit your need, you can select “Custom” to enter your own parameters for the equation (more on that later). We are accepting additional equations/considerations to add to this menu.
- Beginning/Ending dates: Producers can now enter the exact day of interest as the beginning date. The end date defaults to the current date. Dates from previous years can also be selected.
- Submit Button: click to request data for the given time period.
The Custom equation allows the user to enter a formula based on their specific needs:
- Equation: View the equation used to calculate the degree days. If using the “Custom” Calculation option the equation will additionally allow you to set the base, maximum, and minimum temperatures. Click “Apply” to view the results in the table. The “References” section at the bottom of the page provides the publications from which the equations are drawn.
Outputs
- Table: As before, the table displays the actual degree units, the normal degree units and the departure from normal, but adds some new features:
- Sorting data: When pulling data for several stations, clicking on the Actual/Normal/Departure headers will sort records according to the header.
- Missing data: An asterisk (*) beside a station name indicates that the station had an incomplete data set for the requested time period. Hovering the mouse over the station name will display how many records are missing. To examine the data more closely, see “CSV” below.
- Graph: Day-by-day data can be graphed for each station as well, by clicking the “Graph” button. The graph is fully interactive and can be saved or printed (see menu in upper right corner of graph). Clicking and dragging across the graph allows the user to zoom in on a time period.
- CSV Data: All data is available for download in Comma Separated Value (CSV) format. The CSV data section gives users the option of downloading the Summary Data (shown in the table) or the Full Data Set (including normal and max/min temperatures for each day). Clicking “Display” will show the data in a new browser window. Clicking “Download” will download the CSV file.
- References: Shows a list of publications from which the equations are drawn.
If you have questions about the product, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Mary Knapp, Weather Data Library
mknapp@ksu.edu
Christopher Redmond, Kansas Mesonet
christopherredmond@ksu.edu
Dan Regier, Kansas Mesonet
regierdp@ksu.edu
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