Draft mission statement posted 2/15/99

Please send comments to Jay Grymes.

Mission
The Louisiana Agriclimatic Information System (LAIS) collects, processes and distributes detailed climatic data relevant to agricultural production, natural resource management, environmental protection and public safety.

Description
The LAIS is a network of electronic weather stations located primarily at farms of the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station, the research arm of the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center. These automated stations collect air temperature, soil temperature, humidity, rainfall, wind and solar radiation observations. These data are regularly transmitted to a centralized computer and are subsequently made available, via the internet, to the public.

Future plans
Future plans for progress include:

• provision for real-time access to LAIS data,

• progress in quality control,

• improvement of access to historical LAIS data,

• generation of value-added products, available on the internet, from LAIS observations,

• replacement and upgrade of dataloggers and instrumentation to enhance temporal detail and improve data quality,

• addition of new stations to enhance spatial coverage,

• integration of LAIS data with other weather data from Louisiana and nearby states,

• involvement of state agencies in the use and promotion of LAIS data, and,

• enhancement of point-specific LAIS data with remotely-sensed data.