Programming instructions

Designer’s Guide 41
Calsense
evapotranspiration rate aids in the development of an irrigation schedule that provides sufficient water
for the crops without overwatering. The weather station also provides daily rain totals, which are
measured using a Tipping Rain Bucket.
The weather information is retrieved from the weather station using a data logger software package
provided by Campbell Scientific. Currently, two such applications are available - LoggerNet and Visual
Weather. Both are compatible with the Calsense Command Center Central Water Management Software
and collect data from the ET107 on a predetermined schedule. Beyond data collection, Visual Weather
also offers the ability to view and print reports and export ETo and rain data in various formats.
Command Center does not directly interact with the Weather Station. Instead, when the data logger
software starts, Command Center establishes a connection to the data logger software. As weather is
received by the data logger, it is sent to Command Center, which stores the information in the database.
When the scheduled weather-sharing task occurs, this information is retrieved from the database and
daily ETo and rain data is sent to each of the controllers in the weather-sharing task.
For more information about Campbell Scientific and its products, visit the Campbell Scientific website at
http://www.campbellsci.com
.
WEATHERSENSE
WEATHERSENSE is a free feature available in both the Calsense Command Center Central Water
Management Software and Command Center for the Web, which retrieves real-time evapotranspiration
(ET) data without the need for an on-site ET Gage or weather station (Figure 19
). This information can be
shared to controllers in the field the same way that traditional weather sharing works.
Figure 19 - WEATHERSENSE Overview
WEATHERSENSE gathers ET data from multiple weather sources. Calsense uses this data to provide
local weather information to nearly any customer in the United States. When weather sharing occurs,
Command Center accesses the WEATHERSENSE server and retrieves ET for the last 24 hours from the
controller’s location. This ET value is then shared to each of the controllers in the weather-sharing task.
Note: Rain information is not available using WEATHERSENSE. If a site relies heavily upon rain to limit
water usage, consider using a Tipping Rain Bucket attached to an ET2000e controller with the -RB option.
Calsense
irrigation
controller
Internet
Calsense WeatherSense
Server
ET
Data
Legend
ET request to WeatherSense as
part of weather sharing task
Response from WeatherSense
with ET for customer or
controller location
Computer with
Calsense Command Center