The Georgia Automated Environmental Monitoring Network: Ten Years of Weather Information for Water Resources Management

With the continuing drought that started in 1998, access to accurate rainfall information for remote locations in Georgia remains very important. One of the main goals of the Automated Environmental Monitoring Network (AMEN) is the collection of weather data across the state of Georgia. The AEMN was established in 1991 with the installation of four automated weather stations in Griffin, Tifton, Watkinsville and Midville. A major milestone was reached at the end of 2001 with the completion of 10 years of continuous records for these first stations. A second milestone was reached in September 2002 with the installation of the 50th weather station in Homerville in south Georgia. The weather data are disseminated in near real-time mode via the world wide web (www.Georgiaweather.net). The main goal of this paper is to present an overview of the network and examples of the application of this information for water resources management.