Americans use climate information to make decisions about personal activities and activities affecting the country’s economic development. Private citizens, local, state and federal agencies, collect climate data. The state climatologist is responsible for coordinating the dissemination of this information at the state level. The New Mexico state climatologist developed an Internet home page to help disseminate climate and water conservation information (http//weather.nmsu.edu).
Originally the state climatologist in each state in the United States was a federal employing working for NOAA. The State Climatology program was terminated by NOAA April 16, 1973, and NOAA Administrator Robert M. White sent a letter to all state governors asking that they establish their own state climate program. In 1978 the state of New Mexico created the state climatologist position ( Office of state climatologist created; state climatologist. 75-4-3 NMSA 1978) with the position located within the New Mexico Department of Agriculture and later transferred to New Mexico State University College of Agriculture where the New Mexico Climate was created. .
The New Mexico Climate Center not only supplies climate data but computer based tools to use the climate data for making management and engineering design decisions in the area of agriculture, hydrology, construction, health and economic development. The New Mexico Climate Center links to all available climate data in the state and maintains a automate Campbell weather station network through out the state to collect climate parameters not measured by other state and federal agencies. These addition climate parameters include solar radiation, humidity, and wind speed and direction.
Knowledge about the climate through out the state and the water use of both agriculture and native vegetation is the bases for making water conservation and management decisions. Water conservation can only occur when knowledge about the impact of different irrigation managements decisions are understood as those decision affect the hydrologic balance. Climate data is the driving variable for hydrologic and irrigation management models that are available from the New Mexico Climate Center.
Economic development occurs in those areas where climate conditions are suitable to attract both personal and minimize energy cost. Many people move to New Mexico for the ideal climate.
History of events of the State Climatologies
In 1978 the state of New Mexico created the state climatologist position ( Office of state climatologist created; state climatologist. 75-4-3 NMSA 1978) with the position located within the New Mexico Department of Agriculture. The position was authorized but not funded by the state legislature.
Dr Kunkel was hired as the state climatologist by Dr. Stevens using resources in the Department of Agriculture to fund 50% of the position. New Mexico State University funded 25% from teaching resources as Dr. Kunkel taught climatology in the geography department. A 25% research appointment in the Agriculture Experiment Station completed the appointment. Climate station equipment was installed at all agriculture research stations and other strategic locations throughout the state. Monitoring of wind speed, wind direction , temperature, solar radiation and humidity were initiated. This network represented one of the first state climate monitoring networks in the United States. In 1989 the state of New Mexico went into a financial crises and budgets were cut at New Mexico State University and the Department of Agriculture. Dr. Kunkel left to become Director of the Midwestern Regional Climate Center created by NOAA. New Mexico State Agriculture Experiment Station assigned Dr. Sammis the job as state climatologist along with the responsibility to operate the state climate network. No funding was associated with the duties of state climatologist, but the Agriculture Experiment Station did pay for student help. The students under Dr. Sammis's direction created the New Mexico State Climate Center program and developed and currently maintain a home page at http://weather.nmsu.edu/ that make available the climate data collected in the State of New Mexico.
In 1997 a memorandum of understanding between the New Mexico Department of Agriculture and the Agriculture Experiment Station, New Mexico State University was signed that officially transferred the responsibilities of the state climatologist from the Department of Agriculture to the Agriculture Experiment Station.
The state climatologist job by law is to assess the effect of climate on the natural environment, agricultural production, land and natural resources and human health; coordination climate impact studies and programs to improve understanding of climate processes, natural and man-induced, and of the social and economic implications of climate change; develop methods and procedures to enable interested state agencies and public institutions of higher education to participate in the program; disseminate climate data, information, advice and assessments to state agencies, local public bodies and the general public; establish an effective mechanism for consultation and coordination with the federal government and other states in climate related activities; and administer the state intergovernmental climate program.
All these activities are currently being done by the state climate program. The services of the state climatologist are use by a broad number of clientele including people from the area of agriculture and the life sciences, engineering, law, and economic development and tourism. The state climatology program publishes a newsletter on the impacts of climate change on New Mexico, maintains the drought plan and current drought status and actions information on the internet home page , provides design information for wastewater treatment ponds, provides air quality information and pollen count, information about air quality transport models, and provides information and irrigation management tools for irrigation scheduling that uses the climate data base. The web site and state climatology program presents information on water conservation management and hydrology information. In addition numerous other pieces of information connected with climate are answered by the state climatology program upon request by the public, state and federal agencies and researchers at the different Universities. Over 500 requests a day for climate information are answer through the web information dissemination.
As part of the state climatology program , climate data collected by other agencies in the state, including the Middle Rio Grand Irrigation district, are processed and displayed on the New Mexico Climate Center home page. Tools developed on the home page to analysis and solve problems using climate data have been developed that work with all climate data collected in the state by different organizations. The state climate program does not store all climate data due to limited financial resources but the program does point to where the data is available by the other cooperating organizations within the state.
Universities within the state conduct research on climate but do not conduct the duties of the state climatologist. The regional climate centers and the National Weather Service are the other agencies that answers state climatology type questions for the citizens of New Mexico.
Current and future funding activities need to support the state climatology program.