Agricultural Decision Support
When agricultural fertilizers are applied just before a heavy rainfall they can wash away into local waterways, costing farmers money and causing serious water quality problems. A collaborative effort led by the NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) has produced a decision support tool to help farmers determine the best time to apply fertilizers based on weather forecasts and soil moisture conditions. CIGLR and our partners are working with NWS to improve the accuracy of the Runoff Risk Advisory Forecast and evaluate its effectiveness for improving water quality, with the goal of providing farmers with an easy-to-implement best management practice that maximizes profit while protecting water quality. LEARN MORE
Lake Effect Snow & Ice
Winter weather brings challenges for commerce, risks for human safety, and opportunities for recreation to the Great Lakes region. Accurate forecasts of lake effect snow and lake ice conditions are important for community preparedness and industry decision-making, but have been difficult to develop. With our partners including the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory and National Weather Service (NWS), CIGLR is developing models to improve lake effect snow forecasts, ice predictions, and visibility forecasts. We engage with Great Lakes mariners to help us co-design the products that they need for safe commerce, transportation, and search-and-rescue efforts. LEARN MORE