AmerenUE to install weather monitoring system
Solar-powered network to speed electric utility's response to weather-related outages
By PAULA BARR
Daily Journal Staff Writer
Daily Journal Staff Writer
An AmerenUE worker installs a new, solar powered Quantum weather monitor atop an existing utility pole. - Photo submitted by AmerenUE
A partnership between AmerenUE and St. Louis University is expected to provide more precise weather analysis and quicker response to weather-related electricity outages in Bonne Terre, Potosi and other AmerenUE service areas.
The utility company and the university’s Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences on Thursday announced the introduction of Quantum Weather™ , a pioneering, highly precise weather monitoring, forecasting, and response system. Eventually, 100 Quantum weather monitors will provide neighborhood-by-neighborhood weather data to the university and AmerenUE’s emergency response teams. Half of the solar-powered monitors are installed atop utility poles in central and eastern Missouri, including one in Bonne Terre and one in Potosi.
Current weather tracking systems are unable to distinguish what's happening in individual neighborhoods because monitors are often more than 100 miles apart and provide information only on an hour-by-hour basis. The Quantum weather monitors measure temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind speed, wind direction and rainfall rates and feeds that data continuously to the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences department.
Using computer models and analytical tools created by SLU researchers, the data is incorporated with information such as locations of overhead power lines and density of vegetation to produce highly detailed maps. The maps indicate areas with a higher risk of severe weather and service disruptions.
Narrowly focused weather predictions and reports will help the utility company get trucks to damaged areas more quickly, said Tom Slinkard, superintendent of electric operations for AmerenUE’s SEMO division.
“Now people have to go out to the field before finding out how much damage there is,” Slinkard explained. “This will lets us strategize on where to send our resources based on where the damage probably is. We can call in resources quicker and address the damage in a more timely manner.”
Slinkard said he hopes more monitors will be placed in this area.
“I would like one in Park Hills, one in Farmington, and maybe one in Arcadia Valley,” he added.
The university proposed the idea to Ameren after a November 2006 ice storm left hundreds of thousands of customers in the dark for days. That storm followed an earlier devastating storm that July.
The Quantum weather monitors are solar-powered with a battery that stores power during the day and keeps them operating at night and on cloudy days. Each monitor is adjusted for specific local conditions, like nearby buildings that can affect monitoring of wind speeds.
“A key component of the success of Quantum Weather is the SLU researchers' development of unique software that provides near-real-time forecasts on a very local scale,” said Professor and Department Chair William P. Dannevik, Ph.D., of the SLU Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. “This system has been made possible by the development of low-cost, easily deployed weather sensors; the advent of more cost-effective high-performance computing systems; new generation weather prediction models; and AmerenUE’s broadband digital communications network.”
AmerenUE expects the system to improve the company’s restoration times and service to its 1.2 million customers. Partnering with the university allows the utility company to support local, valuable science education programs, said Richard J. Mark, UE senior vice president, Missouri energy delivery.
“Quantum Weather also allows the University to fulfill its promise to pursue research that improves our community,” said Saint Louis University President Lawrence Biondi, S.J. “In addition, this project will provide graduate students and faculty cutting-edge research opportunities, and will give undergraduate students valuable operational weather forecasting experience. We appreciate UE for supporting the purchase and installation of these weather stations and for helping to fund two new graduate assistantships as part of this partnership.”
The new system is part of AmerenUE’s Project Power On reliability initiative.
Paula Barr is a reporter for the Daily Journal and can be reached at 573-431-2010, ext. 172 or at pbarr@dailyjournalonline.com.
The utility company and the university’s Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences on Thursday announced the introduction of Quantum Weather™ , a pioneering, highly precise weather monitoring, forecasting, and response system. Eventually, 100 Quantum weather monitors will provide neighborhood-by-neighborhood weather data to the university and AmerenUE’s emergency response teams. Half of the solar-powered monitors are installed atop utility poles in central and eastern Missouri, including one in Bonne Terre and one in Potosi.
Current weather tracking systems are unable to distinguish what's happening in individual neighborhoods because monitors are often more than 100 miles apart and provide information only on an hour-by-hour basis. The Quantum weather monitors measure temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind speed, wind direction and rainfall rates and feeds that data continuously to the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences department.
Using computer models and analytical tools created by SLU researchers, the data is incorporated with information such as locations of overhead power lines and density of vegetation to produce highly detailed maps. The maps indicate areas with a higher risk of severe weather and service disruptions.
Narrowly focused weather predictions and reports will help the utility company get trucks to damaged areas more quickly, said Tom Slinkard, superintendent of electric operations for AmerenUE’s SEMO division.
“Now people have to go out to the field before finding out how much damage there is,” Slinkard explained. “This will lets us strategize on where to send our resources based on where the damage probably is. We can call in resources quicker and address the damage in a more timely manner.”
Slinkard said he hopes more monitors will be placed in this area.
“I would like one in Park Hills, one in Farmington, and maybe one in Arcadia Valley,” he added.
The university proposed the idea to Ameren after a November 2006 ice storm left hundreds of thousands of customers in the dark for days. That storm followed an earlier devastating storm that July.
The Quantum weather monitors are solar-powered with a battery that stores power during the day and keeps them operating at night and on cloudy days. Each monitor is adjusted for specific local conditions, like nearby buildings that can affect monitoring of wind speeds.
“A key component of the success of Quantum Weather is the SLU researchers' development of unique software that provides near-real-time forecasts on a very local scale,” said Professor and Department Chair William P. Dannevik, Ph.D., of the SLU Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. “This system has been made possible by the development of low-cost, easily deployed weather sensors; the advent of more cost-effective high-performance computing systems; new generation weather prediction models; and AmerenUE’s broadband digital communications network.”
AmerenUE expects the system to improve the company’s restoration times and service to its 1.2 million customers. Partnering with the university allows the utility company to support local, valuable science education programs, said Richard J. Mark, UE senior vice president, Missouri energy delivery.
“Quantum Weather also allows the University to fulfill its promise to pursue research that improves our community,” said Saint Louis University President Lawrence Biondi, S.J. “In addition, this project will provide graduate students and faculty cutting-edge research opportunities, and will give undergraduate students valuable operational weather forecasting experience. We appreciate UE for supporting the purchase and installation of these weather stations and for helping to fund two new graduate assistantships as part of this partnership.”
The new system is part of AmerenUE’s Project Power On reliability initiative.
Paula Barr is a reporter for the Daily Journal and can be reached at 573-431-2010, ext. 172 or at pbarr@dailyjournalonline.com.
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