The North Dakota State Climate Office, on the campus of North Dakota State University, has been designated as an American Association of State Climatologists Recognized State Climate Office (ARSCO). The ARSCO designation came from the partnership of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and American Association of State Climatologists.

""Becoming a recognized office is important because we now will have more tools available to enhance our weather services to the people of North Dakota,"" says Adnan Akyuz, State Climate Office director. ""Our office will have better linkage with other national and state climate offices. The demand for climate services is at record levels nationwide and is expected to continue growing."

Prior to 1973, state climatologists were considered federal employees. However, federal support ended after 1973. After that, most state climatologists were under the umbrella of academic institutions.

""Some climatologists became very busy fulfilling their institutional duties, which left little time to fulfill state climatologist duties,"" Akyuz says. ""Consequently, there was a break in linkage among national climate services and state climate services. ARSCO was formed within the American Association of State Climatologists and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to recognize those climate offices that are performing according to national guidelines."

With the ARSCO designation, Akyuz says his office will have access to a broad array of high-quality climate data, evaluation tools and value-added products from other ARSCO partners. There also will be increased opportunities to pursue funding and other support with ARSCO partners and enhanced visibility because of the partnerships.

""Our office will work closely with the three National Weather Service offices in the state, High Plains Regional Climate Center and National Climatic Data Center to fill in any gaps in high-quality climate services,"" Akyuz says.

The North Dakota State Climatologist's office provides the public with a multitude of resources on weather data, weather and climate summaries and climate reports. The climate summaries and reports use data collected by the North Dakota Agricultural Weather Network (NDAWN) and the National Weather Service.

The office also provides the public with application models for a variety of agricultural crops through the NDAWN system. The information is used to estimate crop, insect or disease development. The information then is used by producers to make management decisions, such as when to spray for diseases. The NDAWN network has 70 automated weather stations in North Dakota and some areas of western Minnesota to collect data.

For more information, go to the North Dakota State Climate Office Web site at http://www.soilsci.ndsu.nodak.edu/ndawn.

NDSU Agriculture Communication