Since man began to cultivate plants back in the Neolithic period, and up to the present day, farmers have always been aware of the sky and meteorological phenomena to ensure the survival of their crops. So much so that, since ancient times, farmers developed certain rudimentary weather prediction techniques to know what to expect throughout the year, such as cabañuelas. However, today, we have modern and precise data collection and prediction systems, which make up precision agriculture. It is in this area where the Danish company Cordulus stands out, dedicated to the collection and delivery of hyperlocal meteorological data, and which owes its name to the father of modern meteorology in Denmark.

“We believe that meteorological phenomena are a very local issue, which is why our meteorological stations provide hyperlocal data, that is, from a radius of 1 km2 on the farmer's own farm,” says Arash Mashkoor, Country Manager of Cordulus in Iberia. In this hyperlocal way, the station provides many parameters, as well as recommendations for better decision-making. “They tell us the temperature of the soil and the air, the rainfall, the strength and direction of the wind, the atmospheric pressure, the ultraviolet index, the dew point, cloudiness, solar radiation and ambient humidity. In addition, there is a model that also tells us the humidity of the soil,” Mashkoor stresses, adding that “these parameters, collected by the weather stations, are then taken by software that provides recommendations on when it is advisable to spray, the degree days of crop growth and the evaporation we have at any given time; and it recommends the most suitable days for sowing and harvesting crops, and gives us a risk assessment for possible attacks by pests and diseases on our crops. It tells us what is happening at the moment and gives us a forecast of what will happen in the coming days.” It also includes a real-time map of the evolution of storms and cloudiness, which can be activated with alarms to warn us when a risky meteorological event is expected (frost, very high or very low temperatures, freezing, thawing, strong winds and gusts, heavy rain, high or low humidity, very fast or very slow evaporation, etc.).”

But the difference between Cordulus weather stations and others on the market is not only in the hardware, in the sensors, which are more resistant and robust, but the real product is the precise meteorological data obtained directly on the farm itself. “It is important for us to provide meteorological data that indicates the existing meteorological conditions on the farmer's farm at this moment, what they have been (historically) and what they will be like the next day. With our hyperlocal forecasts, we are 48% more precise compared to global or regional meteorological models. And if we compare wind sensors with regional and global models, the data provided by Cordulus is more relevant for farmers, since we measure the wind at a height of 2 meters and not at 10 or 11 meters, as other models usually do. Hyperlocal weather data helps farmers plan their activities and is a key tool for making decisions about when to sow, spray or harvest at the right time,” says the head of Cordulus in Iberia. In addition, Cordulus has developed its own artificial intelligence (machine learning), which collects data from the network of more than 4,000 weather stations that Cordulus has in Europe, and calibrates that data in different parameters with regional and global models. The result is more precise and hyperlocal weather information. Likewise, the analysis of the data carried out by the artificial intelligence program also provides, based on these more precise weather forecasts, forecasts of pest and disease attacks with greater accuracy than in most of the stations existing on the market; something that is complemented by the fact that the Cordulus weather station incorporates a GPS that sends data directly via satellite, in addition to being completely wireless, powered by the energy provided by a built-in solar panel. Another task that Cordulus systems can contribute to is controlling irrigation: “with the data on humidity, wind, precipitation, sunlight, etc., the evaporation at any given time is calculated, and with this data, it is possible to decide when to irrigate and when not to, as well as the amount of water that the crop needs at any given time, since with this data, it is possible to calculate  otential evapotranspiration of each crop,” explains Mashkoor, something that Joaquín Ignacio Martínez Moreno, technical director at Agrícola General del Sureste and distributor of Cordulus, maintains that “for irrigation purposes, we can see that customers are satisfied with the way we provide data through an API or a simple data dump. This allows technicians to apply the data in their models in the way that is most convenient for them.”

In this sense, Cordulus is configured as the perfect ally for decision-making, since “the station is sending data every 10 minutes to your device, be it a phone, a tablet or a computer. And you can decide how you use that data, taking into account that the Cordulus application itself already recommends decision-making with the data it handles,” highlights Martínez, who assures that agricultural producers who already use weather stations on their farms “consider them a fundamental aid for decision-making on all the tasks and work that must be done in the field on a daily basis. Some highlight the usefulness of deciding when to spray, or when to spread manure, and others the usefulness of better controlling irrigation and saving water, or knowing exactly how much rainwater has fallen on their farm, while for others, warnings of extreme weather risks are key.”

Cordulus works with a Hardware as a Service (HaaS) model, or subscription model, in which the farmer does not acquire the product, but pays for the use he makes of it. “This system has many advantages for the farmer, such as installation, maintenance, troubleshooting, and repair and replacement of damaged physical components,” highlights the technical director at Agrícola General del Sureste and distributor of Cordulus, who indicates that “among the advantages is the economic factor, since the user pays only a fraction of what it would cost to buy the hardware. In addition, the inconvenience of having to contact a customer service center to claim warranties and other problems is also avoided, since, compared to purchasing, the HaaS (Hardware as a Service) model includes support and spare parts, among other services, as part of the product.”

Cordulus weather stations are used in a large number of areas, such as solar or wind energy fields, in airfields, golf courses, or sports stands, among others, but in agricultural activity, they are useful for both farmers and ranchers. Furthermore, it might be thought that weather stations are only useful for outdoor crops, but Cordulus already has experience with clients who use them in winter crops: “In the case of greenhouses, they could also be placed inside the greenhouse, and although some data such as precipitation and wind would not be used, we have a great deal of experience using this equipment both indoors and outdoors, in a cooperative in Huelva dedicated to the cultivation of berries,” stresses Joaquín Martínez.

In short, Cordulus weather stations provide a series of data that give farmers and ranchers, and in general, users, the power to decide how they should act to promote the success of their crops or the care of their livestock based on hyperlocal data, captured on their own farm, which provide real knowledge of current conditions and a very precise forecast of future conditions.