App Profile: NDAWN Inversion

Real-time weather data from the North Dakota Agricultural Weather Network (NDAWN) is used to detect low-level air temperature inversions. An air temperature inversion occurs when the air temperatures near the ground are colder than the air above. The cooler and therefore, denser air, may make spray particles drift off target, often referenced as spray drift. Because spraying during an air temperature inversion is in violation of label instructions, this app, once an inversion is detected, sends a push notification to the user informing them that spraying may longer be advisable. These inversion alerts are resent occasionally until the inversion is no longer present for the station selected. Besides inversion alerts, weather data, including wind speed and temperature data which is also critical information while spraying is available. All NDAWN stations update current weather conditions every 5 minutes.