September 16, 2015
By Patricia L. Craig
PENN STATE NEWS

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State football fans looking for game day weather conditions and forecasts now have free access to real-time weather data directly from Beaver Stadium through WeatherSTEM — a full-service weather station that measures everything from wind speed to soil moisture to solar radiation.

The high-tech weather system, installed at Beaver Stadium this past August, was donated by education software developer Edward Mansouri, a Penn State meteorology graduate. Mansouri is CEO of Ucompass.com, headquartered in Tallahassee, Florida, and the technology company behind WeatherSTEM.

Weather information for Beaver Stadium is available online at http://centre.weatherstem.com/beaverstadium.

"The Beaver Stadium station is part of the WeatherSTEM network and has its own Web page," said Mansouri. "The Web portal displays real-time weather information such as temperature, rainfall, humidity and wind speed captured by the station’s sensors. We also include a 10-day forecast, information about the closest lightning strikes, and satellite and radar imagery."

From a camera mounted on the press box of nearby Jeffrey Field (home of Penn State soccer), the station’s online portal also furnishes a snapshot and live streaming video of the current conditions at the stadium. The snapshots are taken every minute and are stitched together to generate a time-lapsed 24-hour playback loop of the sky.

Edward Mansouri, a Penn State meteorology graduate. Mansouri is CEO of Ucompass.com, the technology company behind WeatherSTEM. 

Football fans may enjoy the Beaver Stadium station’s football weather almanac. In addition to the team’s overall record and game scores, the almanac includes records of game day weather conditions from 1954 to the current season, said Mansouri.

The Beaver Stadium station even has its own social media accounts and will send daily weather updates to subscribers. There also is a WeatherSTEM app available for iOS and Adroid phones. Notifications can be received via the following:

• Facebook (Like: PSU Beaver Stadium Weatherstem)
• Twitter (Follow: @PSUFootballWx)
• Text (Call 814-308-0888 or text "beaverstadium")
• Email (beaverstadium@centre.weatherstem.com)

WeatherSTEM was developed to increase weather literacy and to provide schools with data that can be used in the K-12 curriculum. The company is in the process of installing WeatherSTEM units in every county in Florida. Mansouri says he has the same goal for Pennsylvania. He wants to produce a network of WeatherSTEM units that will provide data to serve teachers, farmers and emergency services across the state.

In addition to providing real-time data, each WeatherSTEM station provides free historical weather data, lessons, and other activities that can be used in the classroom.

"The combination of weather observations with time-lapse images of the sky has already provided some great data for teaching," said Jon Nese, associate head for undergraduate programs in Penn State’s Department of Meteorology. "Fog dissipating in the morning, puffy cumulus clouds popping up in the afternoon, a rainbow forming during an evening shower — we've seen them all."

Since October 2014, the company has donated five stations in central Pennsylvania. The Beaver Stadium station is the second station located on the University Park campus. Last fall, one was installed at The Arboretum at Penn State. Units are also installed at Park Forest Elementary School in State College, Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center in Huntingdon County, and at the Pasto Agricultural Museum located at the Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center in Rock Springs, site of Penn State’s annual Ag Progress Days.

For more information about WeatherSTEM, please visit https://www.weatherstem.com.