Completed and expanded feature

In the previous newsletter, I reported that I had finally developed the capability to display multi-day readings. Unfortunately this revealed several duplicate and inconsistent records when compared to the daily readings. I requested that you print out the reports for your stations so you could see if I got it right when I went through all the records and cleaned them up as best I could. That cleanup process is complete so if you see any errors, please let me know.

Once that was completed, I was able to develop a report for the combined daily and multi-day reports so you could see all of your rainfall records in one place. You will find this when you log on and go to the “reports” section. I should point out that this might lead to erroneous results in the weekly and monthly summaries at the bottom of that page. This is because when a multi-day report is entered, it is not known when the rain actually fell during the reporting period. For the purposes of this combined report, zero is assumed for all the days except the last and the full amount is assigned to the last day. If the reporting period spans two or more weeks or months, this could lead to an error but no rainfall amount is lost in the process so the totals will still be valid.

This multi-day report capability has also been expanded to the maps. Just above the map on the left site, you will see the default is for “Daily Reports Only.” If you change to “Weekly Precip” or “Monthly Precip” you will also have the option of switching to “Daily and Multi-Day Reports” so you can finally “get credit” for all of the multi-day rainfall readings you have been recording. While I was at it, I also added a better visual display for the calendar when you are view either the weekly or monthly reports so now either the entire week or month is now highlighted.

This site requires Cookies

Cookies are used on this site for two purposes and in two different ways. The first and most important is required to allow you to move around on the site and stay logged in. For example, you only have to log in once and then can move to the “data entry” page to enter your rainfall or go to the reports and see your rainfall records. This feature uses “session” cookies which automatically disappear 20 minutes after you quit using the site. Nothing permanent is left on your computer with the use of session cookies.

For the other type of cookie, a small coded piece of information is left on your computer permanently. This allows you to save your log in information so you can be logged on automatically when you first visit the home page or the data entry page.

It is required that you allow your browser to accept cookies to become a volunteer since you can’t log on without them. You may set your computer up to only accept cookies for just this computer network and still leave them turned off for general browsing if you choose. To do that, contact me for instructions and be sure to include the type (ie. Internet Explorer) and version (ie. 6.0) of the browser you are using.

Neither type of cookie is used for any other purpose such as trying to track your usage on this site.

The Future of NeRAIN

A new Nebraska Environmental Trust grant application is being written and will be turned in soon to continue and expand NeRAIN. Currently the NeRAIN project area covers 13 of the 23 NRDs. As drafted, 8 of the remaining 10 NRDs will be joining with only the Lower Platte South and the Lower Niobrara NRDs declining to participate at this time. That application will be sponsored by the Upper Niobrara White NRD and is due on September 8. The decision of whether this grant will be approved will not be known until around March of 2005.

New Uses for NeRAIN

Since last report, I also heard from a volunteer that is also a crop insurance adjuster. She has spread the word to her peers that this is a valuable tool for helping to confirm crop damage claims. If you know of other uses for this information, please let me know. Thanks again for volunteering for NeRAIN.

Rich Kern
Nebraska Department of Natural Resources
301 Centennial Mall South
P.O. Box 94676
Lincoln, NE 68509-4676
(402) 471-3948
rkern@dnr.ne.gov