$6 million award helps Univ. of Iowa collect weather data in rural areas

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) - Thanks to a grant from the National Science Foundation, the University of Iowa will be using tech of its own design to improve climate and weather predictions in rural areas.

Thanks to the $6 million award, the university will be installing “I-canopies” in farmland across the country. So far they’re installed in Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska.

The I-canopy sends users real-time data about the weather based on soil and air conditions. It’s a solar-powered and 3D printed device that is either inserted into the ground or pointed into the air.

I-canopies have been in development for the last four years, program leaders expect the design to be finalized by the end of the year.

While the data will be able to help universities around the country, a major goal is to help farmers deal with severe weather and track their soil conditions.

Dr. Jun Wang is a Professor in College of Engineering, Chair of Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering and Assistant Director for Iowa Technology Institute and has been involved in particular project since the beginning.

“It makes the rural community more resilient to severe weather and to climate change,” Wang said. ”Many states’ economy rely on farming, and we wanted the soil data, soil moisture data to get to farmers.”

In many cases, the university will be providing at no cost. That data is sent to a free website in real-time for users analyze: https://esmc.uiowa.edu/.

The data will also be used by universities to help further climate research.

“We want to basically use this opportunity to bring the technology to our next generation students,” Wang said.

Wang says by the end of the year the design should be finalized, then the production process will be quicker.

“The case will be very cheap, and we can do more and more, kind of streamline our production,” Wang said.

The I-canopies are 3D printed and once the manufacturing process is streamlined they’ll cost roughly $200 a piece to produce.