The Three Sisters Vineyards in Lumpkin County announced it will be the new location of an official University of Georgia Extension and Georgia Automated Environmental Monitoring Network weather station.

According to TSV owner Doug Paul, he said a phone call from Clark Macalister, the extension service agent, led to the vineyard becoming a potential host for the weather station.

In January, the station was installed after University of Georgia research professional Eddie Edenfield walked the vineyard and approved it as the location.

“It’s historical. We were fortunate to have UGA offer (the station) up for sponsorship,” said Paul.

“We’re excited to have it. A lot of people have asked what it is. It looks like a NASA lander.”

Not only has the station amazed people, but Paul said it also benefits the community when there is a freeze or frost.

“The main thing this will help with in the local area is a frost ... having this information will help (the vineyard) plan accordingly,” he said.

“It’s not only a tool for the media, but it’s available to the gardeners, farmers and other vineyards.”

The station runs off battery from solar panels, according to Paul.

The GAEMN was established in 1991 by the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences of the University of Georgia, with the first station installed in 1992.

According to the network’s website, there are 81 stations, including Gainesville and Hall County, throughout the state.

The stations monitor air temperature, relative humidity, rainfall, wind speed and direction and soil temperature readings at three different depths.

Paul said the soil temperature reading is important because some gardeners will only plant at a certain temperature.

The weather stations update every 15 minutes via a home-base microcomputer that calls every station.

After the call, the microcomputer downloads the recorded data from the station.

Then, the data is processed and posted to the network’s website, according to the site.

For more information about the weather station, visit www.georgiaweather.net.