Daryl Herzmann, systems analyst in agronomy, is the recipient of the staff 2025 Creative Impact Award from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State University. Herzmann developed the Iowa Environmental Mesonet, an environmental data collection platform to support the research and outreach activities of the university. His understanding of meteorology, data processing and product creation for end-users is remarkable.
With the Iowa Environmental Mesonet, Herzmann integrates diverse datasets from eight different observing networks in the state of Iowa, including the agronomy department, the Iowa Department of Transportation, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the National Weather Service and television media outlets. He collects, compares, disseminates and archives weather observations, determining and executing new approaches to data collection and dissemination through a feature rich website.
Herzmann also manages the day-to-day support demands created by the large number of core partners and the general public. His project website generates billions of hits from around a million unique internet addresses per month. Hundreds of agencies contact the project each year, and the unique data archives maintained on the IEM website places Iowa State at the forefront of where to find authoritative information. These resources are routinely quoted and attributed within national media outlets like the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN and USA Today.
Herzmann’s impact goes well beyond Iowa. Hurricane Helene recently devastated roads and bridges in North Carolina. To keep updated on road closures and other information, many internet users turned to the state's travel dashboard website. This website uses an IEM-provided map layer with a recent animation of National Weather Service RADAR information for user situational awareness. This website generated much internet traffic to the IEM website, with a peak daily usage of just under 1 billion web requests successfully serviced. It is a testament to the robust infrastructure the IEM website uses and the ability to quickly scale to meet an immediate need.
Herzmann is also a collaborator on a multidisciplinary research team that estimates soil erosion in near real-time. His responsibilities with the Daily Erosion Project include the development of the model execution environment, generation of analysis products and dissemination of products via the website. A colleague stated, “Mr. Herzmann has been the backbone for the development and execution of the DEP. His knowledge of multiple advanced computing systems has been imperative in making this system function successfully.”
Herzmann’s unique ability to understand the value of data, process and reshare that information with various end-users is remarkable. A colleague stated, “Mr. Herzmann's creativity and exceptional understanding of complex systems have and continue to have an immense impact on members of Iowa State, state and federal agencies, and many citizens outside Iowa’s borders.”