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A daily decision-support pipeline for mushroom foragers. Live sensor data, species-specific phenology models, and AI-written field reports — across all 48 lower states.
Each region is scored on five binary factors. The tier is determined by how many are met, then adjusted for atmospheric desiccation risk.
Western: 0.3"+ precipitation in 7 days, or active snowmelt from SNOTEL SWE decline. Eastern: 0.5"+ rain in 3 days. Species-specific: boletes need 2"+ then 7-10 days; chanterelles need 2-4" over 6-13 weeks (Ivanochko 2021); morels need >10mm events in prior 30 days (Mihail 2007).
Sustained 5+ days above species threshold. Western: 48°F at 2" (SNOTEL). Eastern: 50°F at 4"/10cm (SCAN or NWS air-temp model with canopy adjustment). 410 degree-day accumulation predicts first eastern morel (Schmidt 1983, Mihail 2007).
At least one tracked species has an active fruiting window for this region, based on elevation-specific phenology data parsed from the codex.
No forecast temperatures below 32°F in the next 48 hours. A single hard freeze can reset a flush.
Region is not in severe drought (D3 or higher) per the US Drought Monitor. Severe drought makes fruiting impossible regardless of other factors.
Sustained dry wind (≥ 8 m/s) combined with low relative humidity (< 40%) rapidly strips moisture from fruiting bodies — mushrooms lack stomata or cuticle and lose water far faster than plants. High desiccation risk downgrades a region by one tier. Moderate risk (≥ 5 m/s wind + < 55% RH) is flagged as a limiting factor.
Pipeline schedule: v1 runs daily at 4:00 AM Mountain Time via GitHub Actions. SNOTEL (western) and SCAN (eastern) sensor data plus NWS forecasts are fetched fresh each run. Drought updates weekly (Thursdays). AI narratives are generated only for S- and A-tier regions to conserve API usage. The app works offline — cached data is served when you have no connection.
Data attribution: Climate data (precipitation, temperature, VPD, dew point) provided by PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed 2026. Wind speed and relative humidity from gridMET (Abatzoglou 2013) and Open-Meteo ERA5-Land. Soil moisture from NASA SMAP. Fire perimeters and severity from MTBS and NIFC. Forest composition from USDA Forest Service FIA. Soil properties from USDA NRCS gSSURGO. Elevation from USGS 3DEP. Mushroom observations from GBIF and iNaturalist contributors under CC-BY / CC0 licenses.
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