Chinthaka Weerasekara

Chinthaka Weerasekara

  • Contact Information
  • My Story
  • Publications
  • Background
  • Interests

Contact Information

TitleLead Mesonet Technician
Address154 North Hardin Hall
3310 Holdrege Street
Lincoln NE
68583–0931

East Campus
Phone
  • office: 402-472-6704
E-mailcweerasekara2@unl.edu

 

Contact Preference

Email is preferred for initial contact (cweerasekara2@unl.edu), followed by phone or in-person meetings as needed. I also maintain an open-door policy during regular office hours whenever I'm on campus..

Office Hours

M to F 8:00 am to 5:00pm

My Story

I’m the Lead Mesonet Technician with the Nebraska State Climate Office, housed within the School of Natural Resources. In this role, I help operate and expand the Nebraska Mesonet,a statewide network of over 70 automated weather stations. These stations provide real-time, high-resolution environmental and meteorological data that support agricultural management, emergency response, climate monitoring, and scientific research.

My work takes me from the remote stretches of the Sandhills to croplands in eastern Nebraska. I oversee station installations, conduct site surveys, troubleshoot systems, and manage equipment logistics, all while mentoring field staff. I’m passionate about building and maintaining reliable monitoring networks that turn complex weather and climate variability into actionable insights for producers, researchers, and communities across the state.

Before joining UNL, I earned a Ph.D. in Agronomy with a specialization in micrometeorology from Kansas State University. My research focused on quantifying greenhouse gas emissions particularly methane and nitrous oxide from livestock operations and croplands. I’ve applied eddy covariance techniques extensively for field-scale flux monitoring and contributed to the development of open-path gas analyzers using dual-comb spectroscopy, a cutting-edge technology that enables the detection of multiple gases over large spatial footprints with high temporal resolution.

As part of a collaboration with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), I helped deploy and validate dual-comb systems capable of precisely measuring trace gas emissions in agricultural settings. This technology is revolutionizing how we detect and quantify emissions by offering spatially integrated data that traditional sensors often miss.

In addition to field instrumentation, I have a strong foundation in data analysis and systems automation. I use Python to process large environmental datasets, apply gap-filling techniques, and build artificial neural network (ANN) models to reconstruct missing greenhouse gas flux data. I also develop custom scripts and datalogger programs to automate measurements and maintain data quality in gas flux research.

At the core of my work is a commitment to practical impact. Whether I’m installing a weather station, designing a sensing system, or analyzing emissions trends, my goal is to produce reliable information that researchers, producers, and policymakers can use to make better decisions. By combining advanced technology with field-based experience, I aim to support more sustainable, climate-resilient agricultural practices.

Outside of work, I enjoy road trips, wildlife and landscape photography, and spending time outdoors.

I’m proud to be part of the UNL community and contribute to a team dedicated to delivering data that matters for Nebraska and beyond.

Selected Publications

Sweet, N. M., et al. (2025). Simultaneously Measuring Changes in Methane and Ammonia Emissions Resulting from Altering Beef Cattle Diet. 105th AMS Meeting.
Weerasekara, C. (2025). Field-Scale Quantification of Methane and Nitrous Oxide Agricultural Emissions Using Micrometeorological Approaches. Ph.D. Dissertation, Kansas State University.
Santos, E. A., Weerasekara, C.B. et al. (2024). Temporal Dynamics of CH₄ and NH₃ Emissions from Beef Cattle on Sorghum and Corn-base Finishing Diets. AGU24.
Sweet, N., et al. (2024). Precisely Measuring Ammonia Emissions Resulting from Altering Beef Cattle Diet to Mitigate Methane. AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts.
Weerasekara, C., et al. (2024). Using open-path dual-comb spectroscopy to monitor methane emissions from simulated grazing cattle. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 17(20), 6107-6117.Online
Weerasekara, C., et al. (2024). Using open-path dual-comb spectroscopy to monitor methane emissions from simulated grazing cattle. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 17(20), 6107–6117.
Weerasekara, C., et al. (2024). Using Open-Path Dual-Comb Spectroscopy to Monitor Methane Emissions from Simulated Grazing Cattle. EGUsphere. https://amt.copernicus.org/articles/17/6107/2024/ Online
Weerasekara, C., et al. (2024). Using Open-Path Dual-Comb Spectroscopy to Monitor Methane Mitigation by Altering Cattle Diet. Frontiers in Optics.
L. C. Morris, C. Weerasekara, N. Malarich, F. R. Giorgetta, D. I. Herman, K. C. Cossel, N. R. Newbury, C. E. Owensby, S. M. Welch, B. D. DePaola, I. Coddington, E. A. Santos, and B. R. Washburn, Quantifying Methane Production at a Cattle Grazing Site using Open-Path Dual-Comb Spectroscopy, in CLEO 2023, Technical Digest Series (Optica Publishing Group, 2023), paper ATh1I.6. https://opg.optica.org/abstract.cfm?URI=CLEO_AT-2023-ATh1I.6
Morris, L. C., Weerasekara, C. et al. (2023). Using Open-Path Dual-Comb Spectroscopy to Monitor Methane Emissions from Grazing Beef Cattle. Optica Publishing Group.
Santos, E. A., et al. (2023). A Novel Spectroscopic Method to Measure Agriculturally Significant Trace Gases. American Meteorological Society.
Washburn, B., Weerasekara, C. et al. (2023). Challenges With Monitoring Methane Emissions from Grazing Cattle using Dual Comb Spectroscopy. AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts.
Weerasekara, C. (2023). Measuring Field-Scale Nitrous Oxide Emissions Using the Eddy Covariance Technique. American Meteorological Society.
Zhou, Y., Weerasekara, C. B., & Sheshukov, A. Y. (2023). Mapping Accuracy of Close-Range Terrestrial Digital Photogrammetry. Soil Erosion Research Under a Changing Climate.Online
D. I. Herman, F. R. Giorgetta, K. C. Cossel, N. A. Malarich, L. C. Hutcherson, C. Weerasekara, J. M. Cutshall, N. R. Newbury, S. M. Welch, B. D. DePaola, I. Coddington, E. A. Santos, and B. R. Washburn, Broadband dual-comb spectroscopy for open-path field measurement of H216O and H218O, in OSA Optical Sensors and Sensing Congress 2021 (AIS, FTS, HISE, SENSORS, ES), S. Buckley, F. Vanier, S. Shi, K. Walker, I. Coddington, S. Paine, K. Lok Chan, W. Moses, S. Qian, P. Pellegrino, F. Vollmer, G. , J. Jágerská, R. Menzies, L. Emmenegger, and J. Westberg, eds., OSA Technical Digest (Optica Publishing Group, 2021), paper JTu6E.5. https://opg.optica.org/abstract.cfm?URI=ES-2021-JTu6E.5
D. I. Herman, Hutcherson, L.C., Weerasekara, C. et al., Feedlot-produced ammonia emissions quantified using dual-comb spectroscopy, 2021 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO), San Jose, CA, USA, 2021, pp. 1-2.
Herman, D. I., Weerasekara, C., et al. (2021). Precise Multispecies Agricultural Gas Flux Determined Using Broadband Open-Path Dual-Comb Spectroscopy. Science Advances. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abe9765 Online
D. I. Herman, Hutcherson, L.C., Weerasekara, C. et al., Agri-Combs: Open-Path Dual-Comb Spectroscopy of Livestock Emissions, 2020 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO), San Jose, CA, USA, 2020, pp. 1-2.Online
L. C. Hutcherson, D. I. Herman, C. Weerasekara, F. R. Giorgetta, K. C. Cossel, E. M. Waxman, G. M. Colacion, N. R. Newbury, S. M. Welch, B. D. DePaola, I. Coddington, E. A. Santos, and B. R. Washburn, Beef cattle feedlot emissions measured using open-path dual-comb spectroscopy, in Frontiers in Optics / Laser Science, B. Lee, C. Mazzali, K. Corwin, and R. Jason Jones, eds., OSA Technical Digest (Optica Publishing Group, 2020), paper LTu2F.2. https://opg.optica.org/abstract.cfm?URI=LS-2020-LTu2F.2
Islam, M. A., Weerasekara, C., Zhou, Y., & Sheshukov, A. Y. (2019). Ephemeral Gully Erosion Modeling and Surveying with Close-range Digital Photogrammetry. 2019 ASABE Annual International Meeting.Online
Islam, M. A., Weerasekara, C., Zhou, Y., & Sheshukov, A. Y. (2019). Ephemeral Gully Erosion Modeling and Surveying with Close-range Digital Photogrammetry. 2019 ASABE Annual International Meeting.Online
Weerasekara, C. (2019). Evaluating soil loss from ephemeral gullies with photogrammetry. M.S. Thesis.Online
Bandara, C. & Sheshukov, A. Y. (2017). Quantifying Ephemeral Gully Erosion with Photogrammetry Surveying. 2017 ASABE Annual International Meeting.
D. I. Herman, C. Weerasekara, L. C. Hutcherson, F. R. Giorgetta, K. C. Cossel, E. M. Waxman, G. M. Colacion, N. R. Newbury, S. M. Welch, B. D. DePaola, I. Coddington, E. A. Santos, and B. R. Washburn, "Comparison of Livestock Emissions Measurements Using Open-Path Dual-Comb Spectroscopy and Closed-Path Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy," in Optical Sensors and Sensing Congress, OSA Technical Digest (Optica Publishing Group, 2020), paper AW4I.4. https://opg.optica.org/abstract.cfm?URI=AIS-2020-AW4I.4
Washburn, B., Herman, D., Weerasekara, C., et al. (2020). Field-scale Monitoring of Feedlot Produced Methane and Ammonia using Dual Comb Spectroscopy. AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts.

Background

Education

DegreeMajorInstitutionYear Awarded
Doctorate of PhilosophyMicrometeorologyKansas State University2024
Master of ScienceBiological and agricultural engineering Kansas State University2019
Bachelor of ScienceStatistics and Operational ResearchUniversity of Peradeniya-Sri Lanka2010

 

Affiliations

 

Awards

TitleAwarded byYear Awarded
Hile Rannells Scholarship for AgronomyDepartment of Agronomy, Kansas State University2022
Poster Presentation Award: " Eddy Covariance Methane Flux Measurements Over a Grazed Pasture in Kansas."American Meteorological Society- (34th Conference on Agricultural and Forest Meteorology/Fifth Conference on Atmospheric Bio geosciences).2021
Dr. Neal F. and Florence E. Morehouse Agronomy Research and Scholarship Department of Agronomy, Kansas State University2020
Poster Presentation Award: "Evaluating Soil Loss from Ephemeral Gullies with Photogrammetry" The Kansas Water Office (The Governor’s Conference on the Future of Water in Kansas).2017

 

Professional Organizations

NamePosition
American Meteorological Society
American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers

 

SNR Program Areas

  • Applied Climate and Spatial Science

Areas of Interest/Expertise

  • Artifical neural networks for environmental data
  • Air quality and trace monitoring
  • Climate
  • Remote sensing
  • Automated environmental monitoring