Blog

Status Aug 12

Weather:  Calm, mostly cloudy by the afternoon.  

Staff: Jacquie, Mack

Data check (AM/PM): Stable

Notes:

  • Showcased the power of NCharts to Shane and Mack
  • We saw that the 10AM radiosonde landed off the 95 hwy just west of Tonopah so we tried to find where it landed but no such luck. 
  • Bill and Sam arrived today.
  • Chenning, Bill, Sam, Mack and Jacquie attended a dark sky star gazing event and watched the Perseids.


Photos of the Day

(left) Shane viewing REAL. (right) Searching for the radiosonde.


Status Aug 11

Weather:  Calm, cloudy, pleasant

Staff: Jacquie, Mack

Data check (AM/PM): Stable

Notes:

  • Took a soil sample near t1
    • Weighed the empty tins in the trailer (instead of at the site) to get a stable weight.
    • Weighed the wet sample both in the field and in the trailer. The difference was only 0.1 g. 
  • Disinfected the trailer counters and tidied the soil sample kit (replaced the uber dirty bags with ziplocs so one can find things)
  • Showcased the power of NCharts to Chenning

Photos of the Day


Status Aug 10

Weather:  Calm and sunny in the AM with clouds rolling in from the south and east. Comfortable, cooler temperatures (< 30C). We saw a rainbow in the early evening. 

Staff: Jacquie, Mack

Data check (AM/PM): Stable

Notes:

  • Shane and Chenning got a refresher when launching the AM radiosonde. 
  • Jacquie cleaned the counters in the ISFS trailers and removed all traces of the bubonic plague. Two garbage bags worth of trash were removed. Also aired the trailer of yesterday’s sewage smell. Good times.
    • Went to the Family Dollar and bought disinfectant spray, a broom to replace the broken one, and a soft cloth broom to clean the solar panels.   


Photos of the day

(Left) Chenning working on the mouse-turd-free table. 

(Right) Jacquie triumphant with her cleaning supply bounty. Check out the clouds!


Status Aug 9

Weather:  Sunny, hot, dry. But persistent southerly surface winds today since early morning. Huzzah!

Staff: Jacquie, Mack

Data check (AM/PM): Stable

Notes:

  • Sorted the lost GPS signal at ttb
  • Had nice morning discussions with Chenning and Shane
  • Mack took photos of birds perching on sonics. 
  • Looked at data


Photo of the day


co2 offsets

co2 measurements at 4 sites are separate from the 'pack' since operations:

In particular, co2.1m.t0 (black, lowest values) 

In the middle: co2.4m.t0 (purple), co2.4m.t20 (teal), co2.4m.t47 (red)



Lost GPSnsat.ttb

Lost GPSnsat.ttb signal last night (8 Aug) ~22:30


1 Comment  · 
Status Aug 8

Weather:  Similar to yesterday.

Staff: Jacquie, Mack

Data check (AM/PM): stable

Notes:

  • Cleaned the ISS and ISFS radiometers
  • Mack double checked the battery voltage of the solar panels that he took cables from to sort out Chenning’s battery needs
  • Brushed the solar panels on t0 and tt - just dusty
  • Watched the military plane fly by ~10:45a and 11:30a


Photo of the day

Mack cleaning the radiometer at t49


Status Aug 7

Weather:  Sunny with calm to light winds. A bit of haze but generally clear. 

Staff: Jacquie, Mack

Data check (AM/PM): stable

Notes:

  • Noticed the OTT (near tt) data are missing from NCharts and QCTables - but they are defined in the netcdf files. 
  • Stephan De Wekker arrived just for the afternoon and we gave him a tour. He will be returning with students and drones. FAA approval to fly 4000ft was received today!
  • Watched the ISS Windcube lidar go through its set of scan modes on the hour (Bill changed a few things yesterday).
  • Took lots of photos of ISFS and ISS sensors for the data report. 
  • Jacquie learned how to run Steve's command to check the hotfilm raw data stream on ustar:


Photos of the Day

(left) Stephan and Mack in front of the UVA Halo Lidar. (right) Group behind t48-t49 discussing drone strategies wrt the ISFS array. 


Status Aug 6

Weather: Dry, slight haze, clear sky our site, breeze generally from the N to West quadrant when we were out there.  

Staff: Jacquie, Mack, Matt

Data check (AM/PM): stable

Notes:

Took advantage of Matt's last day and did a tour of ISFS (and ISS).

  • Matt did his due diligence and gave me the safety briefing.
  • We collected soil samples from t23 and t29 using a Steve's technique that adapts to sandy soil.
  • Mack took cables from t17 and t26 solar panels to reconfigure solar panels for Chenning's chain of temperature sensors in parallel (Mack can comment more on this but it seems to have been successful).
  • Met with Shane, Chenning, and Bruce Morley (who arrived today). Since learning they have UCAR accounts, they have been added to our project wiki's. You will have noticed many posts from them backfilled with notes and photos since set-up. 
  • Looked at the SHINE hotfilms on t0 and reviewed connecting to the DSM. 
  • Watched the 10a and 3p sounding

Safe travels Matt and thanks for the tour, tips, and info! 


Photos

10a radiosonde launch

Mack re-cabling the solar panels that go with Chenning's sensor system. 



Status Aug. 5

Clear skies and another day with lots of sun. Noticeable increase in smoke/haze, although the impact on visibility/incoming solar was pretty minor.

Onsite: Matt and Mack

Today:

  • Data check identified no obvious issues.
  • It looks like Rsw.in.t2 is being cut off at 1028 W/^2, but I wasn’t able to identify any reason why. Also, a morning shadow is also evident as a dip in SW around 7am on days with clear skies.
  • Jacquie arrived this evening in time for dinner.
Status Aug. 4

Clear skies and lots of sun again. 

Onsite: Matt and Mack

Today:

  • Matt took the day off, but Mack visited to check on things
  • Data check identified no issues
Status 3 Aug.

Clear skies and lots of sun. 

Onsite: Matt, Mack, Steve (Matt and Steve left for Las Vegas around 1pm)

Today:

  • Steve showed Matt the particulars of the hot-film's, labeled the cables, and rotated them by 90 degrees. Now films are oriented horizontally. 
  • We angled the 4 solar panels that were on racks for the DTS and moved batteries/Victron's into the ventilation shelter.
  • Steve left after 1pm - bye Steve and thanks! 
Steve left

So long, everyone, and thanks for all the support and socializing.

Status 2 Aug

Scattered Cu most of the day

Onsite: Matt, Mack, Steve

Today:

  • Brought in the Leica tripod from the field and worked on scans around the compound
  • Cleaned radiometers and solar panels
  • Took last gravimetric sample
  • Added a better fuse on the DTS power
  • Replaced t38 DSM with a spare (since it has had low voltage/reset issues)
  • Retensioned/leveled t0, now with twisted guy straps
  • Tried really hard, but failed to make sense of the velocity profiles
  • Started making the serial number list

Just produced this plot from an hour of the four hot-films' and CSATs' data at 15:00 today, using 5-minute averages. This seems like a reasonable start.