A very hot day with a high at the nearby airport AWS of 104F. There was some high level cirrus and variable SW to W winds and a few dust devils (one of which damaged our shade canopy).
John Sobtzak joined us for a couple of days and worked with David and I on the 449 MHz Modular Profiler. He and David did a number of checks and adjustments, such as checking the range calibration, tuning parameters, We found that the 451.4 MHz signal that I had detected previously was made up of a number of narrow band components. On the Aritsu portable VNA in spectral analysis mode, connected to the channel 0 antenna just at the LNA reported a signal level of about -78 dBm. We tried rotating the array array about 20 deg to line up better with the orientation towards the antennas on Mount Butler, only made a small difference, perhaps reducing the RFI signal 2 or 3 dB. The profiler is getting good signal (up to around 5 km AGL, probably thanks to the moisture inn the clouds aloft). The wind analysis indicated low cross-correlations involving antenna channel 0 (perhaps suggesting a problem with that antenna), however when David switched toughs it appeared to improve so it may have been a connection issue rather than a problem with the antenna itself. We will do further checks tomorrow. John also cabled up the MISS wind profiler and we plan to turn that on tomorrow.
We also started up the Metek Halo lidar on top of the MISS container (starting in a default VAD winds mode), rearranged the contents of the lidar container, and moved the Helium into place. Isabel worked on the network further, getting the broadband connection running in both trailers. Josh set up the sounding system antennas, with the coms antennas on a temporary portable mount while we investigate radio interference from the Modular Profiler.
BTW, yesterday (July 15) was a down day for the ISS crew, David and Josh went skiing/boarding (! ) while Isabel & I checked out a local museum.
John and David working on the Modular Profiler
Josh and Bill working on the Helium and the Metek Halo lidar
Hot, clear with light variable winds, mostly from the west.
The main events today involved lidars, networking and Helium (and lots of forklift work). We unpacked and installed our own wind lidar (the Windcube 200S) on a small platform about 20 meters SSW of MISS (and west of the UVA Halo and CL61 ceilometer). This lidar will be mainly doing PPI scans for VAD wind profiles. We then installed the Metek Halo lidar on an elevated platform on top of the MISS container. It will be mainly staring along the ISFS array to the east. After some more network work, we started up the Windcube and CL61, both appeared to be working well and see up to about 2km altitude. We haven't started up the Metek Halo yet. Isabel also got the plotting working in the ISS1 data manager so we can view plots from the Modular Profiler, surface met, windcube and CL61.
We are currently using a cell modem to connect to the outside world. A technician from Tonopah worked on getting us a broadband connection via a wireless link to the airport, although there is still some configuration work to do so we are not connected yet. We shutdown the Modular Profiler for a few hours this afternoon while running network cables through the compound.
A pallet of 12 Helium cylinders were delivered along with two small cylinders of gases for the REAL system. The cylinders were shipped from Airgas in Chico, having been stored there since January (we had ordered them early through Chico State University because of the worldwide shortage of Helium) but with the move of the campaign to Nevada, had to get them shipped to our new site in Tonopah.
Will, Chris, and I met with Chenning and his students this morning, gave a safety briefing, and discussed their work setting up poles for a fiber optic line to measure temperature.
Installing NCAR's Vaisala/Leosphere Windcube scanning lidar (left) and the Halo-Photonics Streamline lidar (leased from Metek) on the right.
Josh unloading a pallet of Helium cylinders.
Another hot clear day with light winds.
We started off the day with a safety briefing led by Will, followed by some tidying up and setup of the UVA Halo lidar and the CL61 ceilometer. The UVA Halo is on a pallet on the ground about 15 meters south of the MISS trailer, and the ceilometer is about 3 meters northwest from that. The UVA Halo will be mainly looking vertically during the campaign, although we do plan regular coordinated scans with the other lidars for intercomparison and calibration purposes. We got this lidar running this afternoon and for now (during testing) it is running the same scan strategy used during the 3-week test period at the FBO in May and is directly connected to a cell modem for monitoring. Isabel setup a Ubiquiti network link to the ISS1 trailer and we will transition the UVA Halo to that network. The CL61 hasn't yet been powered up, pending connection to the ISS1 network. Isabel also debugged a compilation issue with the LROSE analysis package, and tested it with some windcube lidar data we had collected in Boulder.
The Modular Profiler successfully ran overnight and we mostly left it in winds mode, although David did work on the RASS sound card (a USB dongle), amplifier, and speakers (they worked well but we haven't tested the data system in RASS mode yet).
David and Josh working on the UVA Halo lidar (left), Isabel and Bill working on the Ubiquiti data link (right)
Screenshots of measurements from the Modular Wind Profiler (left) and the UVA Halo lidar (right)
Another hot clear day, the breeze was lighter today although there did seem to be more dust devils.
David continued work on the Modular Profiler and was able to clean up some of the artifact signals that he saw yesterday, and get some wind measurements from the system. We are running the profiler at low power (only a 3% duty cycle), but it is still producing wind measurements up to the 2 km altitude level. We set up a M2HATS configuration and got the wind processing running, then left the profiler running overnight.
We also instrumented and raised the ISS1 surface met tower. The DSM is recording data, although so far it is not transmitting that data to the data manager computer. Josh and I retrieved the University of Virginia HALO lidar from the airport FBO hanger, which is where we had stored it after running some sampling tests back in May.
We were supposed to get a delivery of Helium, however the Airgas agent said that the shipment has been delayed and should be delivered on Friday.
Working on the ISS1 surface met instruments at left, and the completed tower at right.
Another hot clear day with a light southerly wind and occasional dust devils nearby.
After a slow start due to various delays, there was lots of progress in many areas today. The forklift was delivered, more trucks arrived (the ISFS base trailer and the Penske truck carrying the MPDs and the Metek Halo lidar, thanks Ben and Dexter), and the electrician hooked up power. Josh used the forklift to get the Modular Profiler amplifier enclosure into position, then David got it all connected, and once the power came on, he quickly got the profiler running. There is still a lot to do with the profiler such as orientating the antenna to reduce radio interference and get all the various components tuned, but it was great to see a test run of the system and that his new FGPA data system was working.
In other progress, the RASS was cabled up, MISS was repositioned to line up properly with the ISFS tower array; Josh, David and Will installed the safety railing on the lidar platform on top of MISS, and Isabel and I assembled the ISS1 met tower.
Installing the 449 MHz Modular Profiler amplifier enclosure
David and a monitor showing the initial test data from the Modular Profiler
Installing the safety railing for the lidar platform on MISS
Another hot sunny day. Winds were a little lighter today, but still mostly southerly.
Today we did some more tidying and sorting equipment around the site. We still don't have power (apparently the electrician should come tomorrow) so Isabel and David mostly helped ISFS assemble towers. Josh helped Chenning and his students get a truckload of pipes from Hawthorne for the fiber optic temperature sensor line and also brought supplies for ISS. The REAL lidar trailer arrived this afternoon and we helped position that. The position is carefully coordinated with the ISFS tower array and the lidars that we will be deploying.
I also spent some time tracking down a potential radio interference signal for the Modular Profiler. There is a constant narrow-band signal at about 451.4 MHz with a bandwidth of around 10 kHz. Using a directional antenna at multiple sites around the valley and town indicated that it comes from a cluster of radio towers on a hill next to Mount Butler just south of Tonopah. The location is approximately 38° 3' 7" N, 117° 13' 36" W. This location is about 12 km from ISS with a bearing of 276 deg. It should be possible to avoid this interference by carefully orientating the Modular Profiler antenna to point a null in the radiation pattern in that direction and by careful setup of the clutter screen.
Using a directional antenna and handheld spectrum analyzer to determine the location of a 451 MHz radio signal, which appears to be a cluster of antennas on a hill just south of Tonopah.
Bruce, Shane, and Isabel setting the Chico State University REAL lidar trailer adjacent to the ISS site.
Another hot sunny day, although today had a more consistent southerly breeze, gusty at times.
Today we moved the ISS1 trailer into its final position next to the pump compound, putting it a little further south than we initially intended, mostly to give the trucks delivering the ISFS base trailer and the REAL trailers more room to maneuver, but it also gives us a shorter power cable run. We laid out the main power cable, although the electrician hasn't set up the power panel yet so we have nothing to connect to yet.
On the Modular Profiler, we finished assembling the RASS dishes and mounted the speakers, continued unpacking the ISS1 trailer, then began assembling the 449 MHz antenna frame, unloaded and mounted the antennas (with help from the ISFS group, thanks!). David mounted the front-end electronics troughs and cabled those to the antenna, while Josh positioned the rack and setup monitors etc.
Isabel worked with the ISFS crew today (Chris, Tony and Will) getting their towers laid out. Steve headed back to Boulder, thanks Steve for getting things laid out and started, and especially for getting the county approval process completed - just in time!
Getting the ISS1 trailer into position
Assembling the 449 MHz profiler frame and mounting the front-end electronics troughs
The ISFS crew loading up their pick-up with tower sections
Isabel and David taking a well-deserved break under the shade screen we installed this afternoon.
Josh and Tony pulled into the site after hauling MISS from Boulder
Partially assembled RASS dishes under the shade canopy inside the compound that the 449 MHz Modular Profiler will be deployed in.
Bill, David, and I arrived in Tonopah last night.
This morning, we got the site tour from Steve, set up some shade canopies, started unpacking the lidar container, and built the stage platform that the windcube lidar will go on.
This afternoon, we started putting rass dishes together, unloaded more from the lidar container, did a better job securing the canopy in the enclosure where the profiler will go, and set up a very involved shade tarp between the two containers (hopefully it'll still be attached in the morning). We also helped Steve and Will load up some tower parts to take out to the tower array.
Josh and Tony arrived in MISS around 4:30. MISS is roughly in place, but will need to be moved a few feet tomorrow, and leveled. We can move ISS1 into position tomorrow now that we have the green truck. The power panel at the site isn't ready yet, but will hopefully be done on Monday.
Feel free to add whatever I've forgotten.