Blog from December, 2010

It appears the prop at 6 has a threshold problem. Compared to the sonic, the prop halts at speeds around 1 m/s.

Site 1: 026

Site 2: 021

Site 3: 020

Site 4: 019

Site 5: 018

Site 6: 024

Site 7: 017

Status evaluated from 36 hour plots on Dec 15 08:30-10:00 MST
On site: Steve S and Chris

Summary: no Tsoil at W Slope main

Vdsm: ok, 10.9-14.3 v, 2 @ 10.9v
Vmote.rad: ok,12.5-14.5v
Vmote.soil: 12.2-13.9 V

P: ok, 833 to 870 mb
Tbaro: ok, -1 to 15 degC
T: ok, -3 to 15 degC
RH: ok, 20 to 100%
Q: ok, 2.2 to 6.3 gm/kg
Rainr (3,5,6): tips coming in since snow event
Spd (1,6): ok, up to 10 m/s, a few missing events at 6
Dir (1,6): ok, currently ~NW

csat diag: ok; some errors this morning, most at 2
spd: ok, up to 10 m/s, 2 intermittant at times
dir: ok
u'u': ok, generally < 2.5 (m/s)^2
v'v': ok, generally < 4.0 (m/s)^2
w'w': ok, generally < 1.0 (m/s)^2
u*: ok, up to 0.8 m/s
sigma_w/u*: ok, ~1.7

tc: ok, 3 to 14 deg C
tc'tc': generally < 0.3 degC^2
w'tc': ok, -0.1 to 0.1 m/s degC, site 2 outages this morning

kh2oV: ok, 0.0 to 3.5 V, snow event shut most down except 6
kh2o'kh2o': ok, generally < 0.03, spikes up to 0.2 (g/m^3)^2
w'kh2o': ok, currently up to 0.1 (m/s g/m^3)

Rsw.in: ok, up to 380 W/m^2 on 12/14
Rsw.out: ok, up to 80 W/m^2 on 12/14, a few negatives at night
albedo: ok, 0.1 t0 0.2, up to .8 this morning with the snow
Rsw.dfs (1,7): ok, up to 200 W/m^2 on 12/14
Rsw.global (1,7): ok, up to 350 W/m^2 on 12/14

Rlw.in: ok, 240 to 340 W/m^2
Rpile.in: ok, -90 to 0 W/m^2
Tcase.in: ok, -3 to 15 deg C
Tdome.in (1,2,5): ok, -3 to 15 deg C

Rlw.out: ok, 300 to 380 W/m^2
Rpile.out: ok, -40 to 8 W/m^2
Tcase.out: ok, -3 to 15 deg C
Tdome.out (1,2,5): ok, -3 to 15 deg C

soil.aux at E & W Slope (5,6)
Tsoil: missing W Slope main
Qsoil: 14 to 33 %vol
Gsoil: -30 to 40 W/m^2
Cvsoil: 5e5 to 2.5e6

16:10 -  Visit to 6 due to intermittent outages. Prop started working again about 15:45.

Checked connectors inside and outside DSM, all looked ok.

Cleaned krypton since it is at the 3m height.

From http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomagmodels/struts/calcDeclination, the magnetic declinations of the sites varied from 12 11' to 12 17' east. To correct the magnetic azimuths of the sonics and props we'll use a declination value of 12.2 degrees for all sites.

To rotate the wind vectors, NIDAS uses the pointing angle of the sonic +V axis (Vazimuth), which is pointing azimuth of the sonic boom + 90, or the sonic +U axis - 90.

The following are from logbook entries of the sonic azimuths.

Note that all measured azimuths are in degrees magnetic, with the declination set to 0 on the compass or datascope, to reduce untraceable mental mistakes.

Props

Dec 14, 12:15 - 12:50

Cleaned krypton and radiometer domes.

   twh (3/1/11): high-rate kh2o shows kh2o cleaning at 12:27

                           high-rate w suggests mast down 12:25 - 12:30

          (3/3/11): high-rate u, T-tc, p  consistent with 12:25-12:30

sonic angle 249.5 magnetic (sonic pointing east)

fixed battery mount for Tsoil unit

Dec 14, 10:30 - 11:30:

Cleaned the krypton and radiometer domes, added drip loop. Made change to Tsoil mote battery box for easy removal

Sonic boom: 83.4 magnetic (sonic pointing east). Chris had to make a measurement from the west due to the fence east

of the mast. The measurement should be used with caution since it is not possible to see the boom from the west. We

will try to get on the other side of the fence the next time we visit ABC.

   twh (3/1/11): high-rate w suggests mast down 11:08 -  11:13; somewhat ambiguous

                           high-rate kh2oV shows kh2o cleaned at 11:10, which is consistent

          (3/3/11): high-rate data for u, T-tc, and p support this mast down period, but don't clarify it

Status evaluated from 36 hour plots on Dec 14 08:00-9:00 MST
On site: Steve S and Chris

Summary:  no Tsoil at W Slope main

Vdsm: ok, 12-14.3 Volts
Vmote.rad: ok,  12.7-15 V
Vmote.soil: ok, 12.3-18 V

P: ok, 840 to 880 mb
Tbaro: ok, 0 to 20 degC
T: ok, -2  to 13 degC
RH: ok, 30 to 100%; E Slope spike low, correlated with Q
Q: ok, 3 to 6 gm/kg; Playa low spike once not correlated with RH
Rainr (3,5,6): ok
Spd (1,6): ok, up to 6 m/s
Dir (1,6): ok, currently ~S

csat diag: ok
spd: ok, up to 9 m/s
dir: ok
u'u': ok, generally < 0.5 (m/s)^2; up to 1.6 m^2/s^2 at 7
v'v': ok, ditto, high spike at 4 at ~Dec 14, 5:00am
w'w': ok, generally < 0.1 (m/s)^2; up to 0.8 m^2/s^2 at 7
u*: ok, up to 0.2 m/s, up to 0.5 m/s at 7
sigma_w/u*: ok, ~2

tc: ok, 3 to 12 deg C
tc'tc': generally < 0.2 degC^2
w'tc': ok, -0.1 to 0.0 m/s degC

kh2oV: ok, 0.5 to 2.5 V
kh2o'kh2o': ok, currently up to 0.001 degC^2
w'kh2o': ok, currently up to 0.01 degC^2

Rsw.in: ok, up to 500 W/m^2 on 12/14
Rsw.out: ok, up to 130 W/m^2 on 12/14
albedo: ok, 0.1 to 0.3
Rsw.dfs (1,7): ok, up to 250 W/m^2 on 12/14
Rsw.global (1,7): ok, up to 500 W/m^2 on 12/14

Rlw.in: ok, up to 330 W/m^2
Rpile.in: ok, -120 to -20 W/m^2
Tcase.in: ok, 0 to 15 deg C
Tdome.in (1,2,5): ok, 0 to 15 deg C

Rlw.out: ok, up to 380 W/m^2
Rpile.out: ok, -20 to 0 W/m^2
Tcase.out: ok, 1 to 12 deg C
Tdome.out (1,2,5): ok, 1 to 13 deg C

soil.aux at E & W Slope (5,6)
Tsoil: missing W Slope main
Qsoil: 14 to 33 %vol
Gsoil: -90 to 40 W/m^2
Cvsoil: 5e5 to 2.7e6

We have built four new TRHs for PCAPS.  These are numbered 025, 026, 027, 028.  These have been modified to use RS232 or I2C communications.  We have removed the ferrite beads to the communication lines and added shunts.  The board filler was our 'ear goo' and used epoxy to make it water proof.  Nail polish has been used to coat the contacts on the transducer.  GOR-TEX has been added to transducer to help with protection.

2010/12/12 3:00pm MST Shadowband at riverton adjusted from 39 to 37 degrees.

pyranometer was level upon arrival.

Steve and I took apart the winch for a more in-depth view of gears and barrel condition.  Found the part added to the drum was not needed anymore and we removed it.  Now winch will be able to take a higher load.  Looking closer at the gears we noticed wear on barrel gear than the worm gear.  Worm gear seems to have an odd 'bite' out of the bottom of it.  Nothing too scary, but something to keep on eye on during rest of this winches life.  The barrel  gear is definitely worn.  We will keep an extremely close eye on this gear.  Not that it's a worry for raising mast, but something will be done for the new year.  Kurt has ordered a new winch that is exactly the same so for the new year shift they will have a brand new winch tool.

Fun times!

2010/12/12 2:05pm MST shadowband angle adjusted from 40 degrees to 35 degrees. 

pyronometer was not level upon arrival, axis normal to the bar was not secured tightly, and was off level. Shadowband also not perpindicular to rad stand. Did not have proper equipment to determine offset from 90 degrees. Pyranometer should now be level. Shadow was set so diffuser was in the middle of the shadow band. 

Shadowband at Playa 1 adjusted for the first time since mid November (site installation).

Bird feces observed in both the shadowband and the upward facing longwave radiometer. Both diffusers were cleaned by hand. Precipitation may help with more cleaning.

14:15:   Mote ID locations for soil probes: ID10 is main and ID21 is aux

Sonic angle is 77.8 magnetic (sonic pointing west). Prop angle is 346.1 magnetic (prop pointing south)

cleaned dooms.

1:30 - 1:35 pm

Chris replaced the TRH inlet due to a broken bell and Tom cleaned the radiometer dooms. Drip loops added to downlookers.

The boom angle of the sonic was shot;  85.5 magnetic (sonic looking west)

Status evaluated from 36 hour plots on Dec 13 09:00-10:00 MST
On site: Tom and Gordon; Steve S and Chris

Summary:  no Tsoil at W Slope main

Vdsm: ok, 12-14.5 Volts
Vmote.rad: ok, 13-18 V
Vmote.soil: 13-18 V

P: ok, 845 to 880 mb
Tbaro: ok, 0 to 20 degC
T: ok, 0 to 11 degC
RH: ok, 60 to 100%; E Slope intemittent
Q: ok, 3 to 6 gm/kg; E Slope & Playa intermittent & correlated
Rainr (3,5,6): erroneous 3 mm/hr tip at W Valley
Spd (1,6): ok, up to 7 m/s
Dir (1,6): ok, currently ~S

csat diag: ok; minor errors last night
spd: ok, up to 8 m/s
dir: ok
u'u': ok, generally < 0.5 (m/s)^2; up to 1.5 m^2/s^2 at 3,4,7
v'v': ok, ditto
w'w': ok, generally < 0.1 (m/s)^2; up to 0.8 m^2/s^2 at 3,4,7p to 1 m^2/s^2
u*: ok, up to 0.7 m/s
sigma_w/u*: ok, ~1.5

tc: ok, 0 to 14 deg C
tc'tc': generally < 0.4 degC^2
w'tc': ok, -0.1 to 0.1 m/s degC

kh2oV: ok, 0.5 to 3 V
kh2o'kh2o': ok, currently up to 0.002 degC^2
w'kh2o': ok, currently up to 0.01 degC^2

Rsw.in: ok, up to 400 W/m^2 on 12/13
Rsw.out: ok, up to 150 W/m^2 on 12/13
albedo: ok, 0.1 t0 0.25
Rsw.dfs (1,7): ok, up to 500 W/m^2 on 12/13
Rsw.global (1,7): ok, up to 500 W/m^2 on 12/13

Rlw.in: ok, up to 340 W/m^2
Rpile.in: ok, -120 to 0 W/m^2
Tcase.in: ok, -2 to 18 deg C
Tdome.in (1,2,5): ok, -2 to 18 deg C

Rlw.out: ok, up to 400 W/m^2
Rpile.out: ok, -20 to 20 W/m^2
Tcase.out: ok, -2 to 18 deg C
Tdome.out (1,2,5): ok, -2 to 18 deg C

soil.aux at E & W Slope (5,6)
Tsoil: missing W Slope main
Qsoil: 13 to 28 %vol
Gsoil: -100 to 50 W/m^2
Cvsoil: 5e5 to 2.5e6