Clear and cold (5F) in the morning, partly cloudy in the afternoon, again with a cold N wind.

ISS1 – all systems running nominally again today with profiler status:   @0925 100m:  50 V 4.99 A  31 V 1.842 A,   @0930 150m rass: 50 V  4.12 A,  31V  1.898 A.  Temperatures in the enclosure look good, a bit on the cooler side, corresponding to the slightly higher currents (amplifiers work better when cooler).

ISS2 – Lidar not running in the morning, but partially functional by evening.  The second desiccant box was baked out in the soil sample oven at 155 deg F for ~5 hours and then placed on top of the existing desiccant box inside the lidar, as shown in the image below.  Note that the upper desiccant box is not secured in any manner, but just sitting atop the first desiccant box.    Bill reports that the RH inside the enclosure fell from about 20% to 14% in the evening.  There was noticeably less frosting on the lidar lens in the late afternoon, shown in pictures below.   The reason for the decrease in the frost is not known, since the second desiccant pack had just been installed.

       


Also, below is an image of the interior of the lidar, looking upwards, showing how the system is constructed, as requested by Liz.  The main optics structure has some seams in it that may or may not be completely hermetically sealed, i.e. water vapor may be able to get in through.


ISFS – Batteries were then replaced at the DC site, where the AC line power to the outlet has been connected.  When we initially plugged the system in and turned on the power strip, the GFI (ground fault interface) at the outlet tripped.  The AC voltage measured at the power box was also low when back on, measuring ~109 VAC.  The system is working and will be monitored for any power issues.

Sounding – sounding conducted without any problems at 1615 local time.

An IOP has been called for an ephemeral fog starting tomorrow at noon, so we will be launching two balloons tomorrow.  Additionally, the overnight low is forecasted to be -6 deg F, so it will be a cold morning tomorrow.

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  1. John Sobtzak AUTHOR

    I did stop the 449 profiler at 0935 on 02 Feb 2022 for several minutes in order to brush the light dusting of snow we received overnight from the antenna surfaces.  I wanted to get the snow off the panels before the sun melted it and formed water pools/ice.