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15:35  -  The rad mote had locked up this morning. Chris checked the leds and power and all looked ok. He then re-cycled power and the mote cmae back to life.

All is well!

Some comments on the precip data and wvally4.

The PIC processor on the ETI gauges generates a tip count as shown below:

data_dump -i 4,80 -A isff_20101216.nc
2010 12 16 05:42:25.8211    5.04       9 ETI8 0\r\n
2010 12 16 05:42:30.8613    5.04       9 ETI8 0\r\n
2010 12 16 05:42:35.9015    5.04       9 ETI8 1\r\n
2010 12 16 05:42:40.9424   5.041       9 ETI8 0\r\n
2010 12 16 05:42:45.9823    5.04       9 ETI8 0\r\n
2010 12 16 05:42:51.0220    5.04       9 ETI8 0\r\n

The above snippet shows what appears to be a false tip at Dec 16 05:42 UTC, (Dec 15 22:42 MST). No other stations reported precip, and the longwave in (Rlw.in) doesn't indicate the presence of clouds.

This station had about 17 false tips over that night of Dec 15/16, and a similar looking set of false tips the next night, after the station visit of Dec 16.

Doing a quick look back through the plots shows similar false-looking tips every night between Nov 23 and Dec 1 with the exception of the nights of Nov 27 and 28. There are a few false-looking tips during the day, but most of them are at night. Typically the tips occurred throughout the night, and were not an isolated incident which one might expect from a prankster.

I think the false tips are correlated with temperature, they seem to occur on cold nights, when the temp is below -6C.

A tip is .01 inch of precip in 5 seconds. In the example above, the ETI at station 4 is reporting every 5.04 seconds. Using a value of 5 seconds is in error by less than 1 part in 100.

NIDAS converts .01 inch / 5 seconds to a rate, called Rainr, in mm/hr by multiplying the tip value by 182.88, so that one tip is a momentary rate of 183 mm/hr. 60 (or 59) of these 5 second points are averaged over 5 minutes. So one tip in a 5 minute period will result in an averaged rate of 182.88/60=3.05 mm/hr or 182.88/59=3.10 mm/hr depending on how many samples were received from the ETI in the 5 minute period, which is why there is a little jitter in the value of one tip on the rain plot.

Status evaluated from 36 hour plots on Dec 17 08:00-10:00 MST
On site: Steve S and Chris

Summary: no Tsoil at W Slope main

Vdsm: ok, 11.5-14.8v, battery at 2 ~.8v below others
Vmote.rad: ok,12.3-15v, peaking to 18v
Vmote.soil: 12.2-14.8 V, peeking to 18v

P: ok, 841 to 873 mb
Tbaro: ok, -10 to 17 degC
T: ok, -12 to -.5 degC
RH: ok, 48 to 97%, oscillations at 2,3,5
Q: ok, 1.5 to 3.1 gm/kg
Rainr (3,4,6): ok, false tips at 4 early morning
Spd (1,6): ok, up to 5 m/s, thresholda t 6 looking better
Dir (1,6): ok, currently SE

csat diag: ok; error from 2 when we visited site yesterday
spd: ok, up to 5.5 m/s
dir: ok
u'u': ok, generally < 1 (m/s)^2, high values at 3 this morning (2-3 m/s)
v'v': ok, generally < 1 (m/s)^2, ditto at 3
w'w': ok, generally < .5 (m/s)^2, ditto at 3
u*: ok, up to 0.8 m/s
sigma_w/u*: ok, ~1.5

tc: ok, -11 to -1 deg C
tc'tc': generally < 0.03 degC^2
w'tc': ok, -0.1 to 0.05 m/s degC

kh2oV: ok, 1.6 to 3.0 V, current values
kh2o'kh2o': ok, generally < 0.02, spikes up to 0.19 (g/m^3)^2
w'kh2o': ok, -.01 to .02, jumps from -.03 to 0.5 (m/s g/m^3)

Rsw.in: ok, up to 680 W/m^2 on 12/16
Rsw.out: ok, up to 370 W/m^2 on 12/16
albedo: ok, 0.2 to 1.0 due to frost on the domes?
Rsw.dfs (1,7): ok, up to 100 W/m^2 on 12/16
Rsw.global (1,7): ok, up to 480 W/m^2 on 12/16

Rlw.in: ok, 190 to 260 W/m^2
Rpile.in: ok, -160 to -10 W/m^2
Tcase.in: ok, -12 to 8 deg C
Tdome.in (1,2,5): ok, -12 to 8 deg C

Rlw.out: ok, 240 to 310 W/m^2
Rpile.out: ok, -70 to 5 W/m^2
Tcase.out: ok, -12 to 10 deg C
Tdome.out (1,2,5): ok, -12 to 10 deg C

soil.aux at E & W Slope (5,6)
Tsoil: ok, -1.2 to 3.8 C, missing W Slope main
Qsoil: 13 to 34 %vol
Gsoil: 7 to 31 W/m^2
Cvsoil: 5e5 to 3.2e6

11:50 - 12:05

Cleaned frost from radiometer domes.

sonic angle - 86.7 magnetic (sonic boom pointing west)

Checked rain gauge, solution was slushy. Chris broke through slush so there is bound to be a lot of false readings at this time.

10:45 - 11:10, Dec 16

Cleaned krypton, v = 2.4. Cleaned up looking domes, frost built up on Rsw.in. Rlw.in looked ok.

Since the battery acted up the other day we decided to move the DSM internal power cable from the power panel board to a serial panel board.

If we continue to have problems with power, next step will be to either replace the power cable or the stack power supply.

new angle on boom, 249.5 magnetic (boom pointing east)

   twh (3/1/11): high-rate u,w suggests mast down 10:58 - 11:09

                           high-rate data indicates kh2o cleaned at 11:01

           (3/3/11): high-rate u and p indicate mast down 10:59 - 11:08

Status evaluated from 36 hour plots on Dec 16 08:00-10:00 MST
On site: Steve S and Chris

Summary: no Tsoil at W Slope main

Vdsm: ok, 11.8-14.5v
Vmote.rad: ok,12.3-15v, peaking to 18v, site 2 looking good
Vmote.soil: 12.2-14.5 V, peeking to 18v

P: ok, 833 to 875 mb
Tbaro: ok, -10 to 18 degC
T: ok, -10 to 7 degC
RH: ok, 48 to 100%
Q: ok, 2.2 to 6.0 gm/kg
Rainr (3,4,6): ok, false tips at 4 early morning
Spd (1,6): ok, up to 12 m/s, 6 has high threshold
Dir (1,6): ok, currently W (6) and E (1)

csat diag: ok; no errors from yesterday
spd: ok, up to 10 m/s
dir: ok
u'u': ok, generally < 2.5 (m/s)^2
v'v': ok, generally < 2.0 (m/s)^2
w'w': ok, generally < 1.0 (m/s)^2
u*: ok, up to 0.8 m/s
sigma_w/u*: ok, ~1.5

tc: ok, -10 to 7 deg C
tc'tc': generally < 0.05 degC^2, high during snow event
w'tc': ok, -0.07 to 0.05 m/s degC

kh2oV: ok, 0.0 to 3.2 V, most recovered from snow, 2 low at .6
kh2o'kh2o': ok, generally < 0.03, spikes up to 0.2 (g/m^3)^2
w'kh2o': ok, currently up to 0.5 (m/s g/m^3)

Rsw.in: ok, up to 600 W/m^2 on 12/15
Rsw.out: ok, up to 500 W/m^2 on 12/15
albedo: ok, 0.15 to 1.0 due to snow
Rsw.dfs (1,7): ok, up to 300 W/m^2 on 12/15
Rsw.global (1,7): ok, up to 500 W/m^2 on 12/15

Rlw.in: ok, 200 to 330 W/m^2, 1 reading high compareed to others this morning
Rpile.in: ok, -160 to 0 W/m^2
Tcase.in: ok, -12 to 13 deg C
Tdome.in (1,2,5): ok, -12 to 13 deg C

Rlw.out: ok, 300 to 380 W/m^2
Rpile.out: ok, -40 to 8 W/m^2
Tcase.out: ok, -12 to 13 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: 13 to 33 %vol
Gsoil: -30 to 40 W/m^2
Cvsoil: 5e5 to 4e6

15:15:- 15:30

Cleaned radiometer domes, there was snow accumulation.

sonic angle - 248.7 magnetic (sonic boom pointing east)

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