Field Notes

West Pond: 2013-06-13 15:45:00 (DOY 164)
Author: Cove Sturtevant
Others: Laurie, Yanel

Summary: Ant infestation in 7550 even larger. Placed ant bait. Everything still working ok.

West Pond
2013-06-13

We arrived around 15:45 PDT. It was sunny and warm/hot (27.5 C) with a mild breeze. Last week, Sara and I had discussed cutting down some of the tules in front of the tower over some concern that there were taller tules just under the tower, perhaps creating a new upward flow. However, after surveying the site from the top of the tower, I decided against cutting. The swath of taller tules is rather large and does extend upwind for a bit. Before we wade in there and trample all over everything, we should check the data first.

The inlet was running and the water under the tower was normal. CO2 sensor was fully submerged. Laurie measured the water height at the pole where the CO2 sensor lives. She reported that it was difficult to tell where the soil surface was, since it was very mushy. Water height from soil surface was 54 cm. Metal pole height from soil surface was 1.19 m. Distance between water surface and top of metal pole was 65 cm. Water pressure reading from MET data was 1.25.

The sizable ant infestation in the 7550 box has grown even larger and there were mounds and mounds of ant eggs (see picture). I brought ant bait and placed it inside the 7550 box and also put another trap outside. I kept an eye on the bait for the next 20 minutes or so, but the ants didnt seem to be interested. These ants are half red with a black butt, and could be different than the ants that the bait works on (sweet eaters). Im going to research the issue further and maybe Ill go out early next week with different bait (and fix the radiation issue at the alfalfa site too). Fortunately, the ants dont seem to be eating any of the 7550 components, and everything still works fine.

7550 clock was reading correct date and time.

7500 readings:
CO2 = 395 ppm (397 after cleaning)
H2O = 450 mmol m-3 (same after cleaning)
signal strength = 85.2% (87.6% after cleaning)
t = 29 C
p = 101.27 kPa
sos = 350.7 m s-1

7700 readings:
CH4 = 1.91 ppm (1.89 ppm after cleaning)
RSSI =28, bumped to 75 after cleaning
Reservoir was full.

MET looked good.

1 photos found

20130613WP_AntEggs7550.jpg ( 2013-06-13 15:45:00 ) Full size: 968x1296
Ants setting up house in the box