Field Notes

Mayberry: 2014-08-07 11:15:00 (DOY 219)
Author: Cove Sturtevant
Others: Sara

Summary: Downloaded data. Caterpillars continue to kill off veg. Water levels a bit low. Need brush to clean water CO2 probe mesh.

Mayberry
2014-08-07

Portable Tower
We arrived at the High Veg portable tower site at about 11:15 PDT. I checked the tower and downloaded the data while Sara took water samples. The water table has dropped ~10 cm but we saw Bryan later who said he had just restarted the pumps that morning. The caterpillars are definitely present at the High Veg site, but not as prevalent as other spots. We stopped at the Low Veg site afterward â€“ the caterpillars have pretty much decimated the vegetation there. Took some photos of how much the veg has died off.

Readings
CO2: 367 ppm (410 after cleaning)
H2O: 970 mmol m-3 (730 after cleaning)
signal strength = 82.13% (91.76 after cleaning)
t: 24.9 Â°C
p = 101.3 kPa
sos = 346.5 m s-1
CH4: 1.95 ppm
RSSI: 46% (73% after cleaning)
Reservoir was full.

Permanent Tower
All well. Collected data. Took water samples. More caterpillar herbivory. Given the trend, all the cattails may be eaten by the end of summer!

Readings:
CO2: 391 ppm (400 after cleaning)
H2O: 840 mmol m-3 (780 after cleaning)
signal strength = 80.5% (95.3% after cleaning)
t: 26.2 Â°C
p = 101.2 kPa
sos = 348.0 m s-1
CH4 = 2.0 ppm (same after cleaning)
RSSI = 35% (63% after cleaning)
Reservoir almost full.
Met looked good.
Cleaned rad.

Sara noted that â€œthere were a ton of disgusting bugsâ€ living in the forerunner water co2 probe. She tried cleaning as best as possible, but we need papertowers or a toothbrush to clean it better next time.

1 photos found

20140807MB_LowVegCaterpillarDestruction.jpg ( 2014-08-07 11:55:49 ) Full size: 1920x1434
Caterpillars have decimated the vegetation at our Low Veg site