Field Notes

<--2021-07-20 13:15:00 | 2021-08-04 10:00:00-->
Other sites visited today: Sherman Wetland | Bouldin Corn
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Bouldin Alfalfa: 2021-07-28 13:50:00 (DOY 209)
Author: Joe Verfaillie
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Summary: Mowed, raked, baled, cleaned up trimming around towers and posts, replaced 7700 wash tubing, collected advection data.

Bouldin Alfalfa
2021-07-28

I arrived at about 13:50. The field has been mowed, raked and baled â€“ the bales are still on the field and surrounding fields. I took some photos and measured the dimensions of a bale. From some online research, it seems like there are many variables in the size and weight of bales. But in general, the bales on our field are about 3â€™ x 4â€™ x 8â€™. Bales this size should weigh about 1000lbs and I have been told indirectly that bales this size in the Delta are 1000lbs bales. Alfalfa has to be 18-20% moisture when it is baled. And bales are sold by weight, so itâ€™s likely bales sizes vary slightly to keep the weight the same.

The usual gate off Hwy 12 was closed but the same passcode from the corn gate worked here too. There was water in the ditch near the tower.

I cut more alfalfa around the tower and cleaning up some more cuttings. The under canopy PAR was clear but slightly tilted and I forgot to straighten it.

The 7700 RSSI was 18 and the wash reservoir was mostly full. I did a manual spray and found a leak in the tubing right next to the box. I swapped out the entire length of natural colored tubing with some black tubing which should be more resistant to sun damage. After another manual spray and spin the RSSI rose to about 54. The spray still seemed pretty weak so the filter may need to be swapped too.

I collected the GHG files for the advection experiment. The data looked okay on a quick look.

I cut the alfalfa around the Planet Labs Arable post and around the Bouncer tower. Alfalfa knocked over by our drive to the Bouncer tower mostly escaped the mower so our wheel tracks remain after mowing. I think we should try to avoid driving to the Bouncer tower.

I collected the bouncer data. On quick inspection it looked okay. I will order another micro SD card to make this process quicker and more resistant to losing data when transferring files.

I left at 15:50

Next Mowing: 2021-08-19

3 photos found

20210728BA_WheelTracks.jpg ( 2021-07-28 15:05:49 ) Full size: 1920x1440
Alfalfa knocked down just before mowing remains after mowing