Field Notes

<--2022-04-20 11:30:00 | 2022-05-26 17:09:00-->
Other sites visited today: Gilbert Tract | Mayberry | East End

West Pond: 2022-05-12 14:15:00 (DOY 132)
Author: Daphne Szutu
Others: Carlos

Summary: Regular data collection/cleaning, water level still high, few missing days of T/RH--fixed?

2022-05-12
West Pond

Carlos and I arrived at 14:15 PDT. This is our first visit here in 3 weeks. It was warm, windy, and mostly clear and flat, streaky clouds near the horizon. The water level was still high and duckweed had colonized the open water between the levee road and the tower. A guy stopped by (with his very large hound puppy) and said they would keep flushing the wetlands for salt for a while and won’t be lowering the water level for several months (their water supply is usually cut off in July anyways). Today he was working on trimming trees along the roads.

The staff gauge read 87cm. When we arrived, I noticed a large brown mass underneath the upper boardwalk. Luckily, it wasn’t a huge wasp nest as I feared, but rather an empty bird’s nest.

I trained Carlos on downloading the data while I cleaned flux and rad sensors. He downloaded met, cam, and USB GHG data, although I think the April photos are probably still on the camera card—need to check next time. He downloaded miniDOT data and I swapped the desiccant for the miniDOT and water level sensors.

We were missing a few days of T/RH data. The mux wiring seemed fine. I unscrewed the sensor from the cable and opened the cable end to check the screw terminals inside. All seemed fine so I reattached everything. Data was fine afterwards. TA 20C, RH 32%. Not sure what the issue was in the end.

Carlos topped off the wash reservoir.

LI-7500 readings: CO2 412ppm, H2O 382ppm, T 22.5C, P 102.4kPa, SS 100 --> 102 after cleaning
LI7700 readings: CH4 2.0 ppm, RSSI 89 after cleaning

We left at 15:10 PDT.

2 photos found

20220512WP_Duckweed.jpg ( 2022-05-12 14:13:49 ) Full size: 1440x1920
Duckweed has colonized the open water in front of the WP tower