Field Notes

<--2023-07-06 12:15:00 | 2023-08-15 12:20:00-->
Other sites visited today: Vaira | Mayberry
Phenocam link: Searching...

Tonzi: 2023-07-25 09:30:00 (DOY 206)
Author: Daphne Szutu
Others: Dennis

Summary: Regular data collection/cleaning, LAI2200C transect, Road well sensor above water level--lowered, FD chambers battery cable chewed--fixed, new pole pruner

2023-07-25
Tonzi

Dennis and I arrived at 9:30 PDT, an early start today to beat the forecasted 37C high temperature. It’s been three weeks since the last visit, and there’s been a few hot spells with temperatures >40C over a few days. It was warm and sunny with clear skies--hot in the sun but pleasant in the shade when a breeze blew by. The pond behind the house is still full and the trees are looking good.

Dennis got started with taking the MoisturePoint measurements, and then measured the well levels.

I checked the LattePanda. The CR1000 met, CR6 CO2 prof, and IRT dataloggers had red statuses in the collection status column—I reset all three devices. The IRT had data until 2023-07-10, when I assume the lithium battery ran out of power. I climbed the tower to collected the Tower USB GHG and phenocam data. I also checked the CNR1 PRT wires since Joe said it has been missing a bunch of data recently. I checked that the screw were tight and the wires were fine. I also tightened all of the screws on the met CR1000 and mux since Joe said there has been a lot of spikes. I turned most screws ¼-1/2 turn, but nothing was too loose. I cleaned the radiometers.

Down on the ground, I serviced the zcams and downloaded the Floor USB GHG and Floor well data. I had trouble connecting to the FD chambers because neither chamber had power. A critter had chewed through the black wire from the charge controller box to the battery. Luckily there was plenty of slack so I trimmed the wire and reattached it to the battery. I then downloaded data from both FD chambers and cleared their memories. They both had data until 2023-07-13 02:20. I'm not sure what else is powered by those batteries; I think all of the Vaisala CO2 probes have been removed.

I downloaded the GlobalWater road well data. The water level dropped below the sensor in the last few days, so I released the extra cable from the cable tie and retightened it around the cable and u-bolt. The new sensor reading was 9.7ft at 10:30 PST.

Joe asked me to check the serial number of the Floor HMP45 by zcam2 – sn W0510026.

I set up Dennis on the LAI2200C for another transect under the canopy. He took measurements three weeks ago, but the GPS data were not saved. This time I think I figured out the trick. The wand and console must be attached, and you need to press “Log” on the console, not on the wand. In addition, the wand needs to be set in “B” (below) mode, although I’m not sure why because the console GPS settings are set to save GPS data for both A and B points. The reference (above) wand was set up on a tripod by the road, in the clearing to the east of the tower. Both wands were fitted with a 45 deg view cap. The sun was shining from the southeast, so samples were taken with the wands pointing south so that the sun would be to the side of or slightly in front of the viewer. He took about 100 “B” measurements. He said there were a few measurements on his way back from the first transect where a fly had landed on the sensor and he didn’t notice right away, so I should throw away any weird measurements from that area.

I read the dendrometers, and checked on the IRT datalogger, which had a dead lithium battery. Joe suspected that the batteries were getting drained because of a solar charging issue. The voltage before and after the DC-DC converter were both 0, although I measured 13V of what I think is both ends of the solar panel wires. I checked the DC-DC converter by removing it from everything and connecting it to a replacement lithium battery (the one that I had used to power the small white Eepc). It read 12V before and after, so the converter itself is fine. I reattached the DC-DC convert to the IRT setup, and now it read about 4V before/after the converter, and ~2.8V after the diodes. I put in the replacement lithium battery. Not sure how long it will last getting a few volts from the panels.

Dennis and I did the pressure bomb measurements around 12:45 PDT (11:45 PST). I sampled three stem segments each from Tree 102 and Tree 92 (Liu Kang’s tree). I tried to get a variety of conditions – sunlit v shaded, north v south, interior v exterior. We also recorded the number of leaves on each stem we sampled. One of the stems had tiny acorns!
I brought in a new pole pruner to replace our old one. The new pruner are two pole segments; only one is attached to the head, but I left both segments there in case we want to sample from higher up in the future. We packed up the old pole pruner back to the lab. We can throw the pole away (lots of exposed fiberglass), but maybe we can keep the head. On second thought, maybe I should bring in the other pole segment to protect it from weathering. Then we can swap it out when the current pole starts to degrade.

Right before we left, I moved the data files from the Data and Data/OSU folders to a USB stick.

We left at 13:20 PDT for a final stop at Mayberry before heading home.

Field Data

No tank data

Well Depth

Date	Location	Depth (feet)
2023-07-25	MB	0.69
2023-07-25	TZ_road	30.4
2023-07-25	TZ_tower	25.9
2023-07-25	TZ_floor	21.15

No TZ Moisture Point data found

No VR Moisture Point data found

No TZ grass heigth found

No VR grass heigth found

Tree DBH

Date	Tag#	Reading (mm)
2023-07-25	102	3.5
2023-07-25	2	12.0
2023-07-25	245	7.7
2023-07-25	3	3.3
2023-07-25	4	6.7
2023-07-25	5	16.3
2023-07-25	6	5.8
2023-07-25	7	13.7
2023-07-25	72	20.0
2023-07-25	79	20.5