Field Notes

Hill Slough: 2023-09-28 10:00:00 (DOY 271)
Author: Daphne Szutu
Others: Robert

Summary: Regular data collection/cleaning, more tules coming up around boardwalk and solar panel tower, shadowband not working--needs more work

2023-09-28
Hill Slough

Robert and I arrived around 10:00 PDT. It was a beautiful fall morning- mild and sunny with clear skies. It was near low tide and more clumps of tule are starting to come up around the main tower. The tules (and at least one cattail) around the boardwalk are getting bigger quickly.

No staff gauge reading today—the staff gauge in the channel was completely covered in muck and I forgot our long-handled scrubber that Joe had just put together.

I downloaded met, cam, and USB GHG data. Robert cleaned flux and rad sensors. The reservoir was 60% full; we refilled it.

The rotating shadowband was not spinning and the motor was not working even though it was getting 12V+. Robert tried to change the motor, but couldn’t loosen the set screw holding the band to the motor shaft. We ended up removing the whole box to bring back to the lab. I disconnected the CR10X power, which also powers the motor. Robert zip-tied the PAR sensor to the scaffolding so it won’t bang around in the wind.

I changed the 7700 heater from summer to winter hours. The old hours were 20:00 to 06:00 and the new hours are 18:00 to 08:00. The heaters prevent condensation from forming, so I extend its hours in the winter given the higher humidity and cooler temperatures.

The 7500 read: 413ppm CO2, 650mmol/m3 H2O, 21.6C, 101.6kPa, 99SS – 101 after cleaning
The 7700 read: 2.05ppm CO2, 55RSSI – 74 after cleaning

I sampled the tower porewater sipper at 9:48 PST. I wasn’t able to pull any water at first, so I pushed a little air back into the sipper with the syringe and saw a handful of bubbles come out from the ground (very little surface water at this time). I drew up some water to rinse the tubing and syringe and then discarded it. I then took the sample and stored it in a pre-rinsed vial to bring it back to the car to measure.

Sample, Temperature-compensated conductivity, Sample temperature, Time
Porewater, 8.60mS, 23.1C, 9:48 PST

The wood of the upper boardwalk sounds a bit creaky and should be replaced.

We left at 11:00 PDT.

2 photos found

20230928HS_MorePlants.jpg ( 2023-09-28 10:01:31 ) Full size: 1920x1440
Tules starting to colonize around the solar platform