Field Notes

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Other sites visited today: Vaira | Tonzi | Bouldin Alfalfa | Hill Slough
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Bouldin Corn: 2024-05-22 09:15:00 (DOY 143)
Author: Daphne Szutu
Others: Joe, Arman

Summary: Moved tower farther into the field, installed soil sensors and zcams in field, PGE power outage, well water level sensor out of ground, downloaded most data, breezy day

2024-05-22
Bouldin Corn

Joe, Arman, and I arrived at 9:15 PST (10:15 PDT). Joe stopped here on his way to Tonzi/Vaira to help us move the tower farther into the field so the tower’s radiometers could be directly over the corn, instead of weeds. It was sunny with a breeze from the west, getting windier through the morning. We saw multiple plumes of dust and dust devils throughout the day.

There was no power when we arrived, and the PGE outage map online showed an outage in the central part of Bouldin Island.

Before we moved the tower:
- Removed both boardwalks
- Folded in the radiometer boom
- Removed ground sensors from soil, tied them up to the tower
- Removed the water level sensor, tied it up to the tower
- Removed the grounding rod
- Removed fence posts and ground anchors—one fence post was half underground so Joe had to lever it out of the ground using a chain and another fence post maybe
- Removed Charlotte’s enclosure that was mounted to the northeast scaffolding post
- Removed well pipe
- Unplugged the power
- Secured the feet to the scaffolding with bungee cords

The three of us moved the tower about 2m to the west. We squared and leveled the tower. The northwestern foot was stuck at its current height, so we leveled everything relative to that scaffolding corner.

Joe left to continue his day at Tonzi/Vaira.

Arman and I put most things back in their proper places:
- Installed VWC sensors. The Delta-T was installed vertically at the surface so the white probe body was above ground. The Campbell VWC sensors were installed vertically so the top of the white probe body was just below the soil surface.
- Installed soil heat flux plates 2cm below the surface
- Installed soil thermocouples—had to retape one profile so need to double check I got the thermocouples in the correct order
- Put all fence posts and ground anchors in. The southeast fence post is a little far from the tower but it worked out.
- Installed grounding rod below the tower
- Arman pounded in a post where the scaffolding used to be and hung up Charlotte’s enclosure
- The power cable was a bit short, so I extended it with screw terminal for now. About 1/3 of the power cable that runs along the ground is not in conduit
- Arman placed the zcams in the field, sn RPI0W-002 and sn RPI0W-007. I connected them to power, and they should boot once the power comes back on.

Next time:
- Install well and deploy water level sensor
- Replace power cable with one longer cable in metal conduit
- The holes in the fence posts could be re-drilled (got a little misshapen from banging the post pounder on it)
- Check sonic orientation

Next time we move a tower, pack these:
- Post pounder
- Bungee cords for feet
- Shovels for everyone!
- Level
- Check if power cable and well pipe will reach or not
- Post hole digger for well, if needed
- Sheepherder’s jack

After the tower and its sensors were settled, I downloaded USB GHG, camera, and PA data. I did not collect met data since the power was out. Arman cleaned the flux and rad sensors and topped off the wash reservoir.

We left at 12:25 PST (13:25 PDT).

2 photos found

20240522BC_SoilSensors.jpg ( 2024-05-22 13:05:39 ) Full size: 1920x1440
Three sets of soil sensors, 2 zcams, and one of Charlotte's chambers (out of many) on a mostly bare field with tiny corn sprouts.

20240522BC_TowerMoved.jpg ( 2024-05-22 13:20:58 ) Full size: 1440x1920
Moved the scaffolding about 2m to the west, farther into the field and closer to the corn. The SE fence post is a little far from the scaffolding. We moved Charlotte's white enclosure from the scaffolding to a new fence post.