Field Notes
<--2024-11-14 10:30:00 | 2024-12-18 10:30:00-->Other sites visited today: Gilbert Tract | Mayberry | East End | Bouldin Corn | Bouldin Alfalfa | Hill Slough
Phenocam link: Searching...
Rush Ranch: 2024-12-04 14:30:00 (DOY 339)
Author: Daphne Szutu
Others: Carlos
Summary: Golden autumn afternoon, powered phenocam, downloaded GHG, secured solar panels temporarily, 7700 spray not working--try new spray power cable
| 2024-12-04 Rush Ranch Carlos and I arrived at 14:30 PST. It was sunny, mild, and still. Patty had e-mailed her Rush Ranch contact, Matt, 2 days ago to ask about our visit. He hadn’t responded but Patty said it was fine to visit. We drove in to the site. The roads were fine but there were two low-ish spots that might give us issues when the ground is wet. It was sunny, mild, and still, with that golden, late afternoon autumn light. There is short green grass coming up through the litter. There were no cows around when we arrived, but the longer we stayed, the more cows came to stand on the other side of the fence (around the car) to check out what we were doing. The CR1000 enclosure for the phenocam was mounted kitty-corner to the power enclosure. I connected it with longer power wire for now but maybe we’ll rearrange the enclosures next time. I checked the phenocam and reset its clock (it was 2 days behind) from 2024-12-02 23:42 to 2024-12-04 15:16 to match the laptop time. Joe says it doesn’t have an internal battery to maintain its clock, just a capacitor to bridge short power gaps. So we’ll have to remember to check the phenocam clock after power outages so that the time on the photo’s text overlay is correct. We can manually add a new text overlay after downloading the photos, but it’s a pain. The photo file date/time should be correct as long as the CR1000 date/time is correct. I telnet-ed into the camera, and tested manually phenocam_upload.sh. I confirmed that the RGB and IR photos were stored on the card. I moved the card’s photos to my laptop and reinserted an empty card. I taped the hole at the bottom of the enclosure. Bring steel wool next time. The 7700 reservoir was full, which was suspicious because it’s been raining and all of our other sites were at least 1/2-1/3 empty. I tested the spin (works) and the spray (doesn’t work). The spray power cable looks like an old one because it’s tied up with a non-releasable zip tie. I’ll bring another spray power cable next time. The 7550 box had water in the bottom because it’s mounted at an angle (top of the box tilts forward because there is a bracket on top but not the bottom). This happened to us at East End before—I think the bottom lip of the box collects water and then seeps into the box through the gasket over time. I wiped out the water and added the rest of my desiccant minipaks (which was only 2 minipaks). I added a shim (hose clamp) to the back. The bottom of the 7550 box has a mounting plate and we can bring one of those brackets that take the fine-threaded bolts next time and a hose clamp. Carlos worked on temporarily securing the solar panels so they don’t get blown face down again. We bolted the L-bracket arms on the back of the solar panels to the L-brackets bolted to the top of the wooden platform. The top of the solar panels are bolted together, but not the bottom. Carlos also screwed down the top of the wooden platform to the bottom of the wooden frame with a handful of long wood screws to prevent the platform from blowing off. Eventually we’ll move the batteries to an action packer box on top of the platform. I collected the USB data. Carlos cleaned the flux sensors (no rad sensors here yet). We shifted the upper boardwalk closer to the center of the scaffolding to make it easier to access the flux sensors. The 7500 read: 459ppm CO2, 529mmol/m3 H2O, 21.4C, 101.9kPa, 98SS - 98 after cleaning The 7700 read: 2.3ppm CH4, 24RSSI - 75 after cleaning (spray was not working) To-do (cumulative from past 2 field notes): - New spray power cable - Probably increase heater settings since this site sees similar wind as Hill Slough, but probably less water vapor since there’s less open water - Rearrange enclosures. I don’t like where the wash box is right now: gets in my way when I try to climb the tower. - Add bottom bracket for 7550 box - Steel wool for enclosure holes - Action packer for batteries - Remount solar panels - Railing for top level (railings that are parallel to the ground) - Met system for main tower and Annex tower - maybe a radio link - Fence post and tie downs for the scaffolding - Fencing to keep out cows - Replace broken cross brace - 8ft 3/4" metal conduit - Grounding rod and wires - Bird spikes for the sonic - Update 0418 with latest calibration file - Patty would like a second boardwalk for the tower top but would that get in the way of air flow? We left at 15:50 PST. I noticed the Rush Ranch entrance lists its hours as 8am-5pm. We should check in with Patty/Matt about who to call in case we get locked in. It’s a keyed lock, not a combo lock. |
2 photos found
20241204RR_Solar.jpg ( 2024-12-04 15:50:39 ) Full size: 1920x1440
Solar panels have been secured to the L-brackets on top of the platform. The platform lid has been temporarily screwed shut to the bottom layer.
20241204RR_Cows.jpg ( 2024-12-04 15:23:31 ) Full size: 1440x1920
Curious cows checking out what we're up to. The longer we stayed, the more cows gathered.
3 sets found
No data found for RR_cam.
No data found for RR_met.
4 RR_flux graphs found