Facilities at the HIF
The HIF has several labs and shops that offer unique capabilities for developing and evaluating instrumentation. The tanks and flumes in the state-of-the-art Hydraulics Laboratory test instruments under a variety of conditions, and the Environmental Test Chamber and Water Quality Labs perform quality assurance tests and evaluations.
Hydraulics Laboratory
The Hydraulics Laboratory is a one-of-a-kind facility within the United States. Meters, flumes, and other flow-measuring devices are evaluated and calibrated at the laboratory before being used by the USGS and other Federal and State agencies. Standards are also developed that affect USGS operations nationwide. The HIF is also used in water-resources investigations and to obtain experimental research data on the mechanics of flow and the transport and dispersion of heat, solutes, and solids in rivers and estuaries.
Large tow tank
At 350-feet long, 18-feet wide, and 10-feet deep, the large tow tank at the HIF is the national reference for water velocity. This means that all instruments measuring water velocity nationwide are calibrated and standardized here. This tank tests and calibrates instruments by the principle of cup rotation, drag, Doppler effect, acoustic signal, electromagnetic field, deflection, or other means. The tow vehicle, which drags instruments through the 400,000-gallon tank, is capable of speeds from 0 to 18 feet per second. The carriage is equipped with a data acquisition system designed to accept distance traveled, elapsed time, and meter pulse count information.
Tow tank for acoustic sensors
This tank is slightly smaller than the large tow tank at 87-feet long, 7-feet wide, and 5-feet deep. Its primary use is “distance-made-good” testing for the verification of acoustic velocity sensors, which means checking the accuracy of calculations for distance traveled after accounting for factors like streamflow.
Large test basin
With its built-in wave generator, the large test basin simulates stream channels and coastal zones with or without contaminants. It can also be used to test optical, radar, or ultrasonic sensors, and it has an instrument carriage and sump for contaminant capture. The large test basin is 100-feet long, 24-feet wide, and 2-feet deep.
Tilting flume
The tilting flume is 250-feet long, 6-feet wide, and 3-feet deep and can be tilted to a slope of 1 percent to simulate a stream at or near full scale. The discharge capacity is a maximum of 50 cubic feet per second, and the whole discharge can be recirculated, making the flume suitable for sediment work.
Walk-in Temperature Chamber
The HIF’s Testing Section uses the walk-in temperature chamber to test sensors under the temperature extremes they will encounter when they are deployed at USGS field sites. Ranging from -40° C (-40° F) to 60° C (140° F) and measuring 10-feet x 20-feet x 9-feet, the temperature chamber can be used in concert with high-precision pressure controllers to subject pressure transducers (used to measure water levels) to a range of pressures and temperatures. Temperatures within the chamber and pressures provided by the pressure controllers are calibrated with standards that are National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) traceable.
Water Quality Laboratory
The Water Quality Laboratory supports three main functions: QA/QC (quality assurance/quality control) of newly purchased water quality instruments; maintenance and calibration of all water quality monitors currently in the HIF rental program; and the test and evaluation of other commercially available monitors.
Fabrication Shop
The Fabrication Shop enables the HIF to manufacture custom instrument components and sensor housings. Shop equipment includes a 3D scanner, 3D printers (resin and metal), CNC mill, and CNC lathe. These in-house capabilities will translate to faster and more precise construction and repair jobs for water monitoring equipment.
Training Facilities
The HIF is designed to be a national hub for training USGS employees in the fields of water science and technology. The HIF has a 150-person auditorium and three training rooms featuring wet chemistry and electronics configurations. Trainees will also have access to the innovation labs and local field-testing sites (locations still to be determined).
Warehouse
The HIF warehouse occupies 11,000 square feet of space and maintains more than 1,000 specialty items needed for the support of USGS field hydrologic data collection activities. The HIF warehouse is responsible for the shipping and receiving of all products, arranging for transportation, maintaining inventory control of stock, analyzing stock levels and determining needs for re-supply, and maintaining warehouse facilities and equipment. All equipment purchased for the HIF warehouse is subjected to quality-assurance inspection to ensure the equipment functions properly, meets the manufacturer's specifications, and meets any additional USGS requirements.