CLIM-MET Station Instrumentation Details

CLIM-MET Station Instrumentation Details:

1. Marble Dust Trap - The design consists of a single-piece Teflon-coated angel-food cake pan painted black on the outside and mounted on a steel fence post about 2 m above the ground. A circular piece of 1/4-inch-mesh stainless-steel mesh is fitted into the pan so that it rests 3-4 cm below the rim, and glass marbles fill the upper part of the pan above the mesh. The Teflon coating is nonreactive and adds no mineral contamination to the dust sample should it flake. The steel mesh resists weathering under normal conditions. The 2-m height eliminates most saltating sand-sized particles. The marbles simulate the effect of a gravelly fan surface and prevent dust that has filtered or washed into the bottom of the pan from being blown away. The empty space below the mesh provides a reservoir that prevents water from overflowing the pan during large storms. All dust traps are fitted with two metal straps looped in an inverted basket shape and the top surfaces of the straps are coated with Tanglefoot. This sticky material never dries and effectively discourages birds from roosting.

2. Airfoil "frisbee" dust collector - The shape of the collector minimizes the discriminating effects of the turbulent wake over the surface, as wind changes angle of attack. It collects two types of samples: 1) Particles for analysis by microbeam methods, for morphology and chemical composition 2) Bulk deposition for bulk chemical analysis

3. Pyranometer - Instrument Licor LI200X. Measures solar radiation in the Light Spectrum Waveband 400 to 1100 nm.

4. Radio telemetry system - Mojave sites transmit data to a base station computer via a system of 900 MHz radio transceivers. The CR10X datalogger is connected to a radio transceiver and antenna. Campbell Scientific software on a remote base station computer makes scheduled connections to the sites in the field via radio telemetry.

5. Wind speed/direction – Instrument Campbell model 5103.

6. Air temperature and Relative humidity - Instrument Campbell HMP35C.

7. Temperature Gradient Sensor - Instrument custom USGS fabrication. Temperature gradient in degrees centigrade measured between 1 and 3 meters above the ground surface.'

8. Power Module - Modular design that can contain one or two 26 amp gel-cel batteries. Charged by a 10 or 20 watt solar panel.

9. Datalogger – Instrument Campbell CR10X

10. Rain gauge – Instrument Campbell TE525 Tipping bucket

11. BSNE field dust sampler - This is a field dust sampler suitable for collecting airborne dust under natural field conditions. The sampler orients itself into erosive winds. Samples are taken at 15, 50, and 100 cm above the ground surface.

12. SENSIT erosion monitor – Instrument Sensit model H7

13. Soil moisture – Instrument Campbell CS615 Water Content Reflectometer