cps-iss-mapr: Site CSTARS Messages, 68 Entries..

Daily report for Tuesday September 30

cloudy with light westerlies   

Sounding at 1500Z cloudy Last sounding of project
 Used WXT for initial T/RH.

MAPR in rain_100 mode.

   

Basic checks at 21Z
----------------------
MAPR Xmit power:      .65W (in rain_100 mode)raining at time of measurment
MAPR Reflected power: ~20w
MAPR power spectra:   all 3 channels look good. 
Online plots:         updating and normal
Ceilometer:           data being logged;
Sfc data:             plots appear normal and updating (except T/RH)
Distrometer and WXT:  reporting and appears normal
Visual check outside: all systems normal
Visual check inside:  all systems normal

Daily report for Monday September 29

cloudy with showers some heavy with light easterlies.   

Sounding at 1500Z partly cloudy.Second sounding launched at approx 17:35 into light rain that turned heavy within minutes of launch. There was also thunder and lighting in the area.lost signal at approx 550 mb. A **** **** of thunder and lighting around site at that time.Sonde sig strengh was approx -84db.
 Used WXT for initial T/RH.

MAPR in rain_100 mode.
Several power brown out this afternoon. Mapr blanking had to be reset twice.
   

Basic checks at 21Z
----------------------
MAPR Xmit power:      .96W (in rain_100 mode)raining at time of measurment
MAPR Reflected power: ~20w
MAPR power spectra:   all 3 channels look good. 
Online plots:         updating and normal
Ceilometer:           data being logged;
Sfc data:             plots appear normal and updating (except T/RH)
Distrometer and WXT:  reporting and appears normal
Visual check outside: all systems normal
Visual check inside:  all systems normal

Daily report for Sunday September 28

cloudy,showers with light easterlies.   

Soundings at 1500Z.Had a problem with the system sounding not launched until approx 15:35. It was almost like the rx was locked up after a couple of attemps of just restarting the sounding software a total power down of the computer and chassis seems to have fixed the problem.
Second sounding made at 20:00 in rain.Lost Temp and RH at approx 470mb. Pressurewas still coming in and GPS was very good.Watched for a litte before terminating.Did not launch another as rain has stopped and only 3 sondes left.Questionable RH after 800mb but could be real.
 Used WXT for initial T/RH.

MAPR in rain_100 mode.

Found some of the leaks in the container I had heard about.
   

Basic checks at 21Z
----------------------
MAPR Xmit power:      1.0W (in rain_100 mode)raining at time of measurment
MAPR Reflected power: ~20w
MAPR power spectra:   all 3 channels look good. 
Online plots:         updating and normal
Ceilometer:           data being logged;
Sfc data:             plots appear normal and updating (except T/RH)
Distrometer and WXT:  reporting and appears normal
Visual check outside: all systems normal
Visual check inside:  all systems normal

Daily report for Friday September 26

Scattered cloud with light easterlies.   

Soundings at 1500Z. Used WXT for initial T/RH.

MAPR in  clearair mode.Switched to rain_100 at 16:30Z
   

Basic checks at 21Z
----------------------
MAPR Xmit power:      .84W (in rain_100 mode)
MAPR Reflected power: ~20w
MAPR power spectra:   all 3 channels look good. 
Online plots:         updating and normal
Ceilometer:           data being logged;
Sfc data:             plots appear normal and updating (except T/RH)
Distrometer and WXT:  reporting and appears normal
Visual check outside: all systems normal
Visual check inside:  all systems normal

Daily report for Thursday September 2

Scattered cloud with light easterlies.   

Soundings at 1500Z. Used WXT for initial T/RH.

MAPR in " rain_100 mode. Switched to "clearair" mode at approx 16:00 as storms are breaking up and next day or two is supposed to be clear.
   
The ceilometer computer had rebooted for some reason. Restarted ceilometer at approx 15:30 Truned logging on at 15:55

Basic checks at 21Z
----------------------
MAPR Xmit power:      1.58W (in clearair mode)
MAPR Reflected power: ~20w
MAPR power spectra:   all 3 channels look good. 
Online plots:         updating and normal
Ceilometer:           data being logged;
Sfc data:             plots appear normal and updating (except T/RH)
Distrometer and WXT:  reporting and appears normal
Visual check outside: all systems normal
Visual check inside:  all systems normal

Daily report for Wednesday September 24

Scattered cloud with light nor-easterlies.   

Soundings at 1500Z.and 19:30 Used WXT for initial T/RH.

MAPR in "clear_air" mode switched at 14:04Z switched back "rain_100" at 19:00Z
   


Basic checks at 21Z
----------------------
MAPR Xmit power:      .87W (in rain_100 mode)
MAPR Reflected power: ~20w
MAPR power spectra:   all 3 channels look good. 
Online plots:         updating and normal
Ceilometer:           data being logged;
Sfc data:             plots appear normal and updating (except T/RH)
Distrometer and WXT:  reporting and appears normal
Visual check outside: all systems normal
Visual check inside:  all systems normal

Daily report for Tuesday September 23

Scattered cloud with light easterlies.   

Soundings at 1500Z and 17:40 [light rain at launch] and one at 20:20 [raining]   At the 20:20 launch made two attempts before a successful launch was made. Both sondes looked fine on the ground gps and ptu was good. But at release lost everything the lights on rack were blank this was in the time it took me to get back in side so with a minute they were gone Used WXT for initial T/RH.

MAPR in "rain_100_sch" mode switched at 15:39Z
   


Basic checks at 21Z
----------------------
MAPR Xmit power:      .96W (in rain_100 mode)
MAPR Reflected power: ~20w
MAPR power spectra:   all 3 channels look good. 
Online plots:         updating and normal
Ceilometer:           data being logged;
Sfc data:             plots appear normal and updating (except T/RH)
Distrometer and WXT:  reporting and appears normal
Visual check outside: all systems normal
Visual check inside:  all systems normal

Daily report for Monday September 22

Scattered cloud with light easterlies.   

Soundings at 1500Z and 19:55   Used WXT for initial T/RH.

MAPR in "clearair_sch" mode

At approx 17:30 power browned out enough for the HPA blanking to come on. Reset it immediately.    


Basic checks at 21Z
----------------------
MAPR Xmit power:      1.54W (in clear air mode)
MAPR Reflected power: ~20w
MAPR power spectra:   all 3 channels look good. 
Online plots:         updating and normal
Ceilometer:           data being logged;
Sfc data:             plots appear normal and updating (except T/RH)
Distrometer and WXT:  reporting and appears normal
Visual check outside: all systems normal
Visual check inside:  all systems normal

Daily report for Sunday September 21

Scattered cloud with light easterlies.   

Soundings at 1500Z   Used WXT for initial T/RH.

MAPR in "clearair_sch" mode
  
   


Basic checks at 21Z
----------------------
MAPR Xmit power:      1.68W (in clear air mode)
MAPR Reflected power: ~20w
MAPR power spectra:   all 3 channels look good. 
Online plots:         updating and normal
Ceilometer:           data being logged;
Sfc data:             plots appear normal and updating (except T/RH)
Distrometer and WXT:  reporting and appears normal
Visual check outside: all systems normal
Visual check inside:  all systems normal

Daily report for Saturday September 20

Scattered cloud with light easterlies.   

Soundings at 1500Z   Used WXT for initial T/RH.

MAPR in "clearair_sch" mode

DVD drive 1 on MAPR is not working. Bay will not open or close by pushing on button.  
   


Basic checks at 21Z
----------------------
MAPR Xmit power:      1.57W (in clear air mode)
MAPR Reflected power: ~20w
MAPR power spectra:   all 3 channels look good. 
Online plots:         updating and normal
Ceilometer:           data being logged;
Sfc data:             plots appear normal and updating (except T/RH)
Distrometer and WXT:  reporting and appears normal
Visual check outside: all systems normal
Visual check inside:  all systems normal

Daily report for Friday September 19

Scattered cloud with light easterlies.   

Soundings at 1500Z   Used WXT for initial T/RH.

MAPR changed to "clearair_sch" at 13:00Z. Skies are clear this morning also wanted to see how the change affected power levels. FYI power level was .81 running rain_100_sch ,climbed to 1.66 when MAPR changed to clear air mode.

DVD drive 1 on MAPR is not working. Bay will not open or close by pushing on button.  
   


Basic checks at 21Z
----------------------
MAPR Xmit power:      1.63W (in clear air mode)
MAPR Reflected power: ~20w
MAPR power spectra:   all 3 channels look good. 
Online plots:         updating and normal
Ceilometer:           data being logged;
Sfc data:             plots appear normal and updating (except T/RH)
Distrometer and WXT:  reporting and appears normal
Visual check outside: all systems normal
Visual check inside:  all systems normal

Daily report for Thursday September 18

Scattered cloud with light easterlies. Light shower this morning.   

Soundings were made at 15 and 18Z.  Used WXT for initial T/RH.

MAPR changed to "rain_100_sch at 17:18 Z

DVD drive 1 on MAPR is not working. Bay will not open or close by pushing on button.  
   


Basic checks at 21Z
----------------------
MAPR Xmit power:      .98kW (in rain_100 mode)
MAPR Reflected power: ~15w
MAPR power spectra:   all 3 channels look good. 
Online plots:         updating and normal
Ceilometer:           data being logged;
Sfc data:             plots appear normal and updating (except T/RH)
Distrometer and WXT:  reporting and appears normal
Visual check outside: all systems normal
Visual check inside:  all systems normal

Daily report for Wednesday September 17

Scattered cloud with light easterlies. Light shower this morning.   

Did one sounding at 1500Z and another at 19:30Z  Used WXT for initial T/RH.

MAPR running in clear air mode.  
   


Basic checks at 21Z
----------------------
MAPR Xmit power:      1.58kW (in 100m clear-air mode)
MAPR Reflected power: ~20w
MAPR power spectra:   all 3 channels look good. 
Online plots:         updating and normal
Ceilometer:           data being logged;
Sfc data:             plots appear normal and updating (except T/RH)
Distrometer and WXT:  reporting and appears normal
Visual check outside: all systems normal
Visual check inside:  all systems normal

Daily report for Tuesday September 16

Scattered cloud with light easterlies. Light shower this morning.   

Did one sounding at 1500Z.  Used WXT for initial T/RH.

MAPR running in clear air mode.  
   
Bill is leaving this afternoon.

Basic checks at 21Z
----------------------
MAPR Xmit power:      1.75kW (in 100m clear-air mode)
MAPR Reflected power: ~20w
MAPR power spectra:   all 3 channels look good. 
Online plots:         updating and normal
Ceilometer:           data being logged;
Sfc data:             plots appear normal and updating (except T/RH)
Distrometer and WXT:  reporting and appears normal
Visual check outside: all systems normal
Visual check inside:  all systems normal

Daily report for Monday September 15

Scattered cloud with light easterlies. Light shower this morning.  Thunderstorms off to the north and west that spread an anvil over the site in the afternoon. 

Did one sounding at 1730Z.  Used WXT for initial T/RH.

MAPR switched settings to a high 200m mode to catch from of the anvil (the RSMAS radars also saw the anvil). Nice precip echo out of the anvil about 2130. Also saw some bimodal spectral (rain and clear-air) around 13Z. Last night was ruuning in clearair 50m mode, but had some strange signals in the upper bins so won't use that mode again for now.    Left in 100m clearair afterwards.  

Rebooted MAPR around 1930 to fix a DVD issue, but then created a USB keyspan assignment issue that took a little while to resolve (so the surface met etc has a gap of about 45 minutes).   

Lou arrived today.

Basic checks at 21Z
----------------------
MAPR Xmit power:      1.9 kW (in 100m clear-air mode)
MAPR Reflected power: ~20w
MAPR power spectra:   all 3 channels look good. 
Online plots:         updating and normal
Ceilometer:           data being logged;
Sfc data:             plots appear normal and updating (except T/RH)
Distrometer and WXT:  reporting and appears normal
Visual check outside: all systems normal
Visual check inside:  all systems normal

Daily report for Sunday September 14

Scattered cloud with light easterlies.

No operations today.

MAPR showing spectral spurs.  Switched to 50m mode. 

Basic checks at 19Z
----------------------
MAPR Xmit power:      0.8 kW (in 50m clear-air mode)
MAPR Reflected power: ~25w
MAPR power spectra:   all 3 channels look good. 
Online plots:         updating and normal
Ceilometer:           data being logged;
Sfc data:             plots appear normal and updating (except T/RH)
Distrometer and WXT:  reporting and appears normal
Visual check outside: all systems normal
Visual check inside:  all systems normal

Daily report for Saturday September 13

Scattered cloud with southeasterly breeze.

Launched two soundings, 15Z and 19Z.  Both were demonstrations for classes from RSMAS.  The first was about 10 forecasting students and the latter, 9 students (a mix of forecasting and graduate students). Used WXT for initial T/RH.

MAPR contuning to run in clear-air 100m mode (up to 6km).   Brief gap at 21Z as checking cables under antenna.

Also briefly interupted ceilometer a couple of times backing up some data.

Webcam software on mapr having problems and stopped recording data last night.  The camera itself is alright (tested okay on two other computers).  This is an experimental system so problems are to be expected.  Occasionally recording time-lapse shots of clouds on the ISS Nikon camera instead.


Basic checks at 21Z
----------------------
MAPR Xmit power:      1.8 kW (in 100m clear-air mode)
MAPR Reflected power: ~20w
MAPR power spectra:   all 3 channels look good. 
Online plots:         updating and normal
Ceilometer:           data being logged;
Sfc data:             plots appear normal and updating (except T/RH)
Distrometer and WXT:  reporting and appears normal
Visual check outside: all systems normal
Visual check inside:  all systems normal

Daily report for Friday September 12

Scattered cloud, clearing later, with light southeasterlies.

Launched two soundings, 1540 and 1830Z.  Both were demonstrations for classes from RSMAS.  The first was about 15 freshman students and the latter with 4 senior students.  (More students will be coming tomorrow).   Used WXT for initial T/RH.

MAPR contuning to run in clear-air 100m mode (up to 6km).

The 1830 sounding had an unusual temperature notch at 800mb (2km), this seems to correspond to a reflectivity layer seen by MAPR.


Basic checks at 21Z
----------------------
MAPR Xmit power:      1.9 kW (in 100m clear-air mode)
MAPR Reflected power: ~20w
MAPR power spectra:   all 3 channels look good. 
Online plots:         updating and normal
Ceilometer:           data being logged;
Sfc data:             plots appear normal and updating (except T/RH)
Distrometer and WXT:  reporting and appears normal
Visual check outside: all systems normal
Visual check inside:  all systems normal

Daily report for Thursday September 11

Partly cloudy with southeasterly breeze.  There appeared to be three levels of clouds moving in different directions (see photos note below), and this activity was consistent with the sounding.

Launched one sounding at 15Z.  Used WXT for initial T/RH.

Running MAPR in clear-air 100m mode (up to 6km).  Mainly just picking up boundary layer echoes and occasional signal to up about 3 km today; neither MAPR nor the RSMAS radars are picking up higher level activity.

Photos:  Have been taking some time-lapse movies of clouds and rain with the ISS camera.  For example, todays (15-16Z) showed the three levels of clouds moving in different directions.

Installed a webcam (with Gary's help) to snap photos of clouds going over the site.  It is facing north at about 30 deg elevation to keep it sheltered from the sun and rain, and is taking a photo once a minute during daylight hours.  This is a test and experimental only, so may not be available at all times but hopefully it will capture some interesting activity.


Basic checks at 21Z
----------------------
MAPR Xmit power:      1.8 kW (in 100m clear-air mode)
MAPR Reflected power: ~20w
MAPR power spectra:   all 3 channels look good. 
Online plots:         updating and normal
Ceilometer:           data being logged;
Sfc data:             plots appear normal and updating (except T/RH)
Distrometer and WXT:  reporting and appears normal
Visual check outside: all systems normal
Visual check inside:  all systems normal

Daily report for Wednesday September 10

Cloudy all day, mainly with the outer cloud bands of Hurricane Ike off to the southwest.  Breezy southeasterlies.  There seemed to be at least two cloud levels, one under a kilometer, and then cirrus clouds up around 7km. The RSMAS radars showed that this upper cloud was precipitating ice, with an occasional bright-band at about 5km.  We felt one or two isolated rain drops on the ground, although it's not clear if these were coming from the upper level clouds or some of the low level clouds.

Set up a new mode in MAPR (clearair 200m) with 200m pulse, 4 bit code and 9km range (duty cycle 7%, peak power 2.9 kW) which could detect the upper level precip and occasionally hints of the bright-band.

Launched three soundings today, 15Z, 16Z, and 19Z.  The first sounding (15Z) had fluctuating humdity (suggesting a problem with one of the humidicaps), and then signal was lost at 475mb (6.3km).  The other soundings were fine.  All used WXT for initial T/RH.

Basic checks at 21Z
----------------------
MAPR Xmit power:      2.9 kW (in 200m rain mode)
MAPR Reflected power: ~20w
MAPR power spectra:   all 3 channels look good. 
Online plots:         updating and normal
Ceilometer:           data being logged;
Sfc data:             plots appear normal and updating (except T/RH)
Distrometer and WXT:  reporting and appears normal
Visual check outside: all systems normal
Visual check inside:  all systems normal

Daily report for Tuesday September 9

The northern part of Hurricane Ike is still brushing over the area. Cloudy and windy (easterlies) with outer rainbands producing periods of heavy rain.

Launched three soundings today, 15Z, 1630Z, and 20Z.  Rainy and breezy conditions for the first two, clearing for the last.   The 1630 sounding lost signal early and then had a software issue, data is recoverable (see separate tklog entry for details).   Used WXT for surface T/RH for all.

Switched MAPR running in 100m rain mode all day.  Switched to slightly higher at 20Z after hearing that the RSMAS W and X bands were picking up a layer at 9km (which MAPR subsequently saw).  Leaving in 200m rain mode overnight.

Occasional leaks in the trailer, under the door and from the front edge of the profiler ceiling hole near the AC.


Basic checks at 22Z
----------------------
MAPR Xmit power:      0.7 kW (in 200m rain mode)
MAPR Reflected power: ~10w
MAPR power spectra:   all 3 channels look good. 
Online plots:         updating and normal
Ceilometer:           data being logged;
Sfc data:             plots appear normal and updating (except T/RH)
Distrometer and WXT:  reporting and appears normal
Visual check outside: all systems normal
Visual check inside:  all systems normal

The 1630Z sounding (s/n D2033934) today (Sept 9) had a software problem.

Signal was lost at about 320mb (9.2 km), probably due to the stormy weather at the time.

When trying to close the sounding, the GAUS software did not respond.  It was not locked up in that different plots and tabs could be selected, however it did not pop-up the close dialog.  The problem was not caused by a failure to exit the inital temperature/satellite screen.

The computer's CPU was running at 100% (compared to typically less than 20% during soundings), 99% running the GAUS software.  It was also using a little more memory than usual 50MB compared with 40MB on a later sounding. Unplugging the USB to the sounding rack did not help.   Could only exit the program using CtrlAltDel.

Sent the raw D file to Tim to reprocess - the data should be recoverable.

Daily report for Monday September 8

The northern part of Hurrican Ike is brushing over the area. Breezy northeasterlies with lots of clouds and occasional rain. Heavy rain and wind forecast for tonight and tomorrow.

Launched three soundings today, 15Z, 18Z, and 21Z.  All went okay.  Used WXT for surface T/RH for all.

Switched MAPR to a rain mode about 20Z.

Ceilometer went down last night - apparently a driver error on the imager I was testing yesterday.  Rebooted this morning and it came up okay.

See separate tklog entry on the surface met - found possible loose connections on both the temperature/RH and IR.  T/RH still looks a little odd (currently about 5C lower than WXT) so will continue to use WXTs for sonde initialization.


Basic checks at 22Z
----------------------
MAPR Xmit power:      1 kW (in 100m rain mode)
MAPR Reflected power: ~15w
MAPR power spectra:   all 3 channels look good. 
Online plots:         updating and normal
Ceilometer:           data being logged;
Sfc data:             plots appear normal and updating (except T/RH)
Distrometer and WXT:  reporting and appears normal
Visual check outside: all systems normal
Visual check inside:  all systems normal

Checked Temperature/relative humidity socket on bottom of Campbell box.
It should be as follows:

Hum/Tmp
        Black           E1              1
        Red             12V             2
        Orange          1L              3
        Yellow          E2              4
        Green           2H              5
        Purple          AG              6
        Gray            Ground          7
        White           AG              8

However using the fluke continuity I found that pin 8 was testing as open.
Opening up the top cover of the plug and pushing the wires down made the connection again.  So reconnected the temperature/rh sensor and it is running again without causing -99999 on the other sensors.  But it is still giving incorrect data (eg reading 45C when both WXTs say 30C).

The IR sensor was also giving bad data (-99999) for a while (18Z-1930Z).  Found that one of the ground wires for it in the Campbell box was loose. Appears to be working okay now.  Also corrected the levels on the radiation sensors.

Daily report for Sunday September 7

Periods of clouds coming in from the east (with good sized thunderstorms off the coast), otherwise sunny.  Easterly breeze picked up during the day.

No operations or soundings today.

Attempted to replace surface met temperat/RH cable however now either the new or old cable works so T/RH is disconnected for now (see separate tklog entry).  WXTs okay.

Ceilometer down for a period this afternoon while testing some image software.


Basic checks at 22Z
----------------------
MAPR Xmit power:      1.9 kW (in clear air 100m mode)
MAPR Reflected power: ~20w
MAPR power spectra:   all 3 channels look good. 
Online plots:         updating and normal
Ceilometer:           data being logged;
Sfc data:             plots appear normal and updating (except T/RH)
Distrometer and WXT:  reporting and appears normal
Visual check outside: all systems normal
Visual check inside:  all systems normal

Tried switching the temperature/RH cable to fix the unstable measurements.

Unfortunately it didn't work and gave -99999 data on T/RH plus on vis/ir/net/pressure.  Also I couldn't get the old cable to old again, even when trying all possible combinations of old and new cables with old and new sensor and surface_met stop/start.  Must be a bad connection or short somewhere.  Data bad from about 1930UT on.


For now I've left T/RH unconnected so that we can at least get the vis/net/ir/press data.   Fortunately the WXT data looks good so we have T/RH from those.

Daily report for Saturday September 6

Fine sunny day with just occasional scattered clouds.  Winds light and turned to easterlies this morning.  Conditions are apparently suppressed in the lee of tropical storm Hanna and should remain so until Monday when tropical storm conditions are forecast with the approach of Hurricane Ike.

No operations or soundings today.

Surface met temperature/RH spiked last night around 1UT, otherwise seem to be okay.

Testing out Gary's DVD archiving software today - so far have written data (from Aug 17 to 26) on 10 DVDs and it seems to be working well (thanks Gary!).  It appears to be a very flexible program.  In it's current mode it's writing all data from an hour before the first sounding of a day to about 10 hours after (based on the assumption for now that this is the "IOP" data period of interest).  We'll go thru and backup some of the other interesting data later.


Basic checks at 21Z
----------------------
MAPR Xmit power:      1.8 kW (in clear air 100m mode)
MAPR Reflected power: ~20w
MAPR power spectra:   all 3 channels look good. 
Online plots:         updating and normal
Ceilometer:           data being logged;
Sfc data:             plots appear normal and updating
Distrometer and WXT:  reporting and appears normal
Visual check outside: all systems normal
Visual check inside:  all systems normal

Surface met temperature / relative humidity problems continued.

About 0730UT last night, the temperature suddenly jumped about 5C and RH jumped about 5%, however there were no similar jumps in the WXT T/RH data.

It was raining at the time so it might be a mositure problem, however there were also strange jumps at 1830, 2145 & 2230 (note that the jump at 1720 was when I disconnected a cable to check it).  I was here for the other two events and there were no obivous problems (eg with the fan or animals). 

I replaced the sensor on Wednesday so perhaps it is a problem with the cable or connector - Lou is sending out a replacement cable so I'll try that.

I also noted down serial numbers for the WXT510 sensors - they are:

ISS WXT510         AAB1AA11B0 S/N: C2630004
Vaisala's WXT510   AAB1BB11A0 S/N: C4730015

(Note that Vaisala's WXT is configured to operate as a low resolution disdrometer).

Daily report for Friday September 5

More rain than expected from tropical storm Hanna, with around a 1cm mainly last night.  Clearing this morning, widely scattered Cu late this afternoon.

Did one sounding at 15Z this morning, which showed moist westerlies from Hanna up to 500mb. Used regular surface met data for initialization.

Surface met temperature/RH is displaying some strange data again, so it can't have been the sensor, (see separate tklog entry). 

Powered up the display manager computer (Dell PowerEdge 2950) to check diagnostic indicators - it didn't start, but it's LCD on the front showed an error message : "E1410 CPU 1 IERR  E1410 CPU 2 IERR", which according to Dell's support pages indicates CPU faults.  Fortunately it is still under warranty, and the MAPR computer seems to have taken over the data manager tasks with no problems.

Had a few problems changing modes on MAPR around 2330UT - it turned out to be a duplicate mode and schedule name in the configuration file (/home/iss/mapr/xml/profiler.xml) and editing the file and changing the names fixed it.  Switched to 100m clearair mode since there doesn't seem to be any interesting weather (had been in 50m mode).  After change power is 2kW (reflected 20W).


Basic checks at 22Z
----------------------
MAPR Xmit power:      1 kW (in clear air 50m mode)
MAPR Reflected power: ~25w
MAPR power spectra:   all 3 channels look good. 
Online plots:         updating and normal
Ceilometer:           data being logged;
Sfc data:             plots appear normal and updating
Distrometer and WXT:  reporting and appears normal
Visual check outside: all systems normal
Visual check inside:  all systems normal

Daily report for Thursday September 4

Scattered clouds early, then cirus thickening and increasing lower level clouds coming in with northerly flow during the day.  These are the outer fringes of tropical storm Hanna, currently to the east near the Bahamas.  Expecting isolated thunderstorms here overnight.

No operations today so no soundings.

Rebooted MAPR around 2030UT to test restarting systems - everything came up okay.  Also turned down power on mapr hpa at 21UT to test power loss scripts (a message is automatically generated if a problem is detected).


Basic checks at 22Z
----------------------
MAPR Xmit power:      1 kW (in clear air 50m mode)
MAPR Reflected power: ~25w
MAPR power spectra:   all 3 channels look good. 
Online plots:         updating and normal
Ceilometer:           data being logged;
Sfc data:             plots appear normal and updating
Distrometer and WXT:  reporting and appears normal
Visual check outside: all systems normal
Visual check inside:  all systems normal

Daily report for Wednesday September 3

Scattered clouds this morning, thickish thiis morning, then thinning around midday, then clearing later.  Easterlies at low levels and northerlies aloft (blowing cirrus spun off tropical storm Gustav).

Launched two soundings - 15Z and 1830Z. Used WXT temperature and relative humidity for both (regular surface met pressure and wind data).

Switched mapr to a clear-air 50m about 16Z - see separate tklog entry.

Swapped out surface met T/RH around 2030 - see separate tklog entry.

Basic checks at 23Z
----------------------
MAPR Xmit power:      1 kW (in clear air 50m mode)
MAPR Reflected power: ~20w
MAPR power spectra:   all 3 channels look good. 
Online plots:         updating and normal
Ceilometer:           data being logged;
Sfc data:             plots appear normal and updating
Distrometer and WXT:  reporting and appears normal
Visual check outside: all systems normal
Visual check inside:  all systems normal

Added at 50 meter mode for MAPR.

Bruce has been seeing some enhanced reflectivity on the edges of some clouds on his X-band and this higher resolution will help comparisons.  Unfortunately about the same time I did the change at 16Z, the clouds were abruptly suppressed (becoming a little lower in height and reflectivity on his radar) so be careful comparing before and after in the MAPR data.

The new mode is clearair_50m_3rcvrs and is running under schedule clearair_50m.

The main features are 50m resolution and gate spacing for 80 gates (to about 4.3km), range aliasing at 5.7km, velocity aliasing at 12 m/s, and a duty cycle of 3.9%.

The power meter (as of 23Z) is reading about 1kW.

Note: initially I used 90 gates (1600-1605Z)and had a strange effect, whereby in the time series display there was a strong signal spike about halfway up one every second sample.  This looked like a strong artificial signal about 2.3km in the spectra.   Changing to 80 gates seemed to fix it.

Changed the surface met temperature and relative humidity sensor.

This sensor it had been fluctuating recently, often reading afew degrees too high and too moist.  For example a comparison yesterday with the WXTs was 5C too warm and 10% too moist.

Did the change over from about 2030 to 21Z.  The temperature reading dropped about 3 degrees and the RH dropped a few percent.  Did another comparison afterwards at 2115 and found much better agreement:
Surface met:  30.7C 60%
WXT:          30.5C 59%
Kestral:      31.6C 54%

Renamed the old configuration files (in /home/iss/iss/configs/campbell/cps) to have extensions _pre_20080903 (eg: CPSMAPR.DLD_pre_20080903) and replaced them with new config files.

No obivous damage on the old sensor, although a couple of the pins in it's receiving plug (on the cable to the campbell) were pulled back substantially.  The cable was rather tight and may have been pulled so loosened it a little to relieve tension.  Pulled the pins back into position before installing the new sensor.

The new sensor has serial number U5020027 and the old sensor was serial number U5020026.

The list of serial numbers for the surface met sensors is now:

T/RH:     U5020027
Pressure: Y1950007
Vis:      26225F3
IR:       28809F3
Net Rad:  92036

Daily report for Tuesday September 2

Partly cloudy this morning under northeasterly flow. A couple of brief showers. Clouds gradually breaking to become widely scattered by late afternoon.

Launched two soundings - 15Z and 19Z.  The 15Z sonde briefly encountered a downdraft about 5 minutes into the flight as it flew under a dark cloud about a km southwest of here.

Surface met temperature and relative humidity appear too high compared with the WXT and my Kestral handheld sensor.  For example at 16UT:
Surface met:  36.5C 78%
WXTs:         30.8C 68%
Kestral 4000: 31.1C 59%

Used WXT temperature and relative humidity for both radiosondes (but used surface met pressure and winds).

Note that the WXT time stamps are both running about 2 minutes behind the workstation times.  Perhaps a minute of this is related to beginning vs end of averaging time issues, but two minutes seems a little longer than expected.

Emailing Tim yesterday's D sounding file for manual processing.

Bill has taken over ISS operations and Steve left this morning (thanks Steve!).

Basic checks at 22:30Z
----------------------
MAPR Xmit power:      1.93 kW (in clear air mode)
MAPR Reflected power: ~20w
MAPR power spectra:   all 3 channels look good. Slight spurs on channel 0.
Online plots:         updating and normal
Ceilometer:           data being logged;
Sfc data:             plots appear normal and updating
Distrometer and WXT:  reporting and appears normal
Visual check outside: all systems normal
Visual check inside:  all systems normal

Daily report for Monday September 1 (Labor day)

Mostly sunny this morning. A down day for CPS but the UM radar is running.

Launched a sonde at 15UTC. The GAUS program locked atfer termination. Will need to process and tranfer files by hand. Lou suggests not tracking the descent.

Basic checks at 14:30Z
----------------------
MAPR Xmit power:      1.88 kW (in clear air mode)
MAPR Reflected power: ~20w
MAPR power spectra:   all 3 channels look good. No spurs.
Online plots:         updating and normal
Ceilometer:           data being logged;
Sfc data:             plots appear normal and updating
Distrometer and WXT:  reporting and appears normal
Visual check outside: all systems normal
Visual check inside:  all systems normal (carpet drying nicely)

Daily report for Sunday August 31

0215UT (Saturday evening):
Data Manager PC is down. Attempts to restart fail. Bill suspects the power supply. Boulder will look into ways to move its duties to other PCs. Internet access relies on this PC so we are not transferring data to the web. Failure began ~23:50Z (8/30). MAPR and the ceilometer are recording data locally.

1410UT (Sunday morning):
Much rain overnight and continuous heavy rain now.
MAPR blanking was on when I arrived. Turned it off. Only on !15min (1355-1410)

(1415) Restarted DM PC - it booted!
Surface met shows good P and winds. BUT T/RH are clearly wrong. T > 40C, and RH>110%.

(1440) DM again turned itself off.
Some data transfer while it was up so plots on web are updated.

(1730) Gary transitioned most DM functions to the MAPR PC. Sfc met being logged again (T/RH still wrong; P and winds look good compared with CSTARS stn). Using CSTARS (from the web) for the sounding surface point when needed.

(1745) I checked the Campbell wiring. Wiggling again seems to have 'fixed' the problem with sfc T/RH. Interesting that the high reading earlier this week were T only, and now both T and RH.

(2106) Changed MAPR to clear-air mode (from rain mode).

Water in the trailer: During the heavy morning rain, water entered under the hinge side of the door. Also, water entered from teh ceiling above the AC. The electronics rack is now moved farther from the wall.

Todays Wx and soundings:
Great weather today for CPS. An outer rainband from Hurrican Gustav (now Cat 3) passed over us this morning and another patch of rain in the early afternoon. Soundings today were at 15Z (as usual), a second at 18Z in advance of the afternoon rain, and a final sounding at aound 1940Z as the atmosphere was drying out behind the rainbands.

Tomorrow (labor day) is a down day for CPS but UM will leave their radar running and Shuanna agreed it couldn't hurt to do a morning sounding.

Basic checks at 20:15Z
----------------------
MAPR Xmit power:      0.77 kW (in rain mode)
MAPR Reflected power: a bit under 20w (seems lower in rain mode)
MAPR power spectra:   all 3 channels look good. Rain has ended.
Online plots:         updating and normal (but lots of turmoil earlier)
Ceilometer:           data being logged; good data all day
Sfc data:             plots appear normal and updating (earlier outages and turmoil)
Distrometer and WXT:  reporting and appears normal (earlier outage and turmoil)
Visual check outside: all systems normal
Visual check inside:  all systems normal (wet spots on carpet)

Daily report for Saturday August 30

Sounding at 15Z. Light rain at launch. Some heavy rain during ascent.
Second sounding at 20Z. Overcast during launch; some rain during ascent. Low level clouds and upper level cirrus-like moisture from Gustav (Cat 3 this morning, now a Cat 4).

The weather is much improved today for CPS. We had rain episodes, outer influence of Gustav passing well to our south. The Keys have a lot of rain. By the end of the day the CPS group says we have an interesting set of observations. Particularly the rain just before 21Z has all radars going, and little vertical wind shear so the precip doesn't move far from the sampling volumes as it falls.

Changed MAPR to RAIN mode at 1402
Accidently rebooted MAPR at 1407 (came up fine)

****Note at 17Z: Problem (temporary?) with Data Manager PC this morning. When I arrived ~13:30 the monitor was black and unresponsive, but CPU box looked active. Rebooted and all came up fine for a few minutes, then problem repeated. Following this it would not boot (power button had no effect). Later (~14:30?) it booted in time to report surface met for the 15Z sounding and has been good since.

Basic checks at 14:15Z
----------------------
MAPR Xmit power:      0.81 kW (in rain mode)
MAPR Reflected power: ~20w
MAPR power spectra:   all 3 channels look good, in some light rain
Online plots:         checked at 17Z (internet back) updating and normal.
Ceilometer:           data being logged.
Sfc data:             plots appear normal and updating at 17Z
Distrometer and WXT:  both are reporting and values look reasonable
Visual check outside: all systems normal
Visual check inside:  all systems normal at 17Z.

Daily report for Friday August 29

Yet another day with ops cancelled. The weather is just not making an appearance this week.

Sunny this morning. There were a few drops falling overnight as a drippy cloud comes over, but nothing has been worth targeting. See the raingauge plot and profiler vertical fallspeed.

Basic checks at 15:00Z
----------------------
MAPR Xmit power:      2.00 kW
MAPR Reflected power: ~20w
MAPR power spectra:   all channels look normal.
Online plots:         checked and updating and normal.
Ceilometer:           data being logged.
Sfc data:             plots appear normal and updating.
Distrometer and WXT:  values look normal, updating as expected.
Inside visual check:  all systems normal
Outside visual check: all systems normal

Daily report for Thursday August 28

No operations again today. Apparently little precipitable water overhead.

Eight bells and all is well. Floor carpet is slowly drying out. No spurs in MAPR, and surface T behaving.

Sunny this morning.

Basic checks at 15:05Z
----------------------
MAPR Xmit power:      1.97 kW
MAPR Reflected power: ~20w
MAPR power spectra:   all channels look normal.
Online plots:         checked and updating and normal.
Ceilometer:           data being logged.
Sfc data:             plots appear normal and updating.
Distrometer and WXT:  values look normal, updating as expected.
Visual check:         all systems normal

Daily report for Wednesday August 27

No operations today. Forecast rain less likely than yesterday. There was some late precip aloft yesterday ~20-23Z and gusty vertical motions seen by MAPR. Nothing reached the surface, or at least not enough to tip the raingauge. About 10 km north of here it rained buckets ~21Z

The floor by the AC is drier today. Still water by the metal plate under the AC (outside). It bows slightly, probably creates a small pool.

A few scattered clouds this am. Grass was cut around site this morning.

Some weak 'spurs' (all ranges) in MAPR power spectra Ch 0 and 1 (not Ch 2) [looking at 15:06Z). But spectra are strong to 2.5km.
No jumps in surface T (good).

Basic checks at 15:00Z
----------------------
MAPR Xmit power: 1.88 kW
MAPR Reflected power: ~20w
MAPR power spectra: all channels look normal. See above note on spurs.
online plots: checked and updating and normal.
ceilometer: data being logged.
sfc data: plots appear normal and updating.
distrometer and WXT: values look normal, updating as expected.
visual checks of all systems: normal - needed to re-seat a stake on the Rad stand after mowing. Also added some more flagging. If we had green tape too it'd be Xmas.

Daily report for Tuesday August 26

Sounding launched at 10:50am. There were developing small Cu so Virendra asked for the earlier release. This sonde was the one we set aside yesterday because of a mismatch between the surface station T and sonde T. Today the difference was only 0.5C. It worked fine. Some sonde data dropped at higher altitudes. Could this be because the sonde is directly overhead? What are the sonde and ground antenna patterns? 

It was sunny this morning but with more/earlier building Cu than yesterday. By 1pm a small storm formed well north of us (west of downtown Miami) fairly stationary. By 3pm Nexrad showed converging boundaries in the center of the state, either sea breeze from both coasts or convective outflow. But development was well north of us, so no more operations today.

The water entering the trailer seems to be coming from the AC - the bottom of the AC frame (outside) creates a small stream when I push up on it. At Lou's suggestion I lowered the front of the trailer a couple of inches. Will monitor.

Basic checks at 15:15Z
Xmit pwer= 1.89 kW
Reflected= 20w
power spectra = all channels look normal.
checked online plots = updating and normal.
ceilometer system = data being logged.
sfc data = all plots normal and updating.
distrometer and WXT = values look normal, updating as expected.
visual checks of all systems normal.

Brad and I noticed some odd jumps in the surface station temperature plots. See for example 01-04UT on 8/25. Drops of up to 3 C within a point or two (a minute), and climbs of similar magnitude but over 10-15 minutes. While talking to Lou there was another drop of 4C at 1942UT. Possibly while testing connections to the fan or in the Campbell(?).

A clue may be that the RH doesn't have corresponding step changes.

Trying to look at the WXT files (/ds/wxt) I think the temperatures are ~27C from that unit.

A test by disconnecting the fan for 30-min between 2004-2034 UTC showed a different pattern. T increased by 3C in the 30-min, but when the fan was back on it took several minutes to return to the original T. The problem in the earlier data had a step change in 1-2minutes. So I don't think the problem is the fan....

Daily report for Monday August 25

Good sounding released launch at 11am. Tried two units and both had T lower than the surface station by 2-3 degrees. Launched the second anyway. (Suspecious of surface T measurement)

Mostly clear this morning, with a few clouds building to the west in the pm. Brad gave Steve the tour and will be heading home tomorrow.

Suspecious changes noted in surface T data, eg. near 03UTC 8/25. See seperate tklog entry.

Spotted a small lizard inside the Campbell during morning rounds.

Basic checks at 15:30Z
Xmit pwer= 1.92 kW
Reflected= 20w
power spectra = all channels look normal.
checked online plots = updating and normal.
ceilometer system = data being logged.
sfc data = all plots normal and updating.
distrometer and WXT = values look normal, updating as expected.
visual checks of all systems normal.

Daily report for Sunday August 24

Today, a launch was scheduled at 11am today.  Did one sounding at 11 am.  Partly cloudy, some sun.

Network is back up today.  There is a big damp area on the floor centered around the rack.  It was noticeable yesterday, but appears to have gotten bigger overnight.  I think it may be water from the AC, or it could be a leak from the side of the container.  Its a bit mysterious though, because only the floor is damp.  So if its coming from the AC then it must be leaking behind the paneling.

Xmit pwer= 1.88 kW
Reflected= 20w
power spectra = all channels look normal.
checked online plots = updating and normal.
ceilometer system = data being logged.
sfc data = all plots normal and updating.
distrometer and WXT = values look normal, updating as expected.
visual checks of all systems normal.

Daily report for Saturday August 23

Today, a launch was scheduled at 11am today.  Did one sounding at 11 am.  Partly cloudy, some sun.

As of this morning, the network is down here.  There is a CSTARS person working on restoring it, but my feeling is that it won't be restored until Monday.  Since there was no network, Bruce couldn't see Nexrad radar except on his blackberry, so rest of soundings were called off.

Brought the amplifier down for tests briefly about 1pm.  With the power meter I found that we were slightly overdriving the amp (the input pulse should be about 0dBm or 1mW), so I decreased the drive level with the step attenuator.  I turned the output level up, because turning the output level down also decreases the modulation on the pulse.

Xmit pwer= 1.88 kW
Reflected= 20w
power spectra = all channels look normal.
checked online plots = updating and normal.
ceilometer system = data being logged.
sfc data = all plots normal and updating.
distrometer and WXT = values look normal, updating as expected.
visual checks of all systems normal.

Daily report for Friday August 22

Today, a launch was scheduled at 11am today.  Did one sounding at 11 am and another during stratiform rain about 5pm.  Sunny earlier, with rain in the late afternoon.  For the 5pm launch, the GAUS software only showed data up to about 975 mb.  After this point the sonde returned all 99999's.  Stopped and started GAUS, but did not help.  Could still clearly hear the transmission over the speaker.  Relaunched another sonde and encountered no problems on that one.

Xmit pwer= 1.75 kW
Reflected= 10w
power spectra = all channels look normal.
checked online plots = updating and normal.
ceilometer system = data being logged.
sfc data = all plots normal and updating.
distrometer and WXT = values look normal, updating as expected.
visual checks of all systems normal.

Daily report for Thursday August 21

Today, a launch was scheduled at 11am today.  Did one sounding at 11 am.  Overcast, but not much rain.  No new water was observed through the door.  Sending email through Thunderbird doesn't work here, have to use webmail, ugh.

Xmit pwer= 1.52 kW
Reflected= 10w
power spectra = all channels look normal.
checked online plots = updating and normal.
ceilometer system = data being logged.
sfc data = all plots normal and updating.
distrometer and WXT = values look normal, updating as expected.
visual checks of all systems normal.

Daily report for Wednesday August 20

Today, a launch was scheduled at 11am today.  I noticed some packet loss on the internet connection, though it appears to be upstream of CSTARS.  Did one sounding at 11 am and another at about 6pm.  Rain on and off today.  No new water was observed through the door after my leak fix yesterday.

Xmit pwer= 1.56 kW
Reflected= 10w
power spectra = all channels look normal.
checked online plots = updating and normal.
ceilometer system = data being logged.
sfc data = all plots normal and updating.
distrometer and WXT = values look normal, updating as expected.
visual checks of all systems normal.

Daily report for Tuesday August 19

Today, operations were scheduled to be on at 12 noon today.  CSTARS is still running on generator power, though only for reliability reasons I believe.  The University is closed today, as it was yesterday.  The sun peaked through the clouds when I arrived.  I switched the system back into clearair mode.  I did not observe any spurs in the power spectra after the switch as Tim and I did a few days ago.  Did one sounding at 12 noon, no more were requested.

Xmit pwer= 1.56 kW
Reflected= 10w
power spectra = all channels look normal.
checked online plots = updating and normal.
ceilometer system = data being logged.
sfc data = all plots normal and updating.
distrometer and WXT = values look normal, updating as expected.
visual checks of all systems normal.

Daily report for Monday August 18

Today, a sounding at 10am took place.  Steady rain.  All remaining soundings were called off because of wind forecast.  CSTARS switched to generator power shortly before I arrived and so the MAPR amp was down for a few minutes before I arrived and switched to rain mode.

Xmit pwer= .77 KW (because of rain mode)
Reflected= 10w
power spectra = all channels look normal.
checked online plots = updating and normal.
ceilometer system = data being logged.
sfc data = all plots normal and updating.
distrometer and WXT = values look normal, updating as expected.
visual checks of all systems normal.

Daily report for Sunday August 17

Today, soundings at 11am and 1pm took place as there was a higher chance of precipitation.  Some light rain was observed on site briefly.  No soundings for rest of day.

Xmit pwer= 1.48 KW
Reflected= 10w
power spectra = all channels look normal.
checked online plots = updating and normal.
ceilometer system = data being logged.
sfc data = all plots normal and updating.
distrometer and WXT = values look normal, updating as expected.
visual checks of all systems normal.

Daily report for Saturday August 16

Because of low chance of precip, all soundings today were scrubbed.

Xmit pwer= 1.49 KW
Reflected= 10w
power spectra = all channels look normal.
checked online plots = updating and normal.
ceilometer system = data being logged.
sfc data = all plots normal and updating.
distrometer and WXT = values look normal, updating as expected.
visual checks of all systems normal.

Daily report for Friday August 15

There was a power burp about 10 or 11pm last night that reset the power amplifier, so there is no MAPR data until I reset it this morning.  Also, the celiometer computer reset, so I enabled that as well.

Forecast calls for 20% chance of precip.  But 11am sounding went ahead.  Storm passed to the south in the afternoon.  Additional soundings were scrubbed for today at 4:30pm local time.

Xmit pwer= 1.52 KW
Reflected= 10w
power spectra = all channels look normal.
checked online plots = updating and normal.
ceilometer system = data being logged.
sfc data = all plots normal and updating.
distrometer and WXT = values look normal, updating as expected.
visual checks of all systems normal.

Daily report for Thursday August 14

Sounding today was cancelled by Bruce.
Forecast calls for <20% chance of precip. 

Xmit pwer= 1.52 KW
Reflected= 10w
power spectra = all channels look normal.
checked online plots = updating and normal.
ceilometer system = data being logged.
sfc data = all plots normal and updating.
distrometer and WXT = values look normal, updating as expected.
visual checks of all systems normal.

Brad's first log entry.

Daily report for Wednesday August 13

Standard IOP called for 11am sounding today, but was cancelled by Bruce at 9am.
Revised forecast calls for <20% chance of precip. after major front came through area at 9-10pm Local last night. It seems to have cleared out instability in the area, and it is hot and muggy again today.

Xmit pwer= 1.53 KW
Reflected= 10w
power spectra = all channels look normal.
checked online plots = updating and normal.
ceilometer system = data being logged.
sfc data = all plots normal and updating.
distrometer and WXT = values look normal, updating as expected.
visual checks of all systems normal.

This is Tim's last entry, Brad is now the P.O.D.!

Daily report for Monday August 12

The forecast shows the continued pattern of weak western breezes bringing isolated Cu development over our area, so ops are again on today.

11am sounding launched.
Isolated cell to SW of our position at 11am launch, with light sprinkles.

Xmit pwer= 1.66 KW
Reflected= 10w
power spectra = all channels look normal.
checked online plots = updating and normal.
ceilometer system = data being logged.
sfc data = all plots normal and updating.
distrometer and WXT = values look normal, updating as expected.
visual checks of all systems normal.


2nd sonde launched 1500local, anvil of cells overhead. light stratiform rain periodically from outflow, not enough to record. tracked to 41mb,+descent.

Daily report for Monday August 11

Hot and steamy, clear here, but radar shows lots of Cu development on the western side of state and heading our way.

11am sounding launched.

Xmit pwer= 1.64 KW
Reflected= 10w
power spectra = all channels look normal.
checked online plots = updating and normal.
ceilometer system = data being logged.
sfc data = all plots normal and updating.
distrometer and WXT = values look normal, updating as expected.
visual checks of all systems normal.

16:10- switched to rain mode, rain imminent.
only one good rain event that seemed to stabilize afterward.
20:01- switched back to clear air mode.

Uhh-oh. was just looking at the plots- saw big problems.... RF blanking switch on amp was somehow bumped at 16:30. I am an idiot! I have recified the problem, but I am at a loss to explain. I had some visitors in here and we must have bumped it.

Daily report for Sunday August 10

Light Cu forming all nearby, but none here. West winds are a pleasant break from the heat.

11am sounding launched.

Xmit pwer= 1.68 KW
Reflected= 10w
power spectra = all channels look normal.
checked online plots = updating and normal.
ceilometer system = data being logged.
sfc data = all plots normal and updating.
distrometer and WXT = values look normal, updating as expected.
visual checks of all systems normal.

16:33- switched to rain mode just as a rain shaft formed near us.

2nd sonde launched at 3pm local, sonde operated fine until 568mb, and and then got zapped- carrier frequency still there, but nothing but bzzzzz.... Bruce says not to relaunch.

20:50Z- switched back to clear air mode.

Daily report for Saturday August 09

similar forecast as friday for ops today. Winds are light but from SW, bringing moisture and Cu development from over the everglades to us.

11am sounding launched.


Xmit pwer= 1.63 KW
Reflected= 10w
power spectra = all channels look normal.
checked online plots = updating and normal.
ceilometer system = data being logged.
sfc data = all plots normal and updating.
distrometer and WXT = values look normal, updating as expected.

visual checks of all systems normal.

19:45 switching to rain mode in hopes that it will start something, all here remain doubtful.
21:30 switched back to clear air mode. we chased all rain away. 
Calling it a day. nothing forming anywhere close to us.

Daily report for Friday August 08

Day began w clear skies and zero breeze, but a shift to SW winds is expected by 1pm by NWS. Ops are planned with optimism today, 11am sounding launched.


Xmit pwer= 1.68 KW
Reflected= 10w
power spectra = all channels look normal.
checked online plots = updating and normal.
ceilometer system = data being logged.
sfc data = all plots normal and updating.
distrometer and WXT = values look normal, updating as expected.

visual checks of all systems normal.

SW flow has switched, switched to rain mode @ 17:25

2nd sonde launched at 18:11z(13:11L) btween forming cells.
heavy rain followed by stratiform rain, cells continuing to form.

(switched tanks)
3rd sonde launched at 21:51z(5:51L) post storms.
Skies clearing.
burst at 56mb, tracked thru descent, dropped 2km east,274deg that's probably in the zoo parking lot!

switching to clear air mode at 11:37Z.
long day.

Daily report for Thursday August 07

This stable clear pattern continues to spoil our chances for moisture over our test area today. slight sea breezes from the SE to NW is pushing Cu development out over the western everglades.
Ops called off today, no soundings.

Xmit pwer= 1.62 KW
Reflected= 8-10w
power spectra = all channels look normal.
checked online plots = updating and normal.
ceilometer system = data being logged.
sfc data = all plots normal and updating.
distrometer and WXT = values look normal, updating as expected.

visual checks of all systems normal.

Daily report for Wednesday August 06

small patchy cirus coming in from SE, not good for ops today, we are standing down.

Xmit pwer= 1.60 KW
Reflected= 8-10w
power spectra = all channels look normal.
checked online plots = updating and normal.
ceilometer system = data being logged.
sfc data = all plots normal and updating.
distrometer and WXT = values look normal, updating as expected.

visual checks of all systems normal.

Daily report for Tuesday August 05

a thin layer of high cirus at 22kft and patchy scud @2.5kft.
2nd ops period today with 11am sounding.

When ceilometer pc rebooted on Monday, I didn't catch that the program defaulted to NO datalogging until today, so no ceilometer datafile for monday. Sorry :^(

Xmit pwer= 1.58 KW
Reflected= 8-10w
all systems normal.

did soundings training for entire RSMAS crew, answered many questions. 
They should be available to assist when needed.

Patched hole in roof where the leak was, and replaced insulation.

No precip developing in our area today, so no more soundings.
Wednesday's forecast is not promising, but we are proceeding with a 11am sounding unless called off. 

Daily report for Monday August 04

70-80% cloud cover streaming from SSW to NNE.
1st ops period today with 10am sounding.

Display mgr has not picked up sounding >1+ hr after termination...

Noticed ceilometer pc rebooting @ 12:50Local=16:50Z
cause unknown, restarted ceilometer prgm. working now, will keep an eye on it.

pwer= 1.69 KW
VSWR= <40 or 400w- depends on how you interpret the meter.
otherwise all systems normal.

Gary fixed soundings ingest, likely a problem with IP address of soundings PC.

intense shower@~4:30?pm local, switched to rain mode. noticed pwr meter @860w.
returned to 1.79 when I switched back to clear air mode @ ~5:30pm local.

all normal now, calling it a day at 6:15pm.

Daily report for Sunday August 03

light winds from SW, seems drier than usual.
No RSMAS people today, I assume they are set up for Monday ops.

pwer= 1.69 KW
VSWR= <400W if I read the meter correctly.
otherwise all systems normal.

Daily report for Saturday August 02

Relatively clear and warm day, insignificant Cu in late afternoon.

RSMAS crew have set up Metek Rain radar and video distrometer aprox. 15 Meters north of ISS trailer, and are now operational.
They continue to setup their radars and plan to be operational for expected IOP day on Monday.

Gary and Bill head for home at 4pm local, I am solo until relieved on Aug 13th.

all systems normal.

Daily Report for Friday August 01.

Continued hot and humid, with passing isolated cells in afternoon. Bill took time lapse of passing cell about 4pm local.

MAPR was down intermittently for maintenance.

RSMAS radar continues to be setup, plans are to be operational by Monday for possible IOP.

Tim leveled all radiation sensors at 10:30 local.

All systems operational. 

CPS Site Set Up

ISS-MAPR Set up at the Univerisity of Miami RSMAS CSTARS site
in the Richmod / Kendall area of south-west Miami.

Lat 25.6134 N
Lon 80.3842 W
Alt 4m

ISS with MAPR, radiosondes, met tower, two WXT weather sensors, rain gauge, ceilometer, and solar radiation.  No RASS was deployed.

CSTARS is a satellite receiving station and there are 3 large dish antennas around the site, plus a 4 single-story buildings.   There is also a chain link fence.  The buildings, ISS trailer, and fence provide some sheilding for MAPR.  There are trees surrounding the site.  MAPR was installed with the diffraction baffles that are typically used on ship-board systems to reduce clutter and it does seem that little clutter is being picked-up.

The surrounding trees and buildings will affect the fetch seen by our surface instruments.  The met tower has trees (approx 10m high) about 20 m to the south so winds from the south are probably affected.  Also about 60 m to the east is a large radome covered antenna so winds from that direction may also be affected.   The solar sensors have some shadowing in the early morning (from the radome) and in the late afternoon (from trees).  Fortunately CSTARS has a 20m met tower (with radiation sensors) that should be tall enough to have clear fetch.

The WXT units are on a 2 m tower and will even more affected by fetch than our 10m met tower.  We are evaluating these as temperature/RH and thus have them at the same height as the T/RH on the met tower.  One of the WXT units includes a low resolution disdrometer function.  This unit is on loan from Vaisala.

The ISS setup crew was Bill, Lou, Brad, Tim, and Gary.
Tim will be doing the first ops period.