Sierra Rotors Project 2004 Site Survey Report Mike Susedik Bill Brown November 17 - 20, 2003 PI: Vanda Grubisic at DRI, phone 775-674-7031 Email: grubisic@dri.edu Story: PI and Support: Vanda Grubisic and Hal Klieforth (DRI emeritus) met us to find sites in the Owens Valley. Hal has been working in the Owens Valley for 50+ yearsand was a member of the original experiment back in 1954. Hal is a wealth of information on the area, the managing offices and geography. Wind in the Owens Valley is measured in inches like we do inches of rain (figuratively) since they don't get rain. Yes, that means it will be dusty in the valley so bring your allergy medicine. There are a lot of state patrol on the road from Reno to the site! They like your money, please don't push the limit! THE CITY OF BISHOP: There are hardware stores, hospitals, shopping malls, K-Mart, supermarkets, and lots of resturants. There is FedEx at the small Bishop airport and a computer/electronics store. OUR HOTEL: Bill and I flew out to Reno NV and drove 4 hours south to Bishop. We stayed in the Best Western Creek Side hotel, which was the nicest in town at $110 and when I say nice I mean it. For the site survey it was booked through the internet so we paid full price. If booked again they should be called directly for a room (760-872-3044) to get the government rate, which is $85. I spoke with them and if we stay long term (1 mo +) they will drop the rate to $79. The room had a recliner, king size bed and a nice TV/furniture setup. No microwave or fridge, but there was a good continental breakfast that included eggs + many other items. The hotel was located at the central cross roads of town and was with in walking distance of many restaurants. Bishop is still 40-60 minutes away from the sites. Across the street was a Holiday Inn express, which was a just a little less extravagant, but had microwaves and a frig in the room. They provided a conti-breakfast with eggs and they allowed pets for $20/night. For long stays they'd give us $69/night, which is inside the $70 per diem. It also had an indoor pool/sauna/hot tub and a decent workout facility. There are many more hotels, these two are central and nice. There is a neat looking B&B in Independence, a Subway and two other small restaurants that are opened different days of the week. Independence is about 7 miles from the site. The next town on the other side is about 7 miles south called Lone Pine. Bigger than Independence, but still limited. There was a Comfort Inn and another decent hotel. I'm estimating 5 to 7 restaurants available for dinner and a few stores. We will need to have someone negotiate a rate where ever we stay. If we pick a place 40 miles away (ie Bishop) we might be getting up pretty early in the morning to provide enough setup time for ops. SITES: We need to have a central site for the MAPR system and a host of sites for MISS. MISS will be placed in different spots along the rotor. Generators will need troughs around them and the fuel to guard against spilling. Regarding any sites, there are archeology concerns and experts have to be called in to check the sites before any digging. When parking MISS be careful because cows free range though the valley and could end up walking through your site, so electric fencing should be used. There is a strong wind that blows through the valley and the soil is very sandy so long stakes or screw in stakes will be necessary. All sites were monitored for RFI using the portable spectrum analyzer and no interference was found. There was a concerned logged about people shooting at the site so no furs will be allowed at the ISS. Because of high winds lots of consideration must be taken as to the MISS surface tower, truck and profiler trailer being properly staked down. As the ground is sand, concrete blocks will be used to help level and provide a foundation. POWER: The MAPR site generator will require a trough/mote to catch any fuel leaks. All operations sites will require a generator, the MISS Honda generator will not require any special provisions. The MISS home site has line power and will not require a generator. There is a United Rental and another company listed in the phone book for generator rental. NETWORKING: Originally we thought we would work with Vanda and her connection through the local school. This link will be some what complicated because there are trees from MAPR to theere warned this site is a drainage and can fill up very quickly with water. GPS LOC: Lat 36.73306N Lon 118.16145W OPERATIONS NOTES: Soundings will happen 2 times per day during the IOPs. These will be at synoptic times. Notification of operations will happen 24 hours ahead of time and well will attempt to get MISS setup before the wind comes. After MISS is setup we can send 2 the people back to MAPR for operations and soundings. Vanda is going to provide 2 people for IOPs throughout the project. All soundings will likely take 2 people as these will always be blustery conditions. Events should last 24 hours and happen every 3 days. All operators need to think about how to construct if necessary a shelter to launch the sondes from in high wind conditions. Two people required at each site for every balloon launch. While Steve is on operations he wants to be at the MISS site as often as possible to help people recognize important features in the wind profile. He will give us all instruction in Boulder prior to shipping to SRP.