dynamo-iss3: Site ISS3 Messages, 136 Entries..

DAILY REPORT for Mon 16 Jan 2012

Systems: All green at 0Z
                  
Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z
           
Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): 2Z

Weather: Cloudy with occasional showers

Launches
0Z launch - last sounding of project.
Did aspirator test - see separate tklog entry

Final Radar Amp Currents 

rass  60m 1.287 Vol set to about 4.5  15.2 VAC
yV22 220m 2.135
y+38 200m 2.136
x-37 200m 2.136
yV22  60m 1.810
y+38  60m 1.810
xV21  60m 1.810
x-37  60m 1.810

Kestrel readings (local time, 6 hours ahead of UTC)

ISS Site (2m)
Time: 5:27
Pres: 1005.1
Temp: 23.9
RH: 95
Wind: 1.4 (NW)

END OF PROJECT
Doing backups to DVDs and USB drives

Many thanks to all ISS staff and students and to the folks on Diego Garcia!

Radiosonde aspiration test

Aspirating on ladder next to surface met tower 23:20-23:26Z
Aspirating on ground at usual location 23:28-23:37Z
Launched 23:42:50Z

Sonde appearing to be about 1 mb lower, 1C higher and 5% RH lower than surface met.

Sonde ID 1830714 file D20120115_234246

Cloudy with occasional rain.  Profiler showing melting layer aloft so used 40 cuft of Helium and put some Pam on the balloon.

DAILY REPORT for Sun 15 Jan 2012

Systems: All green at 14Z
                  
Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z
           
Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): 

Weather: 
00Z launch - cloudy with showers
06Z launch - cloudy with light rain
12Z launch - partly cloudy, then heavy rain at launch 
18Z launch - mostly clear thin cumulus strong gusts


Overview: Partly cloudy most of the day, with showers from early morning, more persistant later, breezey

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: 3 attempts due to GPS problems
06Z: good
12Z: good
18Z: good

Final Radar Amp Currents 
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.287
	low-mode(60)   = 1.
        high-mode(200) = 2.137


Kestrel readings (local time, 6 hours ahead of UTC)


Short Pier
Time: 15:27
Pres: 1004.5
Temp: 27.5
RH: 85
Wind: 6.2 - 7.2 (NW)

Golf course beach
Time: 15:42
Pres: 1004.2
Temp: 27.0
RH: 91
Wind: 6.5 - 8.2 (NW)

Metoc Parking Lot
Time: 16:00
Pres: 1004.4
Temp: 25.2
RH: 85
Wind: 8.1 (NW)
(heavy rain)

ISS Site (2m)
Time: 20:17
Pres: 1005.8
Temp: 26.1
RH: 85
Wind: 2-3 (NW)

Radiosonde aspiration test

Aspirating on ladder next to surface met tower 11:45 - 11:55Z
Aspirating on ground at usual location 11:57 - 12:02Z
Launched

Sonde appearing to be about 1 mb lower, 0.2 - 0.5C higher and 5-8% RH lower than surface met.

Sonde ID 18300711 file D20120115_120331

Partly cloudy during tests (with occasional short bursts of sun) but then a squall with heavy persistent rain started as sonde was launched.

On the 0z sounding this morning I had 3 sondes showing up to 6 sats before going out to fill the balloon. All 3 either lost gps at launch or had lost it by the time I returned with the balloon. Squalls were in the area and passing over the site.

Radiosonde aspiration test

Repeated aspiration test from yesterday.   

Aspirating on ladder next to surface met tower 18:25 - 17:02Z
Aspirating on ground at usual location 17:02 - 17:15Z
Launched

Sonde ID 1830709 file D20120114_171505

Some dew earlier in evening so possible inversion?

Radiosonde aspiration test

Repeated aspiration test from yesterday.   

Aspirating on ground at usual location 11:09 - 11:12Z
Aspirating on ladder next to surface met tower 11:15 - 11:30Z
Aspirating on ground at usual location 11:32 - 11:42Z
Launched

Sonde appearing to be about 1 mb lower, 0.2 - 0.5C higher and 2 - 4% RH higher than surface met.

For another point of comparison, at 11:30 kestrel was measuring 27.2C 88% RH and 1005.4 hPa.

Sonde ID 1840947 file D20120114_114533
(note typo in operator notes in D file, should be 11:15-11:30, not 23:15-23:30)

DAILY REPORT for Sat 14 Jan 2012

Systems: All green at 0Z
                  
Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z
           
Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): yes

Weather: 
00Z launch - partly cloudy
06Z launch - partly cloudy, convection nearby but no rain here
12Z launch - mainly cloudy, middle level stratus and cu, clearer to south
18Z launch - mostly clear 


Overview: Partly cloudy all day, occasional sun, some convection in area but didn't rain.  Cloud increasing during afternoon.

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good
06Z: good
12Z: good
18Z: good

Final Radar Amp Currents 
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.288
	low-mode(60)   = 1.810
        high-mode(200) = 2.135

Did some extra kestrel readings to get better handle on island effects.

Kestrel readings (local time, 6 hours ahead of UTC)

GEODSS
Time: 13:01
Pres: 1007.9
Temp: 33.4
RH: 71

Turtle Cove
Time: 13:14
Pres: 1007.4
Temp: 30
RH: 77

Inland Turtle Cove
Time: 13:10
Pres: 1007.1
Temp: 30.0
RH: 77

Munitions Beach
Time: 12:45
Pres: 1008.2
Temp: 31.1
RH: 76

Thunder Cove:
Time: 12:31
Pres: 1007.8
Temp: 32.2
RH: 73

Jake's Place
Time: 13:46
Pres: 1007.1
Temp: 31.0
RH: 71

Short Pier
Time: 13:57
Pres: 1006.4
Temp: 27.7
RH: 85
Wind: 4.7 - 5.0 (west)

Golf course beach
Time: 15:07
Pres: 1006.1
Temp: 28.4
RH: 85
Wind: 2.8 - 3.6 (west)

Munitions Beach
Time: 15:30
Pres: 1006.1
Temp: 28.0
RH: 85
Wind: 2.8 - 3.3 (west)

Metoc Parking Lot
Time: 16:05
Pres: 1005.5
Temp: 28.6
RH: 79
Wind: 2.4 - 3.0 (NW)

At ISS site at 2m level
Time: 11:30Z
Pres: 1005.4
Temp: 27.2
RH: 88

At WXT 2m level
Time: 11:47Z
Pres: 1005.2
Temp: 27.4
RH: 86
Wind: 1.5 - 2.2

At WXT 2m level
Time: 13:25Z
Pres: 1006.5
Temp: 26.6
RH: 86
Wind: 1.0 (NW)

Radiosonde aspiration test.

There has been an apparent RH bias between the radiosonde surface data and the surface met, particularly at night.
June asked us to aspirate a sonde up directly next to the surface met as a check to see if a night-time inversion close to the ground might be contributing.

At 9pm local (15Z) set up a test whereby the aspirator is mounted on a step ladder at the 2m level directly next to the surface met tower.
Mounted from approx 14:55 to 15:33. At surface met comparison point in GAUS software,
sonde was measuring about 1.2 mb lower, 0.1C higher and 1.5% RH higher than surface met.

Apsirator fan cut in and out.  Was okay running from 1520 to 1533.
From 1536 to 1547 sonde was on aspirator on ground as usual location near conntainers.

In this case wasn't a clear difference to the eye between ground aspiration and aspiration on the ladder next to the met tower, however we should analyse the raw data later to check.

The sonde was released about 1548 and allowed to fly to 400 mb before begin terminated.

The sonde ID is 1840953 and the data file is D20120113_154822_P.1

DAILY REPORT for Fri 13 Jan 2012

Systems: All green at 0Z
                  
Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z
           
Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): took at 0930Z

Weather: 
00Z launch - calm
06Z launch - partly cloudy, light breeze
12Z launch - light rain, although looks clearer to the south
15Z launch - partly cloudy
18Z launch - partly cloudy

Overview: A little rain early this morning, then sunny and hot early, clouding over during day, to scattered light rain late afternoon.  Heavy shower in evening.

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good
06Z: good
12Z: good
18Z: took three tries to launch

Did extra launch at 15Z for aspiration tests (see separate tklog entry)

Final Radar Amp Currents 
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.288
	low-mode(60)   = 1.810
        high-mode(200) = 2.136

Bill and Lou arrived yesterday evening, and Patti arrived on Tuesday.
Students Gus and Johnathan have finished their shift (thanks guys) and flew out early this morning.
The final crew here is Bill, Lou, Jen, and Patti and we'll start tear-down on Monday.

Made small correction to level of vis and net radiation around 1330Z.  Both tilted approx 2 deg to north.  No adjustment needed for IR.

DAILY REPORT for Thu 12 Jan 2012


Systems: All green at 0Z
                  
Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z
           
Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): done

Weather: 
00Z launch - mostly cloudy, cumulus
06Z launch - mostly cloudy, cumulus
12Z launch - partly cloudy light breeze
18Z launch - canceled due to ATC

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good
06Z: lost GPS around 200mb, computer locked up.
12Z: good delayed 20 min due to ATC
18Z: canceled due to ATC

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z): done
	rass-mode(60)  = 
	low-mode(60)   = 
        high-mode(200) = 

DAILY REPORT for Wed 11 Jan 2012


Systems: All green at 0Z
                  
Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z
           
Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): done

Weather: 
00Z launch - Mostly clear and calm
06Z launch - Mostly clear and calm
12Z launch - Partly cloudy, cumulus
18Z launch - Mostly cloudy, altocumulus

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good
06Z: good
12Z: good
18Z: good

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z): done
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.289
	low-mode(60)   = 1.812
        high-mode(200) = 2.136

Kestrel Readings

GEODSS Beach
  Time: 14:38Z
  Pres: 1008.5mb
  Temp: 31.7C
  RH:   74.3%

Turtle Cove
  Time: 14:54Z
  Pres: 1008.4mb
  Temp: 31.8C
  RH:   68.7%

Turtle Cove Inland
  Time: 14:49Z
  Pres: 1008.5mb
  Temp: 32.4C
  RH:   64.0%

Munitions Beach
  Time: 15:33Z
  Pres: 1008.0mb
  Temp: 28.8C
  RH:   76.1%

Thunder Cove
  Time: 13:58Z
  Pres: 1009.0mb
  Temp: 32.9C
  RH:   71.0%

Jake's Place
  Time: 13:33Z
  Pres: 1009.5mb
  Temp: 33.7Z
  RH:   65.4%

Short Pier
  Time: 13:08Z
  Pres: 1009.8mb
  Temp: 29.4C
  RH:   73.8%

DAILY REPORT for Tue 10 Jan 2012


Systems: All green at 0Z
                  
Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z
           
Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): 

Weather: 
00Z launch - mostly cloudy, cumulus
06Z launch - Heavy rain
12Z launch - ovc, windy
18Z launch - mostly clear, altostratus

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good
06Z: Briefly lost GPS 975mb - 950mb, then balloon burst at 300mb
12Z: good
18Z: ATC denied launch past the window. Did not launch

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z): done
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.290
	low-mode(60)   = 1.811
        high-mode(200) = 2.136

DAILY REPORT for Mon 09 Jan 2012


Systems: All green at 0Z
                  
Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z
           
Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): done

RASS: Crown Amp showing fault when RASS cycling, switched output channels. PArt of 12Z RASS cycle is missing due to the switch.

Weather: 
00Z launch - mostly clear, cumulus congestus
06Z launch - mostly cloudy cumulus sct showers
12Z launch - mostly clear calm
18Z launch - mostly clear light breeze

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good
06Z: good
12Z: Late due to ATC, good
18Z: good

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z): done
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.288
	low-mode(60)   = 1.811
        high-mode(200) = 2.133

DAILY REPORT for Sun 08 Jan 2012


Systems: All green at 0Z
                  
Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z
           
Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): done

Weather: 
00Z launch - Mostly clear, cumulus, calm, light drizzle
06Z launch - Overcast light rain
12Z launch - Partly cloudy, cumulus, altocumulus
18Z launch - Mostly clear, cumulus

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: launched 2 sondes both lost winds during ascent
06Z: ????
12Z: good
18Z: good

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z): done
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.288
	low-mode(60)   = 1.811
        high-mode(200) = 2.133

DAILY REPORT for Sat 07 Jan 2012


Systems: All green at 0Z
         Critical Errors -> 'Camera Images' @ 01:58Z - All Sky Cam did not take                                 pictures from 01:58Z - 04:51Z. Computer was lock                                ed up but did not require restart. Will monitor.

                            'Camera Images' @ 05:52Z - Ally Sky Cam did not take                                pictures from 05:52Z-07:36Z. Rebooted the machin                                e this time and it seems to be working again.
         
Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z
           No All Sky pictures from 01:58Z - 04:51Z.

Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): 

Weather: 
00Z launch - Partly cloudy, cumulus
06Z launch - Partly cloudy, cirrus, cumulus
12Z launch - partly cloudy, cirrus, cumulus
18Z launch - mostly clear, cumulus

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good
06Z: good
12Z: good
18Z: good

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z): done
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.288
	low-mode(60)   = 1.809
        high-mode(200) = 2.131

Kestrel readings


GEODSS 
	Time: 06:00Z
	Pres: 1010.8 hPa
	Temp: 31.0C
	RH:   75.5%

Turtle Cove
	Time: 06:07Z
	Pres: 1010.8 hPa
	Temp: 28.4C
	RH:   74.4%

Inland Turtle Cove
	Time: 06:12Z
	Pres: 1010.7 hPa
	Temp: 30.9C
	RH:   75.5%

Munitions Beach
	Time: 06:25Z
	Pres: 1010.7 hPa
	Temp: 28.7C
	RH:   80.2%

Thunder Cove
	Time: 05:40Z
	Pres: 1011.0 hPa
	Temp: 29.1C
	RH:   78.6%

Jake's Place
	Time: 06:57Z
	Pres: 1010.5 hPa
	Temp: 28.7C
	RH:   70.9%

Short Pier
	Time: 07:05Z
	Pres: 1010.1 hPa
	Temp: 28.6C
	RH:   77.0%
	

DAILY REPORT for Fri 06 Jan 2012


Systems: All green at 0Z
         
Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z

Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): done


Change desiccant in radiometers.

Weather: 
00Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus
06Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus, cirrus
12Z launch - mostly clear calm
18Z launch - almost completely clear and calm

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good
06Z: good
12Z: good
18Z: good

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z): done
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.286
	low-mode(60)   = 1.808
        high-mode(200) = 2.132

Kestrel readings


GEODSS 
	Time: 0603Z
	Pres: 1010.5
	Temp: 33.1
	RH: 74.5

Turtle Cove
	Time: 0616Z
	Pres: 1010.7
	Temp:31.0
	RH: 77.9

Inland Turtle Cove
	Time: 0621Z
	Pres: 1010.5
	Temp: 31.5
	RH: 75.1

Munitions Beach
	Time: 0634Z
	Pres: 1010.5
	Temp: 29.8
	RH: 83.0

Thunder Cove
	Time: 0533Z
	Pres: 1011.0
	Temp: 30.2
	RH: 74.9

Jake's Place
	Time:0652Z
	Pres: 1010.5
	Temp: 30.5
	RH: 78.2

Short Pier
	Time:1301
	Pres: 1010.2
	Temp: 30.0
	RH: 82.7
	

DAILY REPORT for Thu 05 Jan 2012


Systems: All green at 0Z
         
Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z

Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): done

Inventory: 
	Sondes 57
	Balloons 78
	He Cylinders 40

Change desiccant in radiometers.

Weather: 
00Z launch - Overcast drizzle
06Z launch - Overcast
12Z launch - Cloudy, altostratus, cumulus
18Z launch - Overcast, drizzle

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good
06Z: good
12Z: good
18Z: good

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z): done
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.286
	low-mode(60)   = 1.808
        high-mode(200) = 2.132

Kestrel readings
**Too cloudy to take readings**

GEODSS 
	Time: 
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 

Turtle Cove
	Time: 
	Pres: 
	Temp:
	RH: 

Inland Turtle Cove
	Time:
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 

Munitions Beach
	Time: 
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 

Thunder Cove:
	Time: 
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 

Jake's Place
	Time:
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 

Short Pier
	Time:
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 
	

DAILY REPORT for Wed 04 Jan 2012


Systems: All green at 0Z
         Critical Errors: 'Profiler data' @ 00:15Z - Profiler locked up again. R                             ebooted the system and it seems to be working prope                             rly at this time. Lost about an hour worth of data.

                          'WXT from NIDAS' @ 02:00Z - All surface weather measur                             ements are being recorded and updating normally.

                          'USB Backup' @ 03:30Z - Says backup is old. This might                             be due to slowed internet connection.

                          'NIMA processing' @ 03:30Z - This has been a recurring                              problem, but data is being collected normally.

Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z

Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): done

Weather: 
00Z launch - Overcast, moderate to heavy rain
06Z launch - Cloudy, altostratus, cumulus
12Z launch - Cloudy, altostratus, cumulus
18Z launch - OVC, windy.

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good
06Z: good
12Z: good
18Z: good

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z): done
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.288
	low-mode(60)   = 1.811
        high-mode(200) = 2.138

Kestrel readings

GEODSS 
	Time: 
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 

Turtle Cove
	Time: 
	Pres: 
	Temp:
	RH: 

Inland Turtle Cove
	Time:
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 

Munitions Beach
	Time: 
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 

Thunder Cove:
	Time: 
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 

Jake's Place
	Time:
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 

Short Pier
	Time:
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 
	

DAILY REPORT for Tue 03 Jan 2012


Systems: All green at 0Z

Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z

Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): done

Weather: 
00Z launch - Clear skies, light breeze
06Z launch - Mostly cloudy moderate winds with strong gusts
12Z launch - Overcast, light rain, breezy
18Z launch - overcast light rain

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good
06Z: good
12Z: good
18Z: good

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z):
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.287
	low-mode(60)   = 1.808
        high-mode(200) = 2.137

Kestrel readings

GEODSS 
	Time: 
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 

Turtle Cove
	Time: 
	Pres: 
	Temp:
	RH: 

Inland Turtle Cove
	Time:
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 

Munitions Beach
	Time: 
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 

Thunder Cove:
	Time: 
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 

Jake's Place
	Time:
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 

Short Pier
	Time:
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 
	

DAILY REPORT FOR Mon 02 January 2012


Systems: Critical Errors: Green at 0Z
         

Webcam PC: running

Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): done


Weather: 
00Z launch - moderate to heavy rain
06Z launch - overcast moderate winds with strong gusts
12Z launch - Mostly cloudy, cumulus, altocumulus
18Z launch - Mostly cloudy, cumulus, altocumulus

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good
06Z: good
12Z: good
18Z: good

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z): done
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.288
	low-mode(60)   = 1.811
        high-mode(200) = 2.137
	

DAILY REPORT FOR Sun 01 January 2012


Systems: Critical Errors: 'Camera Image' - All Sky Cam did not record any pictur                                           es between 16:46Z and 23:07Z. Problem                                            was colved by restarting that partic                                           ular system.
                          'EOL data transfers' - This has been an on and off err                                           or, but we believe the data is record                                           ing just fine.
                           Profiler Data' - RASS locked up once again around 00:                                           15Z. Restarted the system. Countdown                                            working properly and "C" shows up aft                                           er the countdown.
         

Webcam PC: See issue described above. Webcam working normally now.

Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): done


Weather: 
00Z launch - Mostly cloudy
06Z launch - Mostly cloudy, cumulus, cirrostratus, cirrus
12Z launch - Mostly cloudy, strong gusts, cumulus, cirrus
18Z launch - partly cloudy, windy, strong gusts.

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good, but GPS lost above 350mb
06Z: good
12Z: good
18Z: good

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z): done
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.287
	low-mode(60)   = 1.808
        high-mode(200) = 2.133
	

DAILY REPORT FOR Sat 31 December 2011


Systems: All Green @ 00Z
         

Webcam PC: Working normally.

Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): done


Weather: 
00Z launch - Clear, windy
06Z launch - Mostly clear, altostratus, cumulus, cirrus
12Z launch - Mostly clear
18Z launch - Raining

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good
06Z: good
12Z: good
18Z: good, balloon sank and rose between 550mb and 650mb, terminated near 100mb

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z): done
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.288
	low-mode(60)   = 1.812
        high-mode(200) = 2.133
	

DAILY REPORT FOR Fri 30 December 2011

Will conducting soundings every 3 hours today

Systems: all green @ 00z

Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z

Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): done

Weather: 
00Z launch - Ovc light rain
03Z launch - Partly cloudy, drizzle
06Z launch - Mostly clear, alto cu
09Z launch - Clear, cu
12Z launch - Mostly cloudy, cumulus, altocumulus, cirrus
15Z launch - Mostly cloudy, cumulus, altocumulus
18Z launch - Partly cloudy, windy
21Z launch - Mostly cloudy, windy, drizzle

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good
03Z: good
06Z: good
09Z: good
12Z: good
15Z: good
18Z: good
21Z: good

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z):
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.289
	low-mode(60)   = 1.812
        high-mode(200) = 2.137

Kestrel readings

GEODSS 
	Time: 
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 

Turtle Cove
	Time: 
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 

Inland Turtle Cove
	Time: 
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 

Munitions Beach
	Time: 
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 

Thunder Cove:
	Time: 
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 

Jake's Place
	Time: 
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 

Short Pier
	Time: 
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 
	

Critical Errors:
--'NIMA Processing' has a critical error. All systems are collecting data properly at this time.

DAILY REPORT FOR Thu 29 December 2011


Systems: all green # 00Z
         Critical Errors: 'Profiler data' - Profiler locked up at about 00:30Z.                           Sounded continuously for 15+ minutes. Required a                                system reboot. Seems to be working fine at this time.
                          'NIMA Processing' starting at 04Z.

Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z

Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): done


Weather: 
00Z launch - Cloudy, drizzle, breezy
06Z launch - Partly cloudy, cumulus, altocumulus
12Z launch - partly cloudy, cu, alto cu
18Z launch - partly cloudy, cu, alto cu

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good
06Z: good
12Z: good
18Z: good, delay by ATC 

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z): done
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.289
	low-mode(60)   = 1.812
        high-mode(200) = 2.135
	

DAILY REPORT FOR Wed 28 December 2011


Systems: all green # 00Z

Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z

Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): done

Inventory: 
	95 Sondes
	116 Balloons
	48 He Cylinders

Weather: 
00Z launch - clear, a few cumulus
06Z launch - mostly clear, cumulus
12Z launch - partly cloudy light breeze
18Z launch - clear and calm

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good
06Z: good
12Z: good
18Z: good

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z):
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.288
	low-mode(60)   = 1.812
        high-mode(200) = 2.137

Kestrel readings

GEODSS 
	Time: 1300
	Pres: 1008
	Temp: 32.4C
	RH: 69.9%

Turtle Cove
	Time: 1312
	Pres: 1008
	Temp:29.6C
	RH: 68.1%

Inland Turtle Cove
	Time: 1317
	Pres: 1007.9
	Temp: 31.5C
	RH: 66.4%

Munitions Beach
	Time: 1330
	Pres: 1007.9
	Temp: 31.0C
	RH: 74.6%

Thunder Cove
	Time: 1236
	Pres: 1008.4
	Temp: 32.4C
	RH: 75.8%

Jake's Place
	Time: 1347
	Pres: 1007.3
	Temp: 31.9C
	RH: 71.8%

Short Pier
	Time: 1355
	Pres: 1007.3
	Temp: 30.0CC
	RH: 72.0%
	

DAILY REPORT FOR Tue 27 December 2011


Systems: EOL Data transfer, Local SSH, and camera images	
	 Errors likely due to internet outage around 0300 local, reset router
	 and internet back online, it might take awhile for data transfers to catch up and clear errors.

Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z

Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): done

Weather: 
00Z launch - Clear skies, light breeze
06Z launch - Mostly cloudy, very light sprinkle
12Z launch - Mostly cloudy, stratocumulus, cumulus
18Z launch - Clear

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good
06Z: good
12Z: good, but sonde lost GPS near 95mb
18Z: good

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z):
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.288
	low-mode(60)   = 1.812
        high-mode(200) = 2.137

Kestrel readings

GEODSS 
	Time: 
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 

Turtle Cove
	Time: 
	Pres: 
	Temp:
	RH: 

Inland Turtle Cove
	Time:
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 

Munitions Beach
	Time: 
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 

Thunder Cove:
	Time: 
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 

Jake's Place
	Time:
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 

Short Pier
	Time:
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 
	

DAILY REPORT FOR Mon 26 December 2011


Systems: Critical: Camera images 00Z - Camera is still taking images every minute

Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z

Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): 

Weather: 
00Z launch - Partly Cloudy, drizzle
06Z launch - Mostly Cloudy, stratocumulus, cumulus
12Z launch - mostly cloudy, stratocu, cu, altocu
18Z launch - partly cloudy, cu, stratocu,

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good
06Z: good
12Z: good
18Z: good

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z): done
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.288
	low-mode(60)   = 1.813
        high-mode(200) = 2.140

DAILY REPORT FOR Sun 25 December 2011


Systems: Critical: Camera images 00Z 06Z, NIMA processing 00Z.

	Restarted webcam PC, seems to be running right now, I think it had just locked up, we did lose about 5hours worth of pics.

Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z

Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): Done

Weather: 
00Z launch - Mostly clear, cumulus
06Z launch - Cloudy, cumulus congestus
12Z launch - Overcast and breezy
18Z launch - Overcast light breez and drizzle

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good
06Z: good
12Z: good
18Z: good

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z):
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.289
	low-mode(60)   = 1.808
        high-mode(200) = 2.137

DAILY REPORT FOR Sat 24 December 2011

Will conducting soundings every 3 hours today

Systems: All Green @ 00Z

Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z

Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): done

Weather: 
00Z launch - Mostly clear
03Z launch - Mostly cloudy
06Z launch - Mostly cloudy
09Z launch - Mostly cloudy, light and sporadic sprinkling
12Z launch - Mostly cloudy w/ light rain, cumulus, cumulonimbus
15Z launch - Mostly cloudy, stratocumulus
18Z launch - Clear
21Z launch - Mostly clear

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good
03Z: good
06Z: good
09Z: good
12Z: good
15Z: good
18Z: good
21Z: good

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z):
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.289
	low-mode(60)   = 1.812
        high-mode(200) = 2.137

Kestrel readings

GEODSS 
	Time: 
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 

Turtle Cove
	Time: 
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 

Inland Turtle Cove
	Time: 
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 

Munitions Beach
	Time: 
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 

Thunder Cove:
	Time: 
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 

Jake's Place
	Time: 
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 

Short Pier
	Time: 
	Pres: 
	Temp: 
	RH: 
	

Critical Errors:
--'NIMA Processing' has a critical error around 17:30Z. All systems are collecting data properly at this time.

DAILY REPORT FOR FRI 23 December 2011


Systems: All Green @ 00Z, Critical error @ 12Z 18Z: EOL data Transfers.

Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z

Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): Done

Weather: 
00Z launch - Mostly clear
06Z launch - Partly cloudy, cumulus
12Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus
18Z launch - clear

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good
06Z: good
12Z: good
18Z: good

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z):
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.289
	low-mode(60)   = 1.808
        high-mode(200) = 2.137

Kestrel readings

GEODSS 
	Time: 1247
	Pres: 1007.2
	Temp: 34C
	RH: 68.8%

Turtle Cove
	Time: 1257
	Pres: 1007.5
	Temp: 32.2C
	RH: 70.6%

Inland Turtle Cove
	Time: 1302
	Pres: 1007.5
	Temp: 33.6C
	RH: 67.3%

Munitions Beach
	Time: 1315
	Pres: 1007.2
	Temp: 29.5C
	RH: 75.2%

Thunder Cove:
	Time: 1437
	Pres: 1005.7
	Temp: 33.8C
	RH: 65.8%

Jake's Place
	Time: 1333
	Pres: 1007.0
	Temp: 33.9C
	RH: 71.8%

Short Pier
	Time: 1341
	Pres: 1006.6
	Temp: 30.3
	RH: 79.7%
	

DAILY REPORT FOR 21 December 2011



Systems: All Green @ 00Z 12Z

Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z

Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): done

Weather: 
00Z launch - clear, no clouds seen at launch
06Z launch - mostly cloudy, cumulus congestus, cumulonimbus
12Z launch - mostly clear
18Z launch - mostly clear

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good
06Z: good
12Z: good
18Z: good

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z):
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.287
	low-mode(60)   = 1.808
        high-mode(200) = 2.131

Inventory

Sondes: 123
Balloons: 145
Helium:53 cylinders

DAILY REPORT FOR 21 December 2011

Replaced PTU Aspirator 

Systems: All Green @ 00Z

Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z

Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): done

Weather: 
00Z launch - partly cloudy
06Z launch - partly cloudy
12Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus, cirrus
18Z launch - mostly clear, some cumulus

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good
06Z: good
12Z: good
18Z: good

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z):
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.287
	low-mode(60)   = 1.808
        high-mode(200) = 2.131

Critical Errors:
--'EOL data transfers' on Nagios had a critical status for over 2 hours until about 17:15Z.  All data is recording properly at this time.

DAILY REPORT FOR 18 December 2011

Systems: All Green @ 00Z

Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z

Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): taken at 6z

Weather: 
00Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus, heavy rain starting at 23:45Z
06Z launch - Cloudy and raining heavily
12Z launch - overcast, altocu
18Z launch - partly cloudy, altostratus

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good
06Z: 1st sonde had bad Temp. sensor; 2nd sonde bobbed at ~600mb for an hour before the sounding was terminated.
12Z: good
18Z: good

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z):
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.287
	low-mode(60)   = 1.811
        high-mode(200) = 2.137

Critical Errors:
--

DAILY REPORT FOR 18 December 2011

Systems: Exposed SSH Yellow Warning @00Z & @06Z,

Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z

Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): done

Weather: 
00Z launch - partly cloudy, drizzle, cumulus
06Z launch - overcast, light drizzle,
12Z launch - mostly clear
18Z launch - mostly clear

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: First launch lost gps, good
06Z: good
12Z: good, late launch due to ATC
18Z: good

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z):
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.288
	low-mode(60)   = 1.810
        high-mode(200) = 2.134

Critical Errors:
--

DAILY REPORT FOR 18 December 2011

Systems: all green @00Z

Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z

Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): done

Weather: 
00Z launch - mostly clear skies
06Z launch - overcast and rainy
12Z launch - cloudy, stratus
18Z launch - cloudy, light altostratus, some cumulus, few raindrops

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: went through 3 sondes, all sondes lost gps data within 20 minutes
06Z: good
12Z: good
18Z: Locked up at ~225mb, no 'Sonde profile log' available

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z):
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.288
	low-mode(60)   = 1.810
        high-mode(200) = 2.134

Critical Errors:
--All Sky Cam was not working from 1430Z to 1701Z. A restart of the system fixed the problem.

DAILY REPORT FOR 17 December 2011

Systems: all green @00Z, 06Z, 12Z,18Z

Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z

Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): Taken at 06Z

Weather: 
00Z launch - Cloudy, cumulus congestus, stratocumulus, brief showers
06Z launch - Cloudy, stratus, stratus fractus, light rain
12Z launch - overcast, stratocumulus,
18Z launch - Clear, few cumulus

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good
06Z: good
12Z: launched three times, good
18Z: good

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z):
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.288
	low-mode(60)   = 1.810
        high-mode(200) = 2.113



Critical Errors:

DAILY REPORT FOR 16 December 2011

Systems: all green @00Z,@06Z

Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z

Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): taken 06Z

Weather: 
00Z launch - Partly cloudy, a few cumulus congestus
06Z launch - mostly cloudy,cu nimbus cu congestus, light showers after launch.
12Z launch - mostly cloudy cumulonimbus
18Z launch - mostly clear

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good
06Z: Bad temperature readings
12Z: good
18Z: good

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z):
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.287
	low-mode(60)   = 1.808
        high-mode(200) = 2.130



Critical Errors:

DAILY REPORT FOR 15 December 2011

Systems: Still having NIMA and Profiler data errors. No C on profiler, restart program at 0224Z, consensus succesful.

Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z

Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): done

Weather: 
00Z launch - Partly cloudy, a few cumulus
06Z launch - Mostly cloudy, lots of cumulus
12Z launch - Partly Cloudy, scattered and growing cumulus
18Z launch - Mostly clear, some cirrus

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good
06Z: good (sounding locked up at 400mb)
12Z: good
18Z: good

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z):
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.287
	low-mode(60)   = 1.808
        high-mode(200) = 2.130



Critical Errors:
-NIMA Processing has been giving a critical error starting at 04Z. We are not quite sure what this error is pointing to, but we are fairly confident all systems are working adequately. Will monitor and update the situation.

DAILY REPORT FOR 14 December 2011

Systems: All green at 00Z. Please see 'Critical Errors' section below for information on errors that occured after 00Z.

Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z

Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): Done

Weather: 
00Z launch - clear, a few altocumulus
06Z launch - partly cloudy, a few cumulus
12Z launch - mostly cloudy, cumulonimbus, heavy rain
18Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good
06Z: good
12Z: good
18Z: good

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z):
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.286
	low-mode(60)   = 1.805
        high-mode(200) = 2.127

Inventory:
	Balloons:  179 count
	Sondes:    162 count
	Helium:    61 cylinders

DM backup done 14 Dec 2011, approx 14:45 UTC

Critical Errors:
-Vertical profiler froze during RASS cycle. No vertical profiler data from 00Z-02Z. Jen S. rebooted the machine and the vertical profiler came back online.
-NIMA Processing has been giving a critical error starting at 04Z. We are not quite sure what this error is pointing to, but we are fairly confident all systems are working adequately. Will monitor and update the situation.

Island Heating beach measurements with Kestral:
Mostly clear and warm today. A good day for island effect.
Profiler shows winds from the SSW and light aloft at 3pm LT
ISS surface winds about 2 m/s from the SW at 3pm LT

2:40pm LT GEODSS beach		P=2006.4hPa	T=30.7C	RH=71.3%
2:55pm LT Turtle Cove		P=1006.8hPa	T=31.4C	RH=69.6%
3:00pm LT Turtle Cove inland	P=1006.2hPa	T=32.0C	RH=67.2%
3:10pm LT Munitions Beach	P=1006.5hPa	T=32.2C	RH=69.4%
3:20pm LT Thunder Cove		P=1005.8hPa	T=30.5C	RH=68.8%
3:40pm LT Jake's Place		P=1005.7hPa	T=30.7C	RH=71.5%
3:50pm LT Short Pier		P=1005.6hPa	T=29.3C	TH=75.9%

DAILY REPORT FOR 13 December 2011

----P3 Calibration mission today 15Z-19Z. Extra launch at 19:20Z for Island Heating coordinated with P-3 line of drops (see below).

Systems: All green at 00Z

Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z

Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): Done

Weather: 
00Z launch - mostly clear, a few Ci
06Z launch - mostly clear
08Z launch - mostly clear
12Z launch - partly cloudy
18Z launch - clear

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good flight
06Z: good
08Z: good
12Z: good.
18Z: good.

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z):
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.287
	low-mode(60)   = 1.807
        high-mode(200) = 2.129

December 13 Heat Island measurements (Kestral)
P-3 "calibration" flight today from 9am=1pm LT. An extra sonde was launched at 1:20pm LT to study any island heating effects.

Warm afternoon, lots of sun for heating.

GEODSS Beach
2:20 pm (LT); P=1006.4 hPa; T=29.6C; RH=73.7%

Turtle Cove
2:35 pm (LT); P=1006.3 hPa; T=32.3C; RH=66.4%

Turtle Cove Inland
2:45 pm (LT); P=1005.9 hPa; T=31.6C; RH=77.2%

Munitions Beach
3:00 pm; P=1005.8 hPa; T=32.4C; RH=64.6%

Thunder Cove
3:15 pm; P=1005.7 hPa; T=29.9C; RH=72.7%

Jake's Place
3:35 pm; P=1005.2 hPa; T=30.8C; RH=68.1%

Short Pier
3:45 pm; P=1004.8 hPa; T=29.9C; RH=70.8%

Information on P-3 dropsonde releases
Line of 5 dropsondes, followed by 1 upsonde after P-3 cleared
drop#1: 07:05:51 UTC LAT -7.7697 LON 72.5558. just south of DG
drop#2: 07:08:02 UTC LAT -7.4469 LON 72.4852
Crossed above ISS at Tent City
drop#3: 07:11:48 UTC LAT -7.2319 LON 72.3658, just north of Officer's Club
drop#4: 07:13:57 UTC LAT -7.1080 LON 72.3007
drop#5: 07:15:07 UTC LAT -7.0407 LON 72.2648
Updonde: 07:20 UTC (our fixed position is LAT -7deg 818.8493min LON 72deg 25.5932min

DAILY REPORT FOR 12 December 2011

On Webcam PC, commented out added lines in rsyncd.conf (8:50Z)
Restarted Webcam PC (0915Z)

Systems: All green at 00Z. Nagios complaining about the webcam again, but images are there.

Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z

Panorama photo (usually take around 6z):

Weather: 
00Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus
06Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus
12Z launch - mostly clear, cumulus
18Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus, altocumulus

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good.
06Z: good.
12Z: good.
18Z: good.

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z):
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.286
	low-mode(60)   = 1.807
        high-mode(2000)= 2.128

DAILY REPORT FOR 11 December 2011

Nagios froze. Restarted firefox.
0518: Per request from Gary. On the WebCam PC added line "max connections = 1" to rsyncd.conf

Systems: All green at 00Z. Nagios complaining about the webcam, but images are there.

Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z and 18Z

Panorama photo (usually take around 6z):

Weather: 
00Z launch - clear
06Z launch - mostly clear, cumulus
12Z launch - mostly clear, cumulus
18Z launch - mostly clear

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good flight
06Z: good, but computer froze once I hit "stop Chan 1".  Full sounded recorded, but was not able to to send to GTS
12Z: good, but lost GPS around 380mb.  GPS never came back.  Eventually stopped the sounding and computer froze again once I hit “stop Chan 1”.  was not able to send to GTS
18Z: first launch lost signal below 500mb. Second launch was good flight

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z):
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.286
	low-mode(60)   = 1.807
        high-mode(2000)= 2.129

DAILY REPORT FOR 10 December 2011

----Profiler PC clock running 3-min ahead of real time. Rebooted Profiler PC at 23:56 (9Dec) to reset clock. Nagios complaining, but data looks fine.
----All-sky camera: rebooted at 00Z. no images since 16:34Z Dec 9
----P3 Calibration mission cancelled for today due to a maintanence issue.

Systems: All green at 00Z after reboot of profiler PC and all-sky laptop

Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z (after reboot)

Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): done at 06Z

Weather: 
00Z launch - mostly clear, a few Cu
06Z launch - partly cloudy, scattered fair weather clouds
12Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus
18Z launch - clear

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good flight
06Z: good flight
12Z: good.
18Z: good.

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z):
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.287
	low-mode(60)   = 1.808
        high-mode(200) = 2.131

December 10 Heat Island measurements (Kestral)
The P-3 flight today was cancelled.
Warm afternoon, lots of sun for heating.

GEODSS Beach
2:25 pm (LT); P=1005.4 hPa; T=33.0C (varied from 31.8 to 33.9, no shade); RH=69.2%

Turtle Cove (how do you get there?)

Munitions Beach
2:50 pm; P=1005.5 hPa; T=29.5C; RH=75.3%

Thunder Cove
3:00 pm; P=1005.1 hPa; T=28.5C; RH=76.7%

Jake's Place
3:40 pm; P=1004.4 hPa; T=32.1C (no shade); RH=78.6%

Short Pier
3:50 pm; P=1004.2 hPa; T=30.0C; RH=79.5%

DAILY REPORT FOR 09 December 2011

Systems: All green at 00Z

Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z

Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): 

Weather: 
00Z launch - mostly clear, cu
06Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus, stratus
12Z launch - mostly clear, cumulus, some cirrus
18Z launch - Mostly cealr, cumulus and alto stratus

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good.
06Z: good.
12Z: good. About 10 minutes late due to GPS problems.  Not sent to GTS?
18Z: good.

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z):
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.288
	low-mode(60)   = 1.807
        high-mode(200) = 2.134

DAILY REPORT FOR 08 December 2011

Systems: All green at 00Z

Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z

Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): (done)

Weather: 
00Z launch - clear
06Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus
12Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus and cirrus
18Z launch - clear

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good.
06Z: good.  P3 sondes, more island heating measurements
12Z: good.  About 13 minutes late due to initial bad sonde
18Z: good.  Very slow to initialize.

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z):
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.288
	low-mode(60)   = 1.810
        high-mode(200) = 2.134

December 8 Island Heating Measurements from Heather
(Kestral). Note the P-3 flew today, T/O ~0420 UTC, recover ~1240 UTC

**Panoramic photos of each site are on the ISS camera

"GEODSS beach"
Time = 2030 UTC
P = 1005.8 hPa
T = 31.8C
RH = 74%

"Turtle Cove BEACH"
Time = 2055 UTC
P = 1004.9 hPa
T = 28.7C
RH = 87.9%

"Turtle Cove INLAND"
Time = ()
P = 1004.7 hPa
T = 29.5C
RH = 77%

"Munitions Beach"
Time = 2115 UTC
P = 1004.4 hPa
T = 30.2C
RH = 80.9%

"Thunder Cove"
Time = 2130 UTC
P = 1004.3 hPa
T = 29.2C
RH = 80.2%

"Jake's Place"
Time = 2215 UTC
P = 1004.0 hPa
T = 30.5C
RH = 77.6%

"Short Pier"
TIme = 2230 UTC
P = 1003.7 hPa
T = 29C
RH = 81.2%

(end)

The rain gauge is broken, and likely has been since at least early November. Monday we checked the connections, which appeared fine, and it started recording again. Walter also confirmed the tip-switch was not stuck or broken (yesterday). Today, lots of rain and no tips.

May be a minor issue if the WXT and CoCoRas station are sufficient.

DAILY REPORT FOR 07 December 2011

Rain Gauge again not functioning. Its been raining hard this morning, and not a blip.

See supplies inventory at end of the entry.

Systems: All green at 00Z, 06Z
	 Root partition warning at 12z

Webcam PC: Recording normally at 00Z, 06Z, 18Z

Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): (done)

Weather: 
00Z launch - Overcast. Drizzle just ended.
06Z launch - Rain all morning, sometimes heavy; ended just before launch; then overcast
12Z launch - Overcast. light rain.
18Z launch - mid and high cirrus, a few low Cu

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good.
06Z: good
12Z: good.
18Z: good

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z):
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.288
	low-mode(60)   = 1.811
        high-mode(200) = 2.135

Supplies inventory (after 6Z launch 7 December)
------------------------------------------------
Helium: 65 full bottles
	65 empty bottles
	16 bottles tagged as partial

Sondes:	154 good (unopened)
	  6 tagged "bad" but we will retry them

Balloons: 213 unopened

DAILY REPORT FOR 06 December 2011

0449 (12/6) UTC: The tipping bucket has not been working for the past few days. I checked connections. Nothing appeared loose but now its working. Watch for intermittancy.

Systems: All green at 0Z

Webcam PC: Recording normally @0Z.

Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): 

Weather: 
00Z launch - Mostly clear, shallow cu
06Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus
12Z launch - mostly cloudy.  A lot of cirrus, some cumulus and stratus.
18Z launch - Partly cloudy, cumulus

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: bad. computer froze around 120 mb. Sounding not sent to GTS. 
06Z: bad. same problem as 0z launch.
12Z: good.
18Z: good.

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z):
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.287
	low-mode(60)   = 1.810
        high-mode(200) = 2.133

DAILY REPORT FOR 05 December 2011

0449 (12/5) UTC: The tipping bucket has not been working for the past few days. I checked connections. Nothing appeared loose but now its working. Watch for intermittancy.

Systems: All green at 0Z & 12z

Webcam PC: Recording normally @0Z.

Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): 

Weather: 
00Z launch - mostly clear, some cumulus
06Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus
12Z launch - partly cloudy, strato cu
18Z launch - partly cloudy, strato cu

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good.
06Z: good. not sure what happened to the winds around 175-200mb
12Z: good. 
18Z: good.signal weak, died early

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z):
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.287
	low-mode(60)   = 1.810
        high-mode(200) = 2.133

DAILY REPORT FOR 04 December 2011

Systems: All green at 0Z & 12z

Webcam PC: Recording normally @0Z.

Panorama photo (usually take around 6z): 

Weather: 
00Z launch - mostly clear, few scattered strato cu
2:15Z launch - old/developing convection, towering cu w/cirrus above
2:30Z launch - old/developing convection, towering cu w/cirrus above
06Z launch - partly cloudy, Cu and cirrus
12Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus and cirrus
18Z launch - mostly clear, cu

Overview: Added a 3Z launch to support P3 flight

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good.
2:15Z: good. Support sonde for P3 flight, launched prematurely, relaunch at 2:30Z. Allowed to fly throough BL, ~850mb, before terminating.
2:30Z: good. Support sonde for P3 flight.
06Z: good.
12Z: good.
18Z: good.

Final Radar Amp Currents (usually at 0Z):
	rass-mode(60)  = 
	low-mode(60)   = 1.806
        high-mode(200) = 2.130

DAILY REPORT FOR 03 December 2011

Systems: All green at 0Z.

Webcam PC: Recording normally @0Z.

Panorama photo: taken at 6:22z

Weather: 
00Z launch - Partly cloudy, cumulus
03Z launch - NA
06Z launch - mostly cloudy, cumulus
09Z launch - NA
12Z launch - partly cloudy, cu, altocu, and cirrus
15Z launch - NA
18Z launch - mostly clear, cumulus
21Z launch - NA

Overview:As of 0Z DEC.1 we are now launching every 6 hours, 0Z,6Z,12Z,18Z except during the P3 research flights supplies permitting.

Forecast:

Launches:
00Z: good.
03Z: NA
06Z: good.
09Z: NA
12Z: good.
15Z: NA
18Z: good.  Not sent to GTS?
21Z: NA

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.288
	low-mode(60)   = 1.809
        high-mode(200) = 2.134


Heat Island Measurements:
"Short Pier"
local time-4:00 pm
T-29.9 C
Td-27.0 C
Wdir-310 magnetic
Wspd-6.0 m/s
P-1004.6 hPa
RH-87.2%

"Jake's Place"
local time- 4:25 pm
T-31.2 C
Td-26.4 C
Wdir- 40 magnetic
Wspd- 3.4 m/s
P- 1004.4 hPa
RH-79.1%

"Thunder Cove"
local time-4:45 pm
T-29.1 C
Td-25.2 C
Wdir-350 magnetic
Wspd-2.4 m/s
P-1004.4 hPa
RH-79 %

"Munitions Beach"
local time-5:00 pm
T-30.0 C
Td-27.2 C
Wdir-270 magnetic
Wspd-3.1 m/s
P-1004.5 hPa
RH-85.9 %

"GEODSS"
local time- 5:30 pm
T-30.6 C
Td-26.8 C
Wdir-200 magnetic
Wspd-1.3 m/s
P-1004.5 hPa
RH-80%

DAILY REPORT FOR 02 December 2011

Systems: All green at 0Z.EOL data transfers critical @12Z. All green @18Z.

Webcam PC: Recording normally @0Z and 18Z.

Panorama photo: Taken at 6:30Z

Weather: 
00Z launch - continuous heavy rain
03Z launch - NA
06Z launch - mostly cloudy, altocumulus, stratus, some cumulus
09Z launch - NA
12Z launch - ovc, strato cu, windy
15Z launch - NA
18Z launch - partly cloudy, gusty winds
21Z launch - NA

Overview:As of 0Z DEC.1 we are now launching every 6 hours, 0Z,6Z,12Z,18Z except during the P3 research flights supplies permitting.

Forecast:Heavy rain since Dec 1st, 20:05Z and continuing through 0Z launch. 

Launches
00Z: Used Pam cooking spray.  Balloon had icing problems sinking and rising between 650mb-600mb, and then sinking again from 550mb to 700mb. Finally it burst.  Did not relaunch.  Sounding report said burst at 23:43Z, which is quite wrong, so I estimated.
03Z: NA
06Z: good.
09Z: NA
12Z: good. Delayed by ATC
15Z: NA
18Z: good.
21Z: NA

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.288
	low-mode(60)   = 1.811
        high-mode(200) = 2.136

DAILY REPORT FOR 01 December 2011

Systems: All green at 0Z.

Webcam PC: Recording normally @0Z.

Panorama photo: Taken at 6:30Z

Weather: 
00Z launch - clear
03Z launch - NA
06Z launch - few small cu to the south, few cirrus
09Z launch - NA
12Z launch - ovc
15Z launch - NA
18Z launch - ovc, cumulus
21Z launch - NA

Overview:As of 0Z DEC.1 we are now launching every 6 hours, 0Z,6Z,12Z,18Z except during the P3 research flights supplies permitting.

Forecast:MJO weakening and moving out of area.

Launches
00Z: good.
03Z: NA
06Z: good.
09Z: NA
12Z: good.
15Z: NA
18Z: good.
21Z: NA

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.288
	low-mode(60)   = 1.808
        high-mode(200) = 1.811

DAILY REPORT FOR 30 NOVEMBER 2011

Systems: All green @0Z,3Z,6Z

Webcam PC: Recording normally

Panorama photo: 

Weather: 
00Z launch - clear
03Z launch - mostly cloudy but clearing, strato cu, cu
06Z launch - mostly cloudy, very light rain
09Z launch - ovc, cumulus
12Z launch - mostly cloudy, stratus, cumulus
15Z launch - mostly clear, cumulus
18Z launch - mostly clear, cumulus
21Z launch - clear skies

Overview:
Clear skies for the 0Z launch then moderate rain began again at 1Z stopped just before 2:15Z launch.Light rain begins again at 5:15Z.

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good.
03Z: good.1st sonde bad.
06Z: good.
09Z: good.
12Z: good.
15Z: good.
18Z: good.
21Z: good.

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.288
	low-mode(60)   = 1.809
        high-mode(200) = 2.132

DAILY REPORT FOR 29 NOVEMBER 2011

Systems: ISS data transferred delayed from ~0Z.

Webcam PC: Recording normally.

Panorama photo: Taken at 6Z.

Weather: 
00Z launch - ovc, moderate rain, applied Pam cooking spray to balloon
03Z launch - ovc, heavy rain
06Z launch - ovc, moderate to heavy rain
09Z launch - ovc, light rain
12Z launch - ovc, cumulus, stratus
15Z launch - ovc, light rain
18Z launch - ovc
21Z launch - mostly clear

Overview:
Moderate to heavy rain continuously from 22:45Z on the 28th thru the end of the morning shift at ~7Z. 
Light rain continuous from 7Z till about 10:50Z
light rain from ~13:50Z through end of shift (~16Z)
rain stopped around 18z, rain gauge reads 3 (inches or cm? not sure what the units are!?)

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good. Balloon circulated several times btn 550-650 mb due to icing.Killed at 100 mb to allow for next sounding.
03Z: good.
06Z: good.
09Z: good.
12Z: good.  delayed 24  minutes due to sounding computer problems
15Z: good.  delayed 35 minutes due to initial bad launch.  not sure what happened to the winds around 150-190mb
18Z: good.
21Z: good.

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.289
	low-mode(60)   = 1.812
        high-mode(200) = 2.138

DAILY REPORT FOR 28 NOVEMBER 2011

Systems: All green at 5:30Z

Webcam PC: REcording normally @5:30Z.

Panorama photo: Taken at 5:30Z.

Weather: 
00Z launch - mostly clear, few scattered strato cu
03Z launch - ovc, alto stratus, cirrus
06Z launch - ovc, strato cu
09Z launch - ovc, cumulus
12Z launch - ovc, strato cumulus
15Z launch - ovc
18Z launch - ovc, light rain
21Z launch - ovc, light rain during launch, moderate rain about 10 minutes after launch

Overview:

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good.
03Z: good.
06Z: good.
09Z: good.
12Z: good.
15Z: good.
18Z: good. not sent to GTS?
21Z: good.

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.288
	low-mode(60)   = 1.809
        high-mode(200) = 2.130

DAILY REPORT FOR 27 NOVEMBER 2011

Systems: All green @5Z

Webcam PC: recording normally. Camera went offline around 6:20Z, restarted and seems to be functioning again.

Panorama photo: Taken at 5:15Z.

Weather: 
00Z launch - good.
03Z launch - good.
06Z launch - good.
09Z launch - good.
12Z launch - good.
15Z launch - good.
18Z launch - good.
21Z launch - good.

Overview:

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: clear
03Z: mostly clear, layer of high cirrus
06Z: partly cloudy, few strato cu, cirrus
09Z: mostly cloudy, cumulus, some altocu, cirrus, cirrostratus
12Z: partly cloudy, cirrus, cirrostratus, cirrocumulus, some cumulus
15Z: mostly clear, cumulus
18Z: partly cloudy, cumulus
21Z: clear

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.287
	low-mode(60)   = 1.808
        high-mode(200) = 2.134

DAILY REPORT FOR 26 NOVEMBER 2011

Systems: All green at 4Z.

Webcam PC: Recording normally.

Panorama photo: Taken at 7Z.

Weather: 
00Z launch - clear
03Z launch - mostly clear, few cirrus
06Z launch - mostly clear, few strato cu and cirrus
09Z launch - partly clear, cumulus
12Z launch - partly clear, cumulus
15Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus
18Z launch - clear
21Z launch - mostly clear, some cumulus

Overview:

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: good.
03Z: good.
06Z: good.
09Z: good.
12Z: good.
15Z: good.
18Z: good.
21Z: good.

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.288
	low-mode(60)   = 1.287
        high-mode(200) = 2.130

DAILY REPORT FOR 25 NOVEMBER 2011

Systems: All green @2Z.

Webcam PC: Recording Normally.

Panorama photo: Taken at 6Z.

Weather: 
00Z launch - ovc, heavy rain , delayed launch 15 min to allow it to let up a little.
03Z launch - ovc, light rain
06Z launch - ovc, stratus
09Z launch - partly cloudy, altocumulus, stratus, cirrus
12Z launch - ovc, stratus, altocumulus, some cirrus
15Z launch - mostly clear, some cumulus
18Z launch - mostly clear, some cumulus
21Z launch - clear

Overview:

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: Good. Used Pam spray. Lost sonde at 550 mb but did not relaunch beacuse wx conditions had not improved, still very heavy rain.
03Z: Good. Used Pam spray. Intermittent drop outs, lost sonde at 327 mb.
06Z: Good.
09Z: Good.  GPS lost signal a few times between 200mb and 300mb (that I noticed).  Data looks fine though.  Not sent to GTS?
12Z: Good.
15Z: Good.  GPS lost signal a few times between 900mb and 1000mb.  Also noticed GPS signal going in and out above 200mb (also possibly between 350 and 400mb).
18Z: Good.
21Z: Good.

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.290
	low-mode(60)   = 1.813
        high-mode(200) = 2.138

DAILY REPORT FOR 24 NOVEMBER 2011

Systems: Nagios all green from 00Z through 07Z.

Webcam PC: Recording images normally.

Panorama photo: Taken at 05:30Z, a few minutes after releasing 06Z launch.

Weather: 
00Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus
03Z launch - partly cloudy; cumulus, stratocumulus, and cirrus
06Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus and cirrus
09Z launch - mostly clear, cirrus
12Z launch - mostly cloudy, cumulus
15Z launch - partly clear, cumulus
18Z launch - mostly clear, cumulus
21Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus, light sprinkles during launch.  Some brief lightning and thunder about 5 minutes after launch.

Overview:

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: Good.
03Z: Good.
06Z: Good.
09Z: Good.
12Z: Good.
15Z: Good.
18Z: Good.  Not launched till 17:40Z due to initial bad sonde.
21Z: Good.  GPS lost signal a few times around 370mb for a few seconds.  Data looks fine though.  

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.289
	low-mode(60)   = 1.811
        high-mode(200) = 2.134

DAILY REPORT FOR 23 NOVEMBER 2011

Systems: Nagios all green at 6Z. Critical flag on WXT from NIDAS for wdir out of range: nan at 23:09Z and 23:18Z.

Webcam PC: Recording images normally, except for missing images at 02:33Z and 19:34Z.

Panorama photo: Taken at 7:20Z.

Weather: 
00Z launch - Overcast, low stratus, rain began soon after launch.
03Z launch - Partly cloudy, cumulus
06Z launch - ovc, light rain
09Z launch - ovc, cumulus, stratus
12Z launch - ovc, cumulus, stratus, light sprinkles
15Z launch - ovc
18Z launch - mostly clear, shallow cu
21Z launch - mostly clear, shallow cu

Light sprinkles between 3:40Z-4:00Z, 4:30Z-4:45Z, 8:20Z-8:40Z, 9:10Z-9:30Z, and 11:30Z-12Z. Rain showers around 0:20Z-0:50Z, 5:10Z-5:30Z, 12:00-12:45Z, and 13:10-13:25Z.  Times based on profiler.

Overview:
Data back up of DM computer.

Inventory:
Sondes: 247
Balloons: 308
Helium: Full: 80
        Empty: 19
        Partial: 47

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: Good. Delayed by ATC 45 minutes.
03Z: Good.
06Z: Good.
09Z: Good.
12Z: Good.
15Z: Good. Not sent to GTS?
18Z: Good.
21Z: Good.

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.287
	low-mode(60)   = 1.807
        high-mode(200) = 2.130

DAILY REPORT FOR 22 NOVEMBER 2011

Systems: Nagios all green at 5:30Z and 17:30Z through 22Z.

Webcam PC: Collecting data normally, except for missing image at 09:32Z.

Panorama photo: Taken at 6Z.

Weather: 
00Z launch - mostly clear, cirrus
03Z launch - partly cloudy, cirrus, cumulus
06Z launch - partly cloudy, cirrus, cumulus
09Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus, cirrus
12Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus
15Z launch - mostly clear, small cumulus
18Z launch - mostly clear, cumulus, possibly thin cirrus
21Z launch - clear overhead, few stratocumulus to west

Overview:

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: Good. Delayed start to recording data, data missing for first 100mb
03Z: Good. Some unknown problem with the data between 1000-950mb.
06Z: Good.
09Z: Good.
12Z: Good.
15Z: Good.
18Z: Good.
21Z: Good.

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.289
	low-mode(60)   = 1.813
        high-mode(200) = 2.137

DAILY REPORT FOR 21 NOVEMBER 2011

Systems: RASS hung up briefly just after 0Z, paused profiler computer and restarted, fixed problem. Nagios critical message for profiler at ~0050Z, restarted profier, working again. Island wide internet outage this morning, supposedly thru 6 AM local time but still no internet at 1:15Z (7:15 AM Local).

Aspirator not functioning during 03Z launch. The breaker on the outdoor plug keeps going everytime the LIDAR is plugged in - unplgged for now. Jesus from UCI came and fixed what was causing the electrical problem with the lidar at 10:30Z, so this issue should be resolved.

Nagios all green at 7:34Z and from 08Z through 16:40Z.

RASS only came on very quietly at 09:00Z, had to walk right up to the boxes to hear anything. Took no action and RASS worked normally again at 09:30Z.

Webcam PC: Recording images normally, except for missing image at 16:30Z.

Panorama photo: Taken at 7:34Z.

Weather: 
00Z launch - overcast, light rain during launch
03Z launch - overcast, heavy rain began at launch time
06Z launch - overcast, clearing slightly
09Z launch - mostly cloudy; cumulus, altostratus, and altocumulus
12Z launch - partly sunny; cumulus, altostratus, and cirrus
15Z launch - mostly clear, cumulus
18Z launch - partly cloudy; cumulus
21Z launch - partly cloudy; cumulus and possibly cirrus

Based on profiler data, rain ended around 01:25Z (start time unknown due to profiler issues), with other showers around 02:15Z, 03:45Z, 04:00-04:15Z, and 04:40Z.
Brief light shower around 12:40Z.

Overview:

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: Good. Not sent to GTS.
03Z: Good. 
06Z: Good.
09Z: Good.
12Z: Good.
15Z: Good.
18Z: Good. Not sent to GTS?
21Z: Good.

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.289
	low-mode(60)   = 1.813
        high-mode(200) = 2.137

DAILY REPORT FOR 20 NOVEMBER 2011

Systems: All Nagios services reading OK.

Webcam PC: Recording data normally until 21Z, except for missing images at 10:13Z, 20:02Z, and 20:47Z. Panoramas missing at 21Z, 22Z, and 23Z; images missing from 21:05Z - 23:30Z. Nagios noted the delay in the production of the panoramic images. Restarted the computer and now recording normally from 23:31Z through end of day.

Panorama photo: Taken at 05:29Z, a few minutes after releasing the 06Z sounding.

Weather: 
00Z launch - overcast, cumulus and altocumulus
03Z launch - mostly cloudy, stratocumulus and altocumulus; sprinkles
06Z launch - partly cloudy; cumulus, cumulus congestus, stratocumulus, altocumulus, cirrus, and cirrocumulus
09Z launch - partly cloudy; cumulus, altostratus, cirrus, cirrocumulus
12Z launch - mostly cloudy; cirrostratus and cumulus congestus
15Z launch - partly clear; cumulus and cirrus, with very light sprinkles at launch
18Z launch - mostly clear, scattered cumulus
21Z launch - overcast, raining during launch

Sprinkles 01:45-02:25Z.
Brief shower around 05:50Z.
Very light sprinkles at 14:15Z.
Shower 15:00-15:15Z.
Based on profiler data, additional showers around 18:40Z, 19:35Z, 19:50-20:20Z, 20:40-21:05Z, 21:15Z, 21:30-22:05Z, 23:15-23:35Z.

Overview:

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: Good. GPS did not work on first sonde that I tried (SN: 1473002), so I set that one aside to try again later. On second sonde (the one I actually launched), GPS dropped out around 450 mb, so no wind data above that level.
03Z: Good. Used the sonde with bad GPS from last launch; worked normally this time.
06Z: Good.
09Z: Forgot to start data buffer until a few seconds after launch.  Data started coming in at about 980 mb, and looked fine.  Datafile in the terminal appears to be only a tenth the size of the other files, however, and the sounding never showed up on the web or in the sonde profile log.  Had I realized this would've happened, I would've relaunched.
12Z: Good.
15Z: Good.
18Z: Good.
21Z: Good.  Some problems with the signal for the first 200-300mb

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.289
	low-mode(60)   = 1.811
        high-mode(200) = 2.135

DAILY REPORT FOR 19 NOVEMBER 2011

Systems: All green at 18Z and 23:30Z.

Webcam PC: Recording data normally, except for missing images at 00:10Z and 17:11Z.

Panorama photo: Taken at 05:20Z, centered to the east and west.

Weather: 
00Z launch - partly clear; cumulus and cirrus, with a building cumulonimbus to the SE
03Z launch - partly sunny; cirrus, cumulus, and cumulus congestus
06Z launch - partly cloudy; cumulus and cirrus
09Z launch - partly cloudy, cirrus 
12Z launch - partly cloudy, cirrus, cumulus
15Z launch - partly cloudy, cirrus, cumulus
18Z launch - Overcast
21Z launch - Overcast, few sprinkles, breezy

Based on profiler data, showers around 14:45-15:40Z, 15:55Z, 16:30-16:55Z, 19:40-19:50Z.

Overview:

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: Good.
03Z: Good.
06Z: Good.  Not sent to GTS?
09Z: Good.
12Z: Good. 
15Z: Good.
18Z: Good.
21Z: Good.

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.289
	low-mode(60)   = 1.812
        high-mode(200) = 2.137

DAILY REPORT FOR 18 NOVEMBER 2011

Systems: Noticed that the RASS was stuck at 02:12Z, noise did not turn off. Restarted computer. Profiler plots seemed to be incorrect- fuzzy with many horizontal lines across them. Restarted computer at 09Z before launch and corrected the problem. Nagios critical flag on NIMA processing (nima/consensus/wind/lowmode/nc expected at 2011-11-18, 00:37:33 is more than 180.0 minutes late).

Webcam PC: Recording normally, except for missing image at 07:09Z.

Panorama photo: Taken at 06:56Z.

Weather: 
00Z launch - mostly cloudy, cumulus, stratocumulus, cirrus, showers at 0Z.
03Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulonimbus, cumulus, stratocumulus
06Z launch - overcast, stratocumulus
09Z launch - mostly cloudy post storm, clearing, strato cu
12Z launch - partly cloudy, few strato cu w/ high cirrus
15Z launch - clearing, few strato cu, high cirrus
18Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus with some thin, high clouds blurring stars (cirrostratus?)
21Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus with some thin, high clouds blurring stars (cirrostratus?)

Overview:

Inventory:

sondes: 285
balloons: 367
Helium : full: 84
         empty: 44
         partial: 18

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: Good.
03Z: Good.
06Z: Good.
09Z: Good. Not sent to GTS.
12Z: Good.
15Z: Good.
18Z: Good.
21Z: Good.

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.290
	low-mode(60)   = 1.806
        high-mode(200) = 2.128

DAILY REPORT FOR 17 NOVEMBER 2011

Systems: All green at 07:30Z. All Nagios services reading OK from 08Z through 16:30Z as well.

Webcam PC: Recording images normally, except for missing image at 14:08Z.

Panorama photo: Taken at 5:30Z.

Weather: 
00Z launch - mostly clear, few scattered cu
03Z launch - mostly clear, increasing scattered stratus and cu
06Z launch - clear above, towering cu development to the SSW
09Z launch - partly sunny; cumulus, cumulus congestus, cumulonimbus, and cirrus
12Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus and cirrus
15Z launch - mostly clear, cumulus
18Z launch - mostly clear, scattered cumulus
21Z launch - overcast; cloud type difficult to determine with very little lighting, but apparent stratiform and cumuliform present; very light mist falling at launch, rain started 15 minutes after launch

Brief sprinkle around 08:10Z.
Brief light rain shower around 14:40Z.
Mist at 20:15Z
Rain starting at 20:30Z

Overview:

Forecast:

Launches
00Z: Good.
03Z: Good.
06Z: Good. Sounding computer locked up and only created a partially named D file, not sent to GTS.
09Z: Good. Not sent to GTS?
12Z: Good.
15Z: Good.
18Z: Good.
21Z: Good.

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60)  = 1.290
	low-mode(60)   = 1.806
        high-mode(200) = 2.128

DAILY REPORT FOR 16 NOVEMBER 2011

Systems: All Nagios services reading OK as of 00Z. Critical flag on WXT from NIDAS for wdir out of range: nan at 01:58Z.

Webcam PC: Recording images normally, except for missing images at 04:06Z and 21:07Z.

Panorama photo: Taken at 05:28Z, after releasing 06Z sounding.

Weather: 
00Z launch - overcast, stratus; moderate rain
03Z launch - overcast, stratus and stratocumulus; light rain
06Z launch - overcast, stratocumulus and altostratus
09Z launch - mostly cloudy; milky sunshine through altostratus and cirrus
12Z launch - mostly cloudy; altostratus and cirrus; cumulus congestus to the north
15Z launch - mostly cloudy; brighter stars visible through thin cirrus
18Z launch - partly cloudy
21Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus

Light-moderate rain ongoing at 00Z through 03:35Z.

Overview:

Forecast:

Launches:
00Z: Good. Balloon experienced icing issues and went up and down through the freezing level several times, but finally did get through successfully after a few attempts.
03Z: Good.
06Z: Good. 
09Z: Good.
12Z: Good.
15Z: Good.  Not sent to GTS?
18Z: Good.
21Z: Good.

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60) = 1.290
	low-mode(60)  = 1.813
	high-mode(200)= 2.139

DAILY REPORT FOR 15 NOVEMBER 2011

Systems: Nagios Warning - Root Partition - DISK WARNING - free space issue? All Nagios services reading OK at 23Z.

Webcam PC: Recording images normally, except for missing image at 11:05Z.

Panorama photo: Taken at 05:20z, centered to the east and west.

Weather: 
00Z launch - partly clear; cumulus congestus and cumulonimbus
03Z launch - partly sunny; cumulus congestus and cirrus
06Z launch - mostly cloudy; stratus, cirrus, cumulus congestus, cumulonimbus
09Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus congestus, cumulonimbus, cirrus
12Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulonimbus, cumulus, cirrus, stratus
15Z launch - cloudy
18Z launch - ovc, lt to mod rain during launch
21Z launch - ovc, lt rain

Squalls 03:30-04:10Z, 10:10Z, 13:40Z.
Light-moderate rain with periods of moderate-heavy rain ongoing at 23Z through 00Z.
Based on profiler data, other periods of rain estimated around 17:05-17:20Z, 17:55Z, 18:35-18:50Z, 19:05-20:10Z, 20:40-21:00Z, 21:20-22:20Z, 22:30-00Z.

Overview:

Forecast:

Launches:
00Z: Good.
03Z: Good.
06Z: Good.
09Z: Good.
12Z: Good.
15Z: Good.
18Z: Good.
21Z: Good.

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60) = 1.289
	low-mode(60)  = 1.810
	high-mode(200)= 2.135

DAILY REPORT FOR 14 NOVEMBER 2011

Systems: The sonde profile log has been very uncooperative today. Nagios critical flag on camera images at 18Z. After restarting webcam PC, camera images flag went away at 19:25Z. As of 19:30Z, all Nagios services reading OK.

Webcam PC: Recording normally as of 10Z. Panoramas missing at 16Z, 17Z, and 18Z. Images missing at 05:30Z, 15:03Z, 16:19-17:01Z, 18:00-18:05Z. Webcam PC seemed very sluggish and was not recording images when I checked it at 18:02Z, so I rebooted the PC, which seemed to remedy the problem.

Panorama photo: Taken at 05:29Z.

Weather: 
00Z launch - Partly cloudy, a few cumulus and cumulus congestus
03Z launch - Mostly clear, a few cumulus
06Z launch - Mostly clear, cumulonimbus developing to the south and west
09Z launch - Mostly sunny, some cu development on the horizon
12Z launch - mostly cloudy, stratus
15Z launch - partly cloudy, stratus
18Z launch - partly cloudy, altocumulus and cirrus
21Z launch - partly cloudy; cumulus, altocumulus, and cirrostratus

Overview:

Forecast:

Launches:
00Z: Good.
03Z: Good.
06Z: Good.
09Z: Good.
12Z: Good. Delayed by ATC 30 min.
15Z: Good.
18Z: Good. GPS died around 190 mb, so no winds above that level.
21Z: Good.

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60) = 1.289
	low-mode(60)  = 1.812
	high-mode(200)= 2.133

DAILY REPORT FOR 13 NOVEMBER 2011

Systems: RASS making short chirping noises rather than the usual long, 5 minute tone. Lowered amplifier slightly and seeems to be functioning again. All Nagios services reading OK.

Webcam PC: Recording images normally, except for missing image at 12:29Z.

Panorama photo: Taken at 5:30Z.

Weather: 
00Z launch - mostly clear above
03Z launch - clear above, few small cu to the NNW
06Z launch - clear above, devloping cu all around on the horizon
09Z launch - mostly sunny, cumulus and cirrus
12Z launch - mostly sunny, few cumulus and cirrus
15Z launch - clear
18Z launch - mostly clear, scattered cirrus
21Z launch - partly cloudy, a few cumulus and cumulus congestus

Overview:

Forecast:

Launches:
00Z: Good. Lost GPS above ~375 mb.
03Z: Good.
06Z: Good.
09Z: Good.
12Z: Good.
15Z: Good.
18Z: Good.
21Z: Good.

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60) = 1.289
	low-mode(60)  = 1.812
	high-mode(200)= 2.129

DAILY REPORT FOR 12 NOVEMBER 2011

Systems: All Nagios services reading OK.

Webcam PC: Recording images normally, except for missing images at 02:27Z and 19:28Z.

Panorama photo: Taken at 05:25Z, a few minutes after releasing the 06Z sounding.

Weather: 
00Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus and towering cumulus
03Z launch - overcast; stratus, stratocumulus, and cumulus; light rain
06Z launch - partly cloudy; cumulus, altocumulus, and altostratus
09Z launch - partly sunny; cumulus, cirrus, altostratus, and also a Cb to the west
12Z launch - mostly sunny; isolated cumulus congestus and cirrus
15Z launch - mostly clear; scattered cirrus
18Z launch - clear
21Z launch - mostly clear, cumulus

Moderate-heavy rain ongoing at 00Z until 00:25Z, light rain continued 00:25Z - 00:30Z.
Light-moderate rain 00:50 - 03:10Z.

Overview:

Forecast:

Launches:
00Z: Good.
03Z: Good.  Since it was raining at launch, I inflated balloon to 40 cu. ft. and then applied Pam spray to the balloon to avoid icing issues; no icing problems were apparent.
06Z: Good.  Not sent to GTS?
09Z: Good.  Not sent to GTS?
12Z: Good.
15Z: Good.  Not sent to GTS?
18Z: Good.
21Z: Good.

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60) = 1.288
	low-mode(60)  = 1.812
	high-mode(200)= 2.137

Four straight balloon launches (two at 03z, one at 06z, one at 09z) have now experienced an very strange problem.  All signals are lost from the sonde at a point no higher than about 700 mb, then the signal reappears between 400 and 300 mb, and then disappears again somewhere around 200-150 mb, only to reappear again during descent after balloon burst.  I've sent a few emails to Bill detailing what I've seen, and I've also logged them in the daily entry "launches" section for today, 11 Nov 2011.  After it happened on the original launch as well as the relaunch for the 03z sounding, I decided it was best not to relaunch sondes at any other sounding time until the source of this mysterious problem is found.

DAILY REPORT FOR 11 NOVEMBER 2011

Systems: All Nagios services reading OK.

Webcam PC: Recording images normally, except for missing image at 09:25Z.

Panorama photo: Took photos 3 minutes after 06z launch, centered on the east and west.

Weather: 
00Z launch - mostly cloudy, altocumulus and cumulus
03Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus and cirrus (launch #1); partly cloudy, cumulus humilis (launch #2)
06Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus humilis
09Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus
12Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus
15Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus
18Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus, full moon
21Z launch - mostly clear, few cumulus

Light rain began around 23:50Z, moderate-heavy rain from 23:57Z through 00Z.

Overview:

Forecast:

Launches:
00Z: Good.
03Z: Launch #1: All signals from sonde were lost just below 700 mb, but then reappeared at 324 mb.  Decided to stop the sounding and relaunch in an effort to get data in the middle troposphere.  Launch #2: Again, all signals from sonde were lost around 750 mb, then reappeared around 350 mb, and then disappeared again around 150 mb.  Something fishy is going on for this to happen twice in a row.  If it happens again for the 06z launch, then I won't relaunch.
06Z: Like both 03z launches, all signals from sonde were lost at approx. 700 mb, signals reappeared at approx. 325 mb, signals disappeared again at approx. 150 mb, signals reappeared at approx. 30 mb when the balloon burst, and signals disappeared for the last time as it fell through approx. 225 mb.  A few minutes later the sound on the receiver turned to static.  The data looked fine when we had signal from the sonde, but there are huge gaps.  Something very odd is going on.
09Z: Similar story to previous launches.  Signal disappeared at approx. 880 mb, signal reappeared at approx. 370 mb, signal disappeared at approx. 220 mb.  After balloon burst, signal reappeared at approx. 230 mb and held for entire descent until impact with Indian Ocean (or very close).  So I guess this could be treated as a dropsonde from 230 mb...
12Z: Good.
15Z: Good.
18Z: Good.
21Z: Good.

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60) = 1.287
	low-mode(60)  = 1.811
	high-mode(200)= 2.136

DAILY REPORT FOR 10 NOVEMBER 2011

Systems: WXT from NIDAS critical flag (wdir out of range) remained from previous day until 00:02Z.  As of 00:02Z, all Nagios services reading OK.  Starting around 01Z, Nagios critical flag for profiler data that comes and goes; everything on profiler computer looks fine (plots appear normal, grey C is showing up properly, RASS has turned on and off as usual).

Nagios all green at 16Z.

Webcam PC: Recording images normally, except for missing image at 16:24Z.

Panorama photo: Taken at 05:30Z, about 10 minutes after 06Z launch.

Weather: 
00Z launch - overcast, altostratus and altocumulus
03Z launch - mostly cloudy; stratocumulus, altostratus, and altocumulus
06Z launch - mostly sunny, altocumulus
09Z launch - mostly sunny, few cirrus
12Z launch - partly cloudy, stratus
15Z launch - clear, few altostratus
18Z launch - cloudy, stratus, altostratus
21Z launch - clear, a few altostratus

Overview:
Heavy rain began shortly before 15:30.

Forecast:

Launches:
00Z: Good.  Upon opening first sonde (SN: G1433685), noticed that the radio transmitter antenna was not attached to body of sonde (just laying loose in the box), so did not attempt to use and placed in bad sonde box.  Everything normal with second sonde.
03Z: Good.
06Z: Good.
09Z: Good.
12Z: Good.
15Z: Good.
18Z: Good.
21Z: Good.

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60) = 1.287
	low-mode(60)  = 1.812
	high-mode(200)= 2.137

DAILY REPORT FOR 9 NOVEMBER 2011

Systems: Nagios in the green except for the Profiler data. The RASS hung up again after 0Z and the computer was restarted and is now running again. Nagios stillreporting critical at 1Z.
Another critical warning from WXT from NIDAS, again almost no wind occuring but warning mentions wdir out of range. Visual inspection shows nothing on the the anemometer probes. Spoke w/Jesus, engineer from UC Irvine, and he mentioned he's seen the same thing w/these sensors during no wind conditions which are outside the specs (too low, less than 1 m/s).

Nagios Critical warning for Profiler data begining around 08:00Z I thought this might be related to the reboot of the system done around 7Z, but an hour later the profiler data still wasn't coming in.  I rebooted the profiler computer. Opened iss4 program, while the countdown and the gray "C" appeared, no figures were being plotted.  Rebooted computer one more time, same problem with no figures appearing has persisted, however Nagios critical warning has gone away.

As of 23:30Z, all Nagios services reading OK, and profiler plots look normal.

Another WXT from NIDAS critical flag regarding wdir out of range at 23:50Z.

Webcam PC: Recording images normally, except for missing images at 06:22Z and 23:23Z.

Panorama photo: Taken at 06Z during light rain.

Weather: 
00Z launch - clear above, stratus all around on the horizon.
03Z launch - partly cloudy, stratus, high humidity           
06Z launch - OVC, light rain beginnning soon after launch.
09Z launch - Overcast, stratocumulus, light rain during/after launch
12Z launch - Overcast, stratocumulus, no rain during launch
15Z launch - overcast, altostratus
18Z launch - overcast, altostratus or altocumulus
21Z launch - mostly cloudy, light shower from nearby apparent Cb

Overview: 
Rain began shortly before 4Z, stopped mostly by 4:40Z.Rain began again at approximately 5Z.Harder rainfall at approximately 1Z.  Another shower from 20:15-20:45Z.

Forecast: Increasing rain as the ITCZ moves south across the area. MJO not clearly defined. 

Launches:
00Z: Good. 
03Z: Good.
06Z: Good. Very slow ascent rate, only 30 cu ft, should try 35 next time during cloudy conditions.
09Z: Good, however signficant icing between 600-700 mb.
12z: Good.
15Z: Good.  Launched balloon a few minutes before normal window due to a rush requested by ATC.  Forgot to push the button that begins recording data before I let go of the balloon.
18Z: Good.  Launch delayed by ATC.
21Z: Good.

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60) = 1.289
	low-mode(60)  = 1.289
	high-mode(200)= 2.135

Inventory:

Sondes: 362
Balloons: 425
Helium: Full: 98
        Partial: 13
        Empty: 35

DAILY REPORT FOR 8 NOVEMBER 2011

Systems: All Nagios services reading OK.

Webcam PC: Restarted the laptop around 15z because panorama images had not been created for the past 6 hours.  This appeared to resolve the problem.  (Images missing 07:02-07:08Z, 07:19-07:37Z, 08:16-10:46Z, 11:49Z-13:06Z, 13:14-13:19Z, 13:22Z. Panoramas missing 08Z - 13Z.)

Panorama photo: Taken just after 09z launch, centered to the north and south

Weather: 
00Z launch - clear above, cumulus clouds on the horizon 
03Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus towers to the east and south
06Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus and stratocumulus
09Z launch - mostly cloudy, cumulonimbus passing overhead with rain shaft sliding by a couple miles to the north; other cumulus congestus in area as well
12Z launch - heavy rain and gusty winds
15Z launch - steady light-moderate rain
18Z launch - overcast; rain tapered off to sprinkles about 15 minutes prior to launch; stratus and altostratus with sprinkles at launch time
21Z launch - overcast, stratus; light rain

Showers approx. 02:45-03:15z, 05:30-06:15z
Heavy rain 11:00-12:30z
Light-moderate rain 12:30-17:15z
Sprinkles-light rain 17:15-19:20Z
Light-moderate rain 19:50-20:45Z
Sprinkles 20:45-at least 21:50Z (when operator left for night).

Overview: 

Forecast: 

Launches:
00Z: Good. 
03Z: Good.
06Z: Good.
09Z: Good.
12z: Good.
15Z: Data is good but may need manual retrieval, because the balloon had icing problems several times around 600 mb, and again late around 540 mb.  The balloon never made it to 500 mb before I terminated it so that data could get sent to GTS on time.  Because the 12z launch made it through the icing/melting layer with 40 cu. ft. helium, and this balloon did not with just 35 cu. ft., it appears that filling the balloon with 40 cu. ft. of helium should be recommended procedure when icing is a concern.
18Z: Good.
21Z: Good. All signals from sonde were lost at 96 mb, so manually terminated sonde after waiting several minutes.

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60) = 1.288
	low-mode(60)  = 1.812
	high-mode(200)= 2.136

DAILY REPORT FOR 7 NOVEMBER 2011

Systems: All Nagios services reading OK. RASS only came on extremely quietly at 11:30Z - I had to walk right next to the transmitters to hear even a faint sound. RASS worked normally again at 12:00Z.

Nagios all green at 18Z. Nagios all green for 21Z launch.

Webcam PC: Recording images normally, except for missing images at 03:48Z and 16:49Z.

Panorama photo: Photos taken at 05:25Z, just minutes after launching the 06Z balloon.

Weather: 
00Z launch - partly clear, scattered cumulus with cirrus and a possible Cb to the east
03Z launch - mostly cloudy, with cumulus, cirrus, cirrocumulus, and a Cb to the southwest
06Z launch - partly sunny, anvil cirrus shading from a Cb to the ENE, other cumulus congestus and Cb in area
09Z launch - mostly sunny, cirrus
12Z launch - partly sunny; cumulus, towering cumulus, altocumulus, cirrus, cirrocumulus
15Z launch - mostly clear; cumulus, altocumulus, cirrus
18Z launch - clear above with cu towers circling the horizon.
21Z launch - partly cloudy w/strato cu and thin cirrus above.

Overview: 

Forecast: 

Launches:
00Z: Good. Launch delayed by ATC until 23:50Z.
03Z: Good.
06Z: Good.
09Z: Good.
12z: Good.
15Z: Good.
18Z: Good.
21Z: Good.

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60) = 1.288
	low-mode(60)  = 1.812
	high-mode(200)= 2.136

DAILY REPORT FOR 6 NOVEMBER 2011

Systems: Critical flag on EOL data transfer from 00Z - 00:13Z (last successful transfer too old: Sat Nov 5 19:10:03Z). After 00:13Z, all Nagios services reading OK. Critical flag for camera images that comes and goes- slow data transfer?

Webcam PC: Recording images normally, except for one missing image at 10:47Z.

Panorama photo: Taken around 05:30Z, after releasing 06Z sounding.

Weather: 
00Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus
03Z launch - mostly sunny, few cumulus
06Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus
09Z launch - clear above, building cu to the east
12Z launch - clear above, dark, towering cu to the ESE
15Z launch - partly cloudy, strato cu
18Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus, altocumulus	
21Z launch - mostly cloudy, strato cu, cirrus

Overview: 

Forecast: 

Launches:
00Z: Sonde lost GPS at around 970 mb, did not relaunch per new guidelines to conserve sondes; PTU looked good all the way to burst. Not sent to GTS?
03Z: Good.
06Z: Good.
09Z: Good.
12z: Good.
15Z: Good.
18Z: Good.
21Z: Good.

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60) = 1.289
	low-mode(60)  = 1.813
	high-mode(200)= 2.138

DAILY REPORT FOR 5 NOVEMBER 2011

Systems: Nagios all systems green at 0Z. Critical flag on the EOL data transfer at approx. 2:30Z. Unplugged/rebooted modem and router around 6:45Z, internet was restored and working normally. Nagios in the green again at 7:30Z. Critical flag on EOL data transfer (last successful transfer too old: Sat Nov 5 19:10:03Z) starting at 21:45Z. Internet was not working, so power cycled modem around 23:30Z - this restored internet connectivity, but EOL data transfer critical flag remained through end of day.

Webcam PC: Recording images normally, except for two missing images at 00:45Z and 17:46Z.

Panorama photo: Taken at 06Z 

Weather: 
00Z launch - clear
03Z launch - N/A
06Z launch - clear w/few small, ragged cu
09Z launch - N/A
12Z launch - mostly clear, scattered cu
15Z launch - N/A
18Z launch - heavy rain and gusty winds; steady rain (mostly moderate-heavy) started 50 minutes prior to launch, continued through entire sounding period
21Z launch - N/A

Continuous, steady rain (often heavy) 16:30Z through at least 19:00Z (when operator left the site for the night); from profiler data, steady rain appears to have ended just before 20:00Z, with other showers around 20:20 - 20:30Z and 22:40Z.

Overview: 

Forecast: 

Launches:
Only doing four launches per day until 6 Nov 00Z when we will resume 8 launches per day.
00Z: Good.
03Z: N/A
06Z: Good.
09Z: N/A
12z: Good.
15Z: N/A
18Z: Good.  Balloon started descending at 108 mb, but only at about 10-15 m/s, instead of the usual much faster fall speeds (60+ m/s) that are seen when the balloon bursts.  After several minutes of that I manually terminated the sounding.
21Z: N/A

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60) = 1.290
	low-mode(60)  = 1.809
	high-mode(200)= 2.133

DAILY REPORT FOR 4 NOVEMBER 2011

Systems: Starting at 01:45Z Nagios Critical status for EOL data transfers.  Last data transfer too old (Thu Nov 3 23:10:01).
Critical warning for Ceilometer data and plots throughout the day.
12z: All Nagios services read OK except for EOL data transfer (still critical).
17:40Z: EOL data transfer reading OK on Nagios.  WXT from NIDAS has critical flag for wdir out of range: nan at 2011-11-04 16:50:27Z.  All other Nagios services reading OK.

Webcam PC: Recording images normally, except for one missing image at 07:44Z.

Weather: 
00Z launch - partly cloudy above with cumulus, cumulonimbus and lightning on the horizion to the south/west.  Rainshowers began at 00:30Z 
03Z launch - N/A
06Z launch - two sondes launched, both in cloudy conditions with cumulus and stratocumulus above.
09Z launch - N/A
12Z launch - Overcast with sprinkles at launch. Light rain for most of the hour prior to launch. Ceiling overhead much higher than the low, darker clouds to the east (approaching) and west (receding), so launch time was a break in today's frequent showers.
15Z launch - N/A
18Z launch - mostly cloudy, altocumulus and altostratus
21Z launch - N/A

Overview: 

Forecast: 

Launches:
Only doing four launches per day for the next few days at Bill Brown's request, because the R/V Revelle is in port and the MJO is easing off. This will also help us conserve sondes, helium, and balloons.
00Z: Good.  Sonde lost signal somewhere around 100mb, when the signal did not return after 10 min I killed the sounding.
03Z: N/A
06Z: First sonde - terminated at approximately 700 mb because sonde lost signal (no GPS, temp or humidity). 
Second sonde - This sonde also died at approximately 700mb.  No meterological conditions to indicate why this sonde might have had problems (no indication of icing, or change in winds). 
09Z: N/A
12z: Lost all signals from sonde at 384 mb, so manually terminated sounding after ten minutes of no incoming data.  Otherwise everything appeared good.
15Z: N/A
18Z: Good.
21Z: N/A

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60) = 1.289
	low-mode(60)  = 1.812
	high-mode(200)= 2.139

DAILY REPORT FOR 3 NOVEMBER 2011

System: Nagios critical flag on EOL data transfers from 00Z - 10:14Z (last successful transfer too old: Tue Nov 1 14:10:01Z).  All Nagios services reading OK since 10:14Z.
Nagios critical for the WXT from NIDAS- wdir out of range. Data transfer messgae is gone! YEAH!

Webcam PC: Recording images.

Weather: 
00Z launch - partly clear, cumulus with possible cumulus congestus
03Z launch - N/A
06Z launch - partly sunny, cumulus with a few cumulus congestus
09Z launch - N/A
12Z launch - partly sunny; cumulonimbus, towering cumulus, and cirrus; few sprinkles at launch time, with double rainbow visible to east
15Z launch - N/A
18Z launch - clear above w/ towering cumulus and lightening on the horizon.
21Z launch - N/A

Brief shower around 13:20Z.

Overview: 

Forecast: 

Launches:
Only doing four launches per day for the next few days at Bill Brown's request, because the R/V Revelle is in port and the MJO is easing off. This will also help us conserve sondes, helium, and balloons.
00Z: Good.
03Z: N/A
06Z: Good.
09Z: N/A
12z: Good.  First sonde was bad prior to launch (Sonde SN: G1444059, Battery pack: RSB511, 150515G0251) - when I attached the battery pack to the instrumented part of the sonde, no signal from the sonde was detectable on the spectrum analyzer on the GAUS computer, and the sonde became very hot to the touch near the base of the T/RH arm.  Second sonde worked normally.
15Z: N/A
18Z: Good.
21Z: N/A

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60) = 1.289
	low-mode(60)  = 1.812
	high-mode(200)= 2.138

DAILY REPORT FOR 2 NOVEMBER 2011

System: Nagios critical flag on EOL data transfers all day (last successful transfer too old: Tue Nov 1 14:10:01Z).  Nagios critical flag on camera images from 01:35Z - 05:23Z (wholeskycamera/photos/jpg expected at 2011-11-02, 01:05:00 is more than 10.0 minutes late, wholeskycamera/panorama/jpg expected at 2011-11-02, 02:00:00 is more than 10.0 minutes late).

Webcam PC: Images appear to be missing from 02:19Z - 02:43Z, 02:55Z - 03:34Z, 04:15 - 04:31Z, 04:34Z, 04:40Z - 04:42Z.  No panoramas from 02Z, 03Z, 04Z.  Restarted PC at 04:29Z, and again at 04:40Z, and images and panoramas seem to be recording fine since that time.

Weather: 
00Z launch - mostly clear, few cumulus
03Z launch - partly sunny, cumulus
06Z launch - partly sunny, cumulus and cirrus
09Z launch - mostly sunny, cumulus and cirrus
12Z launch - sunny, cu clearing, scattered cirrus above
15Z launch - mostly clear, scattered cu
18Z launch - mostly clear, scattered cu
21Z launch - clear

Overview: 

Forecast: 

Launches:
00Z: Good.
03Z: Good.  Delayed by ATC for about 55 minutes, so manually terminated sonde at 39 mb to allow data to get to GTS on time.
06Z: Good.  Not sent to GTS?
09Z: Good.
12z: Good.
15Z: Good.
18Z: Good.
21Z: Good.

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60) = 1.289
	low-mode(60)  = 1.813
	high-mode(200)= 2.139

DAILY REPORT FOR 1 NOVEMBER 2011

System: All Nagios services reading OK @0Z.
2130Z: Nagios reporting critical on EOL data transfer (last transfer 14:10:01z).  This is likely due to the long internet outage at the site this evening.  Internet came back on about half an hour before the 18z sounding was sent to GTS.  This critical flag persisted through 00Z on 2 Nov.

Webcam PC: Recording images.

Weather: 
00Z launch - clear
03Z launch - mostly clear above the site, darker cu developing to the w/sw end of the island.
06Z launch - partly cloudy, developing cu to the SSW, cirrus above cu visible through cloud breaks.
09Z launch - partly cloudy, developing cumuls to south west, statocumuls to the west.
12Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus and stratocumulus
15Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus above, cumulonimbus to the north east
18Z launch - partly cloudy, scattered cumulus, some towering cumulus to south and west, showers 30 min before and 20 min after launch
21Z launch - partly cloudy, cumulus

Showers 16:45-16:55Z, 17:50-18:00Z, 18:35-18:50Z.

Overview: 

Inventory:
sondes: 416
balloons: 474
helium: full 106; used 34; partial 6

Forecast: 

Launches:
00Z: good.
03Z: good.
06Z: good.
09Z: good.
12z: good.
15Z: good.
18Z: Good.
21Z: Good.

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60) = 1.289
	low-mode(60)  = 1.814
	high-mode(200)= 2.138

DAILY REPORT FOR 31 OCTOBER 2011

System: All Nagios services reading OK.

Webcam PC: Recording images.

Weather: 
00Z launch - mostly clear, scattered cumulus
03Z launch - mostly clear, a few scattered cu and cirrus
06Z launch - mostly clear, a few scattered cu and cirrus, heating up
09Z launch - partly sunny, cirrus shield with isolated cumulus
12Z launch - partly cloudy, cirrus with scattered cumulus
15Z launch - partly cloudy, cirrus and a few cumulus
18Z launch - clear
21Z launch - mostly clear, a few cumulus

Overview: 

Forecast: 

Launches:
00Z: Good.
03Z: Good. Delayed by ATC.
06Z: Good.
09Z: Good. Delayed by ATC until 08:30Z.
12z: Forgot to start data buffer until about 20 seconds after launch.  The sounding that showed up automatically on the web afterward is bad, but the data that came in during ascent was fine all the way up.  The "sonde profile log" shows only four data points though, from when the balloon burst until I ended the sounding record, hence why the file was named with the burst time of 13:00:35Z instead of the launchtime of roughly 11:20Z.  Hopefully the actual, good sounding can be manually retrieved later.
15Z: Good.
18Z: Good.
21Z: Good.

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60) = 1.289
	low-mode(60)  = 1.814
	high-mode(200)= 2.139

DAILY REPORT FOR 30 OCTOBER 2011

System: 02Z: Nagios critical, WXT from NIDAS (bad surface record, WDIR out of range 2011-10-29_23:30:11, 2011-10-29_23:49:07, 2011-10-29_23:58:33, 2011-10-30_00:45:25).
Nagios all good after 21z launch.

Webcam PC: Recording images.

Weather: 
00Z launch- mostly clear, scattered cumulus
03Z launch- partly cloudy, scattered cumulus, some cirrus
06Z launch- partly sunny, cumulus congestus and cirrus
09Z launch- partly sunny, scattered cumulus and broken cirrostratus
12Z launch- mostly cloudy; cumulus, altostratus, and cirrostratus
15Z launch- mostly clear; cumulus, altocumulus, and cirrostratus
18Z launch- mostly clear, few strato cu from light rain earlier this evening
21Z launch- mostly clear, few strato cu

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches:
00Z: The sonde lost GPS lock at roughly 375 mb for unknown reasons, so there is no wind data above that level.  Temperature and humidity still okay all the way up.  Not sent to GTS?
03Z: Good.  Not sent to GTS?  Internet connection has been extra slow and flaky since yesterday, so that could possibly be the reason why the 00z and 03z profiles were not sent to GTS.
06Z: Good.
09Z: Good.
12z: Good.
15Z: Good.
18Z: Good. The sonde appeared to descend and rise several times at around 3-4 km/600-700 mb. In this layer the wind shifted 360 degrees, humidity dropped sharply, and the windspeed increased by approximately 5 m/s. This could be artifacts of the sonde decreasing in altitude and then rising again? The profiler xsoap plots did not show any strong echos at that level. The sonde rose normally above this layer.
21Z:Good. 

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60) = 1.289
	low-mode(60)  = 1.810
	high-mode(200)= 2.133

DAILY REPORT FOR 29 OCTOBER 2011

System: Nagios critical flags on WXT from NIDAS regarding bad surface records, wdir out of range:nan at 2011-10-28 23:46:42Z, 2011-10-29 00:57:40Z, 00:57:42Z, 00:59:26Z, 01:12:32Z, 01:12:34Z, 01:12:36Z, 01:12:42Z, 01:12:44Z, 01:12:46Z, 01:12:48Z, 01:12:50Z, 01:12:52Z, 01:14:30Z, 01:36:02Z, 01:36:06Z, 01:36:58Z, 01:37:00Z, 01:38:36Z, 01:38:46Z, 01:43:22Z.  Internet down 03:18Z - 04:21Z.

Nagios critical flags on Ceilometer data and plots around 19:06Z data/plots delayed. Cleared up by 20:04Z

Nagios warning flat for Exposed SSH 20:05Z - WARN SSH - alias did not resolve

Nagios critical flat for WXT from NIDAS regarding bad surface records starting at 2011-10-29,19:58:29 wind direction out of range.

Webcam PC: Recording images.

Weather: 
00Z launch- mostly clear, few cumulus
03Z launch- partly cloudy, cumulus
06Z launch- partly cloudy, cumulus with moderate vertical development and cirrus
09Z launch- sunny, hot, few scattered cu
12Z launch- few scattered cu, hot and sunny
15Z launch- few scattered cu, mostly clear
18Z launch- clear
21Z launch- clear

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches:
00Z: Good.
03Z: Good.  Not sent to GTS due to internet outage at site.
06Z: Good.
09Z: Good.
12z: Good. Delayed by ATC 1:15, launched ~12:20 UTC. Also, had a bad sonde, "communications error". The sonde would show up when plugged into ground check but not when plugged into the battery. The sonde itself heated up, was very hot to the touch, and smelled like burning plastic. The battery was also very hot. Tested once more when it had cooled down and the ground check station would not recognize it at all. Sonde ID: 0950740. The sonde was wrapped up in its original packaging and placed in the "bad sonde" box.
15Z: good.
18Z: good.
21Z: good. Battery pack was accidentally removed from sonde before launch may have interrupted prelaunch signal.

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60) = 1.288
	low-mode(60)  = 1.810
	high-mode(200)= 2.133

At approximately 0015Z it was noted that the RASS was running continuously and the display on the profiler computer was only showing the warning that the RASS was about to start. This continued for well over the normal 5 minutes. Nagios was checked and the profiler did have a critical message. I restarted the profiler computer and clicked on the iss4 shortcut on the desktop. The profiler is now showing its usual display and countdown and data is showing up on the ISS display. RASS started again and ran at a normal interval.

DAILY REPORT FOR 28 OCTOBER 2011

System:Profiler/RASS froze at 0015Z, noted in "Important" message for the day.
All systems on Nagios "ok"/green for next launch.

Webcam PC:Recording data

Weather: 
00Z launch- slightly overcast, a few sprinkles
03Z launch- OVC, light rain
06Z launch- mostly cloudy, heating up and clearing some, no PPT
09Z launch- mostly cloudy, heating up and clearing no precip.
12Z launch- partly cloudy, few sprinkles during launch
18Z launch- mostly clear, but with some high clouds moving in
21Z launch- clear, with thin haze blurring some stars
Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches:
00Z: Good.
03Z: Good.
06Z: Good.
09Z: Good.
12z: Good.
15Z: Good.
18Z: Good.
21Z: Good.

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60) = 1.290
	low-mode(60)  = 1.815
	high-mode(200)= 2.139

DAILY REPORT FOR 27 OCTOBER 2011

System:

Webcam PC:

Weather: 

Heavy rain, lighting and thunder at 00:10 and persisting until 00:30
Rain showers at 01:10, 02:30, 04:00
Rain 05:30-07:40, heavy at times (lightning at 05:40)
Light rain 08:00-08:35
Rain 08:35-10:00, heavy at times
Light rain 10:00-11:00
Rain 13:00-14:25
Mostly cloudy until around 18:00, then clearing to mostly clear with few cumulus or altostratus from time to time

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches:

00Z: Good

03Z: Good

06Z: Good.  jal

09Z: Good.  All Nagios services reading OK.  Restarted ceilometer processing after noticing problem with two instances of the program running.  Cleaned rain off webcam screen.  jal

12z: Good.  All instruments okay.  Nagios critical flag at 13z: WXT from NIDAS: bad surface records at 12:09:03 and 12:33:11 (WDIR out of range: nan).  jal

15Z: Good.  Nagios critical flags regarding WXT from NIDAS: bad surface records, WDIR out of range:nan continued with bad records at 13:13 (3 records), 13:32, 13:37 (3 records), 14:32. AJD

18Z: Good.  All Nagios services reading OK. AJD

21Z: Good.  Relaunched at 21:00Z after all signals from first sonde (SN: G1243856) were completely lost just below 950 mb for unknown reasons.  All Nagios services reading OK. AJD


Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60) = 1.290
	low-mode(60)  = 1.813
	high-mode(200)= 2.138

DAILY REPORT FOR 26 OCTOBER 2011

System:

Webcam PC:

Weather: light rain/sprinkle @22:00

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches:

00Z: Good. 

03Z: Good.

06Z: Good.

09,12: NA

15z: Good.
WMOxfr: did not go to GTS

18Z: Good.WMO transfer good.

Nagios: Datasend Critical for last 20 hours.
Radar/Rass/Sfc/GPSwvp/Webcam/Ceil:OK
WMOxfr:....

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60) = 1.288
	low-mode(60)  = 1.811
	high-mode(200)= 2.134

DAILY REPORT FOR 25 OCTOBER 2011

System:
Nagios problem in Nima from last night cleared with 'new day file'.
However, the residual processes in the system are still hanging around.  These
appear to be bogging the system: top revealed heavy use by 5sets of 'spectra/spcnima/wppp/popexam', plus nagios iss_catalog scanning all sharing in the fun.
Data ingesting, files growing.  Began killing off the beasts at ~14:30Z, but left those appearing to from the current (14:10) cron fire.  jm

Webcam PC:
Panaroma images from 20111025:01-06Z lost.   PC itself halted, judging by raw images between 04:45-07:05.  Computer apparently rebooted...checking auto-updates setting because that may be why...yes it was on set at 3am: Bill Gates probably required us to reboot.  Turned that off, and changed quick-scan to use no more than 30%cpu since ASCupdater appears to take 30%. Firewall still off.
On restart everything was OK: settings, images, rsync and files were grabbed by DM, jm.

Weather: Fair weather.
rain showers at 3:15

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches:

00Z: Good. 

03Z: Good.

06Z: Good.

09Z: Good.
Sonde had some gps dropouts, unfortunate several around phys.launch.
Nagios: Critical System Usage. Roughly seeing 12-17 but 'top' showing quite a bit more load.
Radar/Rass/Ceil/Sfc/Webcam/GPSwvp/Wtx: OK but intermittent 'reds' when unable to catalog scan update due to loads.
WMOxfr:OK

12Z: Good.  Rain, .2mm
Nagios: Critical System Usage continues.  Computer still processing old spectra.
Nima Processing Critical with "Service Check Timed Out" this is symptomatic of the above, and has gone away with the others when it happens. 
Radar/Rass/Ceil/Sfc/Webcam/GPSwvp/Wtx:OK
WMOxfr:OK.

15Z: Good.
Nagios: Critical on System, Profiler Data.  Computer still has old spectral processes.   Killed them off roughly from 14:30, leaving current ones.   Nagios became happy again.
Radar/Rass/Ceil/Sfc/Webcam/GPSwvp/Wtx:OK
WMOxfr:OK.


Final Radar Amp Currents:
	rass-mode(60) = 1.288
	low-mode(60)  = 1.811
	high-mode(200)= 2.134

DAILY REPORT FOR 24 OCTOBER 2011

Rebooted ISS: I apparently hit Zebra 'stop' when going for the tools.  After that, a "Start ISS Display" did not startup properly: DS_Daemon not running, and manual attempts did not work as well.  Because of this the surface station data, webcam, and profiler data were 'out.'   Reboot of iss worked to restart most things, including the nima,moments,surface,webcamXfr,etc.  The prof915h/l netcdf files were restarted, datasend was ok, etc but the real-time 'Xsoap' displays/data did not re-establish sync even though popserial from profiler computer was up. Restarted profiler:OK See notes below.


Weather: clear, calm

Overview: 

Forecast:

Launches:

00Z: Good. No Rain/Sample  Had to use manual/sonde data for initializing because the surface station ingest was down.
Nagios:Errors on Profiler.  Data not getting into /data_source.  Eventually the netcdf did arrive and the moments.  event logger showing transfers ok.
Nagios:Errors on WXT.  Checked dsmctl dump and appears ok, but bad records from outage around reboot a few bad messages.  No problem
Nagios:Otherwise OK: Sfc/Webcam/GPSwvp/Nima/datasend, etc.
WMOxfr:OK

03Z: Good.
Nagios: Errors on Profiler, Paused/Restarted Profiler computer process and recovered when the serial feed resumed.
Nagios: Rass/Sfc/GPSwvp/Webcam/Wxt:OK
WMOxfr:OK


Final Radar Amp Currents:
	low-mode(60)  = 
	high-mode(200)= 2.132

DAILY REPORT FOR 23 OCTOBER 2011

Nagios: 


Weather: sunny with scattered clouds throughout the day.

Launches:

00Z: Good.  Relaunched since GPS went out on sonde below 900mb.  Second ballon lost GPS around 700mb but continued to measure PTU

03Z: Good. Nagios: OK

06Z: Good. Nagios: OK

09Z: Battery didn't lock onto sonde as well as most, but chanced it anyway. Should we use tape in the future when this happens? Brought sonde inside to look more closely at it, and as a result the surface data points look funky.


Final Radar Amp Currents:
	low-mode(60)  = 
	high-mode(200)=

DAILY REPORT FOR 22 OCTOBER 2011

Nagios: All green.


Weather: Lasting thunderstorms from over night on the 21st - extensive line of deep cb's and growing congestus clouds to the south, west, and northwest of DGAR (photo op). Scattered cumulus, congestus, and cirrus clouds throughout the day.
Some rain at 19+Z, squall/cell passage at 19:45.

Overview: Locally, trade winds have slackened off substantially, convection has remained scattered (as opposed to wide-spread), and a dry intrusion has persisted between 6 and 700 mb for the last ~day. Large scale, twin cyclones are at it west of the DYNAMO array, and convection is widespread in the northern array, with MCS activity.

Forecast: Kerns says continued dry conditions locally, but we'll see. Soundings are mighty dry, but shallow convection is popping up in spite.
Extended: Here a low, there a wave, everywhere a Rossby train. Western Indian Ocean convection "might be" associated with the MJO, in which case we might see convection ramping up around here within coming days. Stay tuned!

Launches:
15Z Good.  Nagios:OK Radar/Rass/Ceil/Sfc/Webcam/GPSwvp/Wxt:OK WMOxfr:OK.

18Z Good.  Nagios:OK Radar/Rass/Ceil/Sfc/Webcam/GPSwvp/Wxt:OK  WMOxfr:OK.

21Z Good.  
Cell passage/rain-band beginning 19:45Z, light raining through launch until ~20:40Z, scattered clouds to clear by burst 
Nagios:OK Radar/Rass/Ceil/Sfc/Webcam/GPSwvp/Wxt:OK WMOxfr:OK.

Final Radar Amp Currents:
	low-mode(60)  = 1.812
	high-mode(200)= 2.137

DAILY REPORT FOR 21 OCTOBER 2011

Internet: Back online at 01:45Z.  Another island-wide outage.  Went out again for a bit later and had some slow transfers.

Nagios: Critical DataSend to EOL.   This is happening despite having internet because of the local gateway timing out.  Probably related ISP problems.  The datasend process appears to .  Tried simple manual run:no go.  Later did "datasend stop" then manually "datasend debug run 60" which worked per screen output.  Did a "datasend start" and we'll see if it still goes (17:10 cron)
Nagios: WXT error.  This is caused by a bad record from the WTX sensor.  The sensor output appears OK, but it will take ~3hours for the Nagios flag to go away.


Weekly Tasks:
DVD Backup Done
Helium: 126-full, 19-empty
Sonde Boxes: 13-full
Balloon Boxes: 5-full, 1-50%full


Weather: Alto cumulus growing into towering by mid-day. Some rain at 8:15Z, 8:45Z-ish. Distant thunderstorms to the south (~23Z).

Overview: MJO apparently in progress.

Forecast:
0Z/20Oct-0Z/21Oct: 
0Z/21Oct-0z/22Oct: 

18Z: Internet out. Reset both the wireless router and the main router...made no difference.

0Z Good.  
03Z Good.  
06Z Good.  
09Z Good.  Delayed 80minutes by ATC.  Manual terminate but got to 40mb.
Nagios: EOL-DataTransfer critical for last 13:40+.
Radar/Rass/Sfc/Ceil./GPSwvp/Webcam/Wtx:OK
WMOxfr:OK.

12Z Good.
Nagios: EOL-DataTransfer critical for last 16:00+
Radar/Rass/Sfc/Ceil./GPSwvp/Webcam/Wtx:OK  Rain Sample:.2mm
WMOxfr:OK.

15Z
Nagios: EOL-Data Transfer Critical continues.   See note above...
Slight rain and decent echo cell passed just as ready to launch.  Waited a few minutes.   May see a note/flag on rh before release: was ok but moved under awning and slightly out from surface stn.  Took back out and waited while a bit more aspiration prior to release.  rh looked ok.
Radar/Rass/Sfc/Ceil/GPSwvp/Webcam/Wtx: OK
WMOxfr:OK.

18Z Good. not sent to GTS for unknown reasons  Nagios: OK.


Final Radar Amp Currents
	Low Mode  (60)= 1.809
	High Mode(200)= 2.134

DAILY REPORT FOR 20 OCTOBER 2011

Weather:  Mostly clear with some cirrus/cumulus cover. Distant lightning in late evening (noted around 17Z). Shower at 18Z, with potent freezing layer indicated in profiler.

Overview: From Briefing 18Z/19Oct: Widespread convection, center and north part of array.  MJO onset in progress.

Forecast:
0Z/20Oct-0Z/21Oct: Temporary lull in convection.  Less overall coverage than yesterday, but still some near Revelle/Gan.
0Z/21Oct-0z/22Oct: Lull continues but should be over by "day3" with increasing convection throughout. Focus on convection "day3" may be Diego/Miria

18Z: Internet out. Reset both the wireless router and the main router...made no difference.

0Z Good.  Nagois:OK. Profiler/Rass/Sfc/Ceil./GPSwvp/Wxt:OK.  WMOxfr:OK  Rain:None
03Z Good.  Nagios:OK. Profiler/Rass/Sfc/Ceil./GPSwvp/Wxt:OK.  WMOxfr:OK
06Z Good.  Nagios:OK. Profiler/Rass/Sfc/Ceil./GPSwvp/Wxt:OK.  WMOxfr:OK
09Z Good.  Delayed 30 minutes by ATC. Nagios: OK. 
12Z Good.  Nagios:OK.
18Z Good.  Rain and freezing layer showed up around 18Z in profiler.  Nagios:SSH warning. Sonde profile log indicates that it might not have been sent to the GTS (probably that darn internet).
21Z Good.  Again, no confirmation that went to GTS. Internet still out. Nagios now displaying critical for EOL data transfers (and still a warning for SSH). Both internet issues maybe?

Final Radar Amp Currents
	Low Mode  (60)= 1.812
	High Mode(200)= 2.137

DAILY REPORT FOR 19 OCTOBER 2011

Weather:  Mostly clear with some cirrus/cumulus cover.

Overview: From Briefing 18Z/19Oct Widespread convection, center and north part the array.  MJO onset in progress.  Well into phase I.  Peak activity still over Africa.

NAGIOS: Webcam still Critical early in day.


Soundings:

0Z Good.
Nagois: Webcam Still Critical. Images are being collected on the pc however.  Rsync daemon is now working since 0Z and the computer settings are ok for rebooting into correct startup.
Profiler/Rass/Sfc/Ceil./GPSwvp:OK.  WMOxfr:OK

3Z Good. Nagios: ditto

6Z
9Z

Final Radar Amp Currents
	Low Mode = 1.812
	High Mode= 2.138

DAILY REPORT FOR 18 OCTOBER 2011

Weather:  Mostly clear with some cirrus/cumulus cover.

NAGIOS: Webcam went Critical between 15Z launch and 18Z launch...


Soundings:

18Z Good.
Nagios Was Critical on Webcam for 4+ hours.  Critical on WXT for about 2 hours but that went away.
Webcam: Checked/logged in Admin. and PC was very slow to respond, disk getting hammered.  Rsync from DM had started up.  Couldn't really atrl-alt-del to watch processes, difficulty getting dos prompt, to check ip addr.  However the data files for the 18th are there in realtime (watching 17:xxZ being created), and eventually the transfer finished, Nagios became 'happy' for awhile then not. Webcam PC basically hung....Hard Reboot.. now ip=192.168.0.10, AscUploader started up writing to (wrong?) directory c:\My Docs\My Pics\All_Sky_Cam_Archive. Changed to where it had been: c:\data\All_Sky_Cam\2011\10\18\.   Files getting written, but still not getting rsync xfr to DM.
Profiler/Rass/Sfc/Ceil./GPSwvp:OK.  WMOxfr:OK

21Z Good.
Nagois: Webcam Still Critical after rebooting its pc. Images are being collected on the pc however.  Seems like a rsync daemon problem on the pc, but haven't figured it out yet.
Profiler/Rass/Sfc/Ceil./GPSwvp:OK.  WMOxfr:OK


Final Radar Amp Currents
	Low Mode = 1.812
	High Mode= 2.138

GAUS froze up after terminating the 09Z sounding on 18 October 2011. Terminated because it lost signal (for about a minute or two) and was around 30-50 mb. Still had control of the tabs in the sounding window after confirming termination of channel, but window to select "Good Sounding" never came up, and none of the buttons were click-able in the bottom panel.

Files are still present on GAUS machine under GAUSdata/DG_20111018/, and I created backup files in a directory on the desktop.

Didn't see any diagrams, etc. for the Campbell/IRT when debugging the bad cable, so before I forget here's the pin assignments.

CR10	cable to Amp	IRT-Cannon

AG	yellow	8	H
E3	Orange	4	F verify these 2, but both excitations
	Green	6	D
5H	Red	3	C
5L	Blk	1	A (This was the culprit)
6H	Wht	5	G
6L	Purple	7	E

DAILY REPORT FOR 17 OCTOBER 2011

Weather:  Squalls around 01:45Z, 02:15Z, 1115Z, 1215Z.  Mostly clear in afternoon with some cirrus/cumulus cover.

Overview: 

Forecast: 

NAGIOS: Still CRITICAL on "EOL data transfers." The message says
"DATASEND CRITICAL - timestamp found, missing status result."  Likely problem with proxy with ISP serve out here.   Gary in Boulder working on it as of 15Z.


Soundings:

09Z Good. Delayed Launch: ATC held it off for aircraft until 09:20Z.  Manually terminated at 'cutoff time' of 10:45Z,55mb.
Nagios DataSend Critical error continuing.  Checked log file and attempted manual ftp of normally generated tar file to Boulder: 'could not create file' so it may be on that end although the ISS2 data is getting into the catalog.  Emailed Bill/Gary. Last ISS3 Skew-T's on field catalog at 10/16-0755Z. Otherwise Nagios OK.
Profiler/Rass/Sfc/Ceil.(not much to see)/GPSwvp/Webcam:OK.  WMOxfr:OK.

12Z Good. Delayed Launch: ATC held it off for aircraft until 11:45Z
Nagios DataSend Critical Error remains.  
Example of the log file showing curl utility error: "trying to upload /iss/tmp/ds.iss3.20111017.111001.tar.gz, attempt 3 of 3...
+ cd /iss/tmp
+ curl --output /tmp/datasend.curl.output.15645 --write-out @/tmp/datasend.curl.format --silent --show-error -F sitename=iss3 -F checksum=c99414b50a4b0d0104cd4346aa783035 -F datafile=@ds.iss3.20111017.111001.tar.gz http://www.eol.ucar.edu/cgi-bin/iss/iss-data.cgi curl: (55) select/poll returned error"
Otherwise Nagios OK.   Profiler/Rass/Src/Ceil./GPSwvp/Webcam:OK. WMOxfr:OK.

15Z Good. Nagios: DataSend problem remains.  But Gary managed to manually copy a data set up to the last sounding, so the field catalog is updated to that time.
Profiler/Rass/Sfc/Ceil./GPSwvp/Webcam:OK. WMOxfr:OK.

18Z Good.

21Z Good.


Final Radar Amp Currents
	Low Mode = 1.811
	High Mode= 2.135

2000 UTC 16 OCTOBER 2011

Noticed power to helium crate had switched off when aspirator wouldn't turn on. Unplugged the cable and reset the breaker switch on the outlet to the left of the office carrier door (outside), but it trips again when you plug the cable back in. There is probably a circuit short with all of the rain, so leaving it unplugged until daylight can assist in figuring out the problem. Just means a headlamp is necessary to get helium.

2330 UTC UPDATE

Plugged back in and reset breaker; aspirator and crate lighting now back on and appear to both be working without tripping the circuit. No rain for last 4-5 hours.

Seems that left-most outlet is less-susceptible to rain/trip issues than right one

DAILY REPORT FOR 16 OCTOBER 2011

Weather:  Strong squall around 6Z, ~21mm rain roughly 1/2 hour. Another strong series of squalls around 15z, with rain stopping around 2030 UTC.

Overview: Very active congestus/cumulonimbus observed early. Heavy (and usually brief) showers throughout the day, consistent with satellite imagery that suggests a significant increase in convective activity over a broad region (encompassing the DYNAMO array), and a possible breakdown of the ITCZ. Heightened convection is consistent with model suggestion of ennhanced-convection phase of a convectively-coupled Kelvin wave now riding through the domain.

Forecast: Convective activity supposed to increase throughout the western Indian Ocean over the next several days with approach of the active phase of a circumnavigating MJO. Adam has his money on it arriving on the 19th. He buys rounds if he's wrong.

NAGIOS: getting a CRITICAL on "EOL data transfers." The message says
"DATASEND CRITICAL - timestamp found, missing status result."
Checked link to skewT plots, and all seem to show up as soundings come in.

Soundings:
00Z Good, but..Lost GPS/Winds at ~350mb, "Early burst" at 81mb. Nagios:OK. Profiler/Rass/SfcSta/Ceilometer/GPSwvp/Webcam:OK. WMOxfr:OK
03Z Good. Nagios:OK. Profiler/Rass/SfcSta/Ceilometer/GPSwvp/Webcam/:OK. WMOxfr:OK.
06Z Good, but...Interesting to Review: Squall/rains coming through beginning 15min before and heavy rain through scheduled release (21mm+). Strong echoes, bright-spots.  Delayed launch a little bit waiting for a bit lighter conditions; somewhat, release ~5:40Z.  35cub ft/sprayed, should have used 40. Still light rain at 06:05Z, balloon at 630mb, 4.2km, 25km out, signal still ok, still going up, slowly.  Hit updraft to exactly 500mb, then downdraft at that point 5.7km, 30km out, signal ok, another up into the "good 400's". Fun one to watch, strong ups/downs. "Iced up for good" around 400mb, 7km, 35km out; sank back to ~450 and bobbed around; letting it go, it's data... Eventually "fully iced up" and dropped consisently at 5-10+m/s when manual termination at ~570mb, 50km out. Nagios:OK. Profiler/Rass/Sfc/Ceil./GPSwvp/Webcam:OK. WMOxfr: OK.
09Z Good, Balloon burst during inflation
12Z Good, Rain gauge checked and isotope sample taken
15Z Good, Moderate rain immediately before and after balloon launch, Filled balloon to 35/did not use Pam and made it through freezing level without trouble

21Z: 3rd balloon in a row to burst mysteriously close to 100mb.

Final Radar Amp Currents
	Low Mode = 1.812
	High Mode= 2.137

DAILY REPORT FOR 15 OCTOBER 2011

Weather - mostly sunny, few cumulus throughout the day. Lightning spotted around 15-16Z, likely from storms just north of DG (can be seen on satellite). Overview: a sunny sky yet again, with the ITCZ remaining north, centered in the middle of the DYNAMO array. Forecast is for continued clear weather for several days around here, with ITCZ convection remaining weak, and synoptic-scale convection ramping back up with the approach of a convectively-coupled Kelvin wave. Passing shower at 1845Z.

00Z sounding data not sent to GTS for unknown reasons that have since been resolved.

"Surface broadcast" was reporting critical on Nagios for a short while (maybe 5 minutes), but is now green.

06Z launch (only) - surface met station comparison to sonde data never came up in the GAUS window. It gave me a window to punch in surface data manually.

12Z launch - parts on helium gauge board were a bit hot from being in direct sunlight for a while. System much noisier than usual (noise seemed to be coming from around the top-left pressure gauge on the panel), potentially as a result of expanded metal parts. Gauges all read normal (filled balloon fine), and could not detect any leaks. Emailed Bill about the issue.

WIND PROFILER PARAMETER SETTINGS

These are the settings for the wind profiler
Radian (Vaisala) LAP-3000 915-MHz system

PARAMETER SET 2:
IPP 56 PW 400 CODE 4
NHTS 75 DELAY 2000 SPACE 400 COHAVG 86 SPECAVG 36 NPTS 128
SCALE 17 m/s DWELL 29 s HEIGHT 0.15 - 4.59 km IPP 8.00 km PULSE 60 m

PARAMETER SET 3:
IPP 100 PW 1700 CODE 2 (prior to 0730Z Oct 14 was 0)
NHTS 48 DELAY 3800 SPACE 1700 COHAVG 40 SPECAVG 44 NPTS 128
SCALE 20.5 m/s DWELL 29 HEIGHT 0.31 - 12.30 km IPP 14.60 km PULSE 255 m

PARAMETER SET 4: (RASS)
IPP 20 PW 400 CODE 0
NHGTS 24 DELAY 1800 SPACE 400 COHAVG 10 SPECAVG 20 NPTS 2048
SCALE 409.6 m/s DWELL 25 s HEIGHT 0.12 - 1.50 IPP 2.68 PULSE 60 m

BEAM SEQUENCE (beam, parameter set, 1 NREP each beam):
yV22 2, y+38 2, xV21 2, x-37 2, yV22 3, y+38 3, x-37 3
(beams selected for least clutter and best signal).

BEAMS (name, az, zenith)
yV22 43 0
xV21 133 0
y+38 43 21
y-26 223 21
x+25 133 21
x-37 313 21 

SPECTRAL PROCESSING:
Averaging using ICRA with DC filtering and Windowing set on.
Clutter search to 1km
CNS AVG 30 mins 55% THLD, 2 m/s in oblq, 1.5 m/s in vert.

RASS running 5 minutes after each winds consensus
#1 Signal +/- 10.8 m/s
#2 Signal 15C to 35C (-340.4 to -352m/s) SRC FREQ set to same
CNS time 5 min, 55% 2.0 m/s

DAILY REPORT FOR FRIDAY 14 OCTOBER 2011

Wether : fine with few clouds early, then cloud increasing by midday.
Scattered cloud later.

Soundings: 21Z (Oct 13) launch used sonde 1453463 that had previously
been set aside for failure of GPS lockup, however was fine when retried.

Wind profiler : at 07:30Z increased power on high mode by changing from 0 code
to 2 bit code (see separate tklog entry for all settings).
Nagios reporting NIMA processing delay, likely as result of the parameter
change, however raw spectra ok so NIMA plots can be recovered in postprocessing.

Final amp: 1.809A in low mode, 2.132A in high mode (1.905A before code change),
1.285A in RASS mode.

Soap 24-hour plots reprocessed to remove unnecessary RASS gaps and put on ds.

Bill was supposed to fly out last night, however weather in Singapore has 
delayed flight by 24 hours.

Visitors from the local Met office at Diego Garica airport
(observators Vermin and Ronald) came for the 9Z sounding.

DIEGO GARCIA METOC VISIT

Visited Diego Garcia meteorological station "METOC" at the airport.

They in the process of upgrading their radar and it should be operating in the
next week.   The radar is an SWR C-Band radar and should be recording level-2
data in .uf format shortly.  It may be possible for Dynamo to access this data.

Their surface met AWOS station is having problems and they are currently only
getting winds data from that.  
Their Temp/RH is from hourly observations of a hand-held Kestrel sensor 
in their parking lot, and their pressure comes a barometer in their office.  
Clouds obs are visual only and cloud heights are estimated from cloud type.

12Oct11 22:30Z, (13Oct 4:30local)

The IRT went completely down.

13Oct11 12:50Z   (18:50 local)
Removed   Eppley Pyrgeometer s/n 32686
Installed Eppley Pyrgeometer s/n 38809 (original unit)

Comments:
I appear to have located the problem.  There was an intermittent wire on signal 5L inside the campbell box.   This was the black wire from the bulkhead to the actual logger.   It had apparently be crushed in the backshell strain relief clamp and finally (thermally?) opened up completely.

Original Unit:
Now has the good battery from the spare.   I did this instead of fiddling with the coefficients in the campbell dld file since I haven't found what the spare unit's values are.

Keep an eye on it...

DAILY REPORT FOR THURS 13 OCT 2011

Weather: partly cloudy early with brief light rain, clearing to scattered cloud later. Few clouds into late evening. Ground finally drying up a bit with present dry regime (ITCZ displaced to the north). Model forecasts suggest a return to wet over the coming days as the ITCZ pushes back south and (acdng to ECMWF) cross-ITCZ cyclonic circulations develop to the west of the DYNAMO array with strengthened westerly flow in between.

Working on IR - still has a problem.   Totally out at about 4:30 local, 12Oct-22:30Z.  Found one bad connection.   See other log entry.

Wind Profiler final amp 1.808A in low mode, 1.095A in high mode,
1.285A in RASS mode.

12Oct11 15:00-16:05 Local (9:00-10:05Z)

Net Radiometer:
Swapped desiccant.
Replaced domes.

The desiccant was shot, and there was water inside the tube.  The desiccant actually appeared plugged with some remaining good in the middle but 'red-caked' on either ends.   There was some water inside the desiccant tube and I drained the housing too.
The domes had condensation inside and because of that and the above, decided to swap them.   The screws were slightly loose.   The O-Rings were dry and hard to seat.  Probably could use some vacuum or plumbers grease, new seals/rings.

Radiometer data will be effected during this period while I was working on the stand. 

12Oct11 04:45Z, 10:45local


Removed   Eppley Pyrgeometer s/n 28809
Installed Eppley Pyrgeometer s/n 32686 (spare unit)


Reason:
The original unit has been acting up with some jumping around of the signals.  It's believed to be within the sensor/cable there rather than in the logger connections.   

Coefficients Not Yet Changed:
Trying new sensor first to see if signals have stabilized before changing them.

Desiccant:
The reserve is getting a bit 'stale' but still acceptable.   Some crystals have turned.

DAILY REPORT FOR WEDNESDAY 12 OCTOBER 2011

Weather - partly cloudy: cumulus congestus/altocumulus/cirrus. Overview: dry, sunny weather early, brief shower ~0330Z. Increased trade winds, consistent with dryer air coming in and ITCZ pushing further north towards center of main DYNAMO array.

Final Amplifier Current: 1.808  Low Mode, 1.095 High Mode

The 08Z sounding was delayed briefly by ATC.

John did some work on the solar radiation, esp the IR and netrad (see separate
tklog entries).

The ceilo MLH images are temporarily not being transferred due to a naming 
convention issue, but the plots are being generated & will eventually will make it.

The All Sky web cam was down briefly while rsync software was installed,
so now those images are being archived on the DM.

Today was the day that the sun was perfectly at zenith, however it was partly
cloudy so we didn't get a good look at it.

No GPS on first 21Z sonde.  Labeled with Sharpie and switched out for new one.

DAILY REPORT FOR TUES 11 OCTOBER 2011

Weather - scattered cloud early (mixed CU, stratus, and cirrus), 
increasing by midday, then rain.

First balloon popped during inflation for the 00Z sounding.  
Second balloon inflated to 35 and greased with Pam.  
Second balloon bobbed around 590mb/freezing level presumably due to ice 
build and up but continued upwards after a few minutes.

It appears as though the entire island is having network issues.  
Thus, the 00Z sounding was unable to be sent to GTS.
5Z sounding had data send error, so also probably did not get to the GTS.

Wind Profiler final amp 1.811A in low mode, 1.096A in high mode.

Ceilometer down briefly at 12Z for maintenance.

John Militzer arrived last night - the first DYNAMO person to arrive on time
since the ISS site survey trip back in March.

Ceilometer reported critical on Nagios. Message (and duration) saved in /iss/sonde/ceilometer_critical_message.txt

Trimble Web reporting warning (for about 6 h) on Nagios: HTTP WARNING: HTTP/1.0 401 Authorization Required - 279 bytes in 0.003 second response time

DAILY REPORT FOR MONDAY 10 OCTOBER 2011

Weather mainly fine, partly cloudy early: mix of Cu (esp to east & south), 
and altoCu and cirrus; cloud increasing to overcast stratus by mid-morning.
Rain from around 5Z.

6Z sounding delayed by ATC.

Wind profiler amp: 1.810A in low mode, 1.095A in high mode,
1.287A in RASS mode.

The heavy rain yesterday lead to the cancellation of the point to point bike 
that the students were going to ride today, as well as to Bill and a driver 
having to spend a messy hour getting a stuck bus out of the mud over by the 
plantation Sunday afternoon.

Steady rain through the afternoon into the evening.

Another sonde succums to the freezing level (12Z), and Pam spray is brought in as the stand-in balloon lube.

Field Olive Oil Deployment (FOOD)

FOOD hypothesis:

Olive oil is hydrophobic, and thus, despite adding weight to the balloon by applying olive oil, the balloon surface should not accrue as much water, keeping the balloon lighter throughout its flight. Further, prevention of a water coat on the balloon surface reduces the chance of riming near and above the freezing level, which would otherwise increase balloon weight at an exponential rate.

FOOD Field-phase:

06Z sounding on 10/9/11 (moderate to heavy rain):

Applied olive oil to entire balloon surface. Used outside canopy to assist in rolling balloon around during application. Balloon was filled to 35 cub. ft. Success! Burst level: 49 mb, 20 km. Flight time: 2:11.

09Z sounding on 10/9/11 (moderate to heavy rain):

Applied olive oil to balloon surface while it was about half full and still attached to helium hose. Proved difficult to apply olive oil to entire balloon surface in this manner, so only applied to top half (assuming that this might be sufficient). Balloon was filled to 35 cub. ft. Failure! Never made through freezing level (~550 mb). Bobbed up and down at least four times between ~550 and ~650 mb before falling from ~550mb, after apparently developing a slow leak and accelerating downward from ~10 to ~35 m/s, after which point the sounding was deemed compromised and the channel was closed.

12Z sounding on 10/9/11 (very light rain):

In an effort to redeem the last failed launch, balloon surface was covered in a manner similar to the 06Z balloon (filled balloon to 35 cub. ft. and used overhang to assist in applying olive oil to the entire balloon surface). Success! Burst level: 41 mb, 32 km. Flight time: 1:26.

Concluding remarks:

The sample size for heavy rain is at this time only two launches, so it is difficult to draw concrete conclusions. However, it appears that full-balloon olive oil coverage might be necessary for successful passage through the freezing level, and we'll continue this practice for subsequent heavy rain launches (fill to 35 cub. ft. and use overhang to assist in full-balloon surface olive oil application).

Interesting observation (food for thought): perhaps consistent with a prominence of observed supersaturated layers (e.g., 104% RH) in recent soundings, in cases when the balloon succumbs to the freezing layer, it is observed to lose upward speed and accelerate downward in a very rapid manner (e.g., all within ~3-5 minutes), almost precisely after reaching 0C. This suggests that, in the presence of saturation (supersaturation with respect to ice), riming on the balloon surface immediately commences once at/below freezing temperature and it becomes exposed to mixed-phase hydrometeors. I.e., if the environment is at/below the freezing point and saturated (supersaturated) with respect to water (ice), it is reasonable to assume that there is a plethora of frozen hydrometeors that can initiate a rapid freezing process on the balloon surface, which is likely covered in liquid water at that point.

Acknowledgments:

We thank Paul Ciesielski for his suggestion of using Pam Spray during inclement weather to prevent icing issues, which motivated the decision to try olive oil when Pam Spray was unavailable. We also thank Bill Brown for acquiring olive oil of the best kind on Diego Garcia, and for his continued support in the launching of weather balloons. Cheers.

DAILY REPORT FOR SUN 9 OCT 2011

After 24mm of rain and mostly overcast skies yesterday, this morning started out clear and starry. Light drizzle around 02Z. Heavy rain starting 0415Z and continued until ~09Z.  Occasional showers until evening.

GPS issues with two sondes during 00Z launch; 1st sonde never initiatied GPS (set aside), second had good GPS up to 670mb, no winds beyond that point (but good PTU throughout).

Commenced operation Field Olive Oil Deployment (FOOD) in an attempt to remedy freezing layer issues. FOOD has had successes and failures, and it has been established with minor confidence that application of olive oil to the entire balloon surface has some positive impact. See separate log entry for specific FOOD details.

DAILY REPORT FOR SAT 8 OCT 2011

Weather: rain last night and this morning (24mm) which mainly eased by midday, then skies cleared this evening.  Winds SE, breezy at times.

Students report some sounding issues in during the rain, mainly icing
(see separate tklog entry).

Wind Profiler final amp current: 1.812A in low mode, 1.097A in high mode,
1.287A in RASS mode.

Briefly interupted profiler during 2130Z RASS run to adjust RASS parameters.

All sky camera cut out at around 20Z, it's not clear why.  Rebooted laptop
and cycled power on camera and it's recording again (~18Z).
Otherwise all systems fine (except for IR).

Nagios continues to show warning:

Exposed SSH	WARNING 	10-08-2011 22:33:08 	0d 0h 49m 16s 	4/4 	WARN SSH - alias did not resolve: iss3-field.dyndns.org 

Not sure if this is related to delays in sending GTS messages.
Reset wireless router and message was sent.

ooZ launch:
First attempted sounding iced up at freezing level and began falling. Cut it off to launch another, but data looked good so chose "Good Sounding." Did relaunch at 2355 UTC 7 with 32 ft^3 to try to get higher (Bill says use 35 whenever raining). Same thing happened, but eventually shed ice and made it through freezing level. Cut off at about 230mb to get onto GTS. Only received sonde profile log for first launch, and it didn't contain any GTS message. Both sounding files exist (232117 and 000138) in /data_source/class/, and both WMO messages are present in /data_source/wmo. Questions we're left with:
Will Pam spray solve the problem?
Do we report "Bad Sounding" when closing first launch if doing a relaunch?

03Z launch:
Iced up again and bobbed around several times. Never made it through freezing level, so terminated at GTS deadline. Didn't get a sonde profile log again, so "sounding field log" will need to be updated with exact details. New file and wmo message are present, so behind-the-scene processes seem okay.

DAILY REPORT FOR FRIDAY 7 OCTOBER 2011

Weather overcast, stratus.  Shower around 2Z this morning (just 2mm).
Variable breeze from SSE, turning more easterly during the day.
Clouds lifting to scattered cirrus and altocumulus by late afternoon.

All systems working about from IR.
Wind profiler final amp: 1.811A in low mode, 1.097A in high mode,
1.287A in RASS mode.

Air traffic control delayed soundings.
6Z sounding delayed by more than an hour, terminated at 125mb to get to GTS on time.

Air force guys seem to be having a party at the beach near our site.

DAILY REPORT FOR THURSDAY 6 OCTOBER

Weather mainly fine - scattered cloud this morning becoming overcast during day.
Winds light and from SE.  
A little light rain last night, otherwise no significant precip.

Wind profiler final amp 1.812A in low mode, 1.097A in high mode,
1.287A in RASS mode.

One radiosonde (serial 4430589) last evening at 21Z (Oct 5) had no GPS.
Tested again during day, but it still wasn't picking up GPS so it was set aside.

Handy man day, repairing platform in Helium container and making other mods.

Lou, Tim, and Charlie flew out last night (thanks very much guys!).
In Lou's case, he had a delay of 5 days due to aircraft issues.
Charlie and Tim actually got flown out a day earlier than they expected.

DM accidently rebooted at 19Z as UPS switch hit.  All systems recovered okay.

DAILY REPORT FOR WEDS 5 OCT 2011

Weather mainly fine, scattered cloud and scattered light rain. Light SE breeze.
Cloud thickened during day, and heavy rain shower around 9Z, 
approx 5 mm rain in 10 - 15 minutes.  Cleared to scattered clouds later.
Another shower occurred at 12Z of approx 1.5mm. Another light shower around 15Z, another XX mm.

All systems working except for IR radiometer, replacement arriving this weekend.

Wind profiler final amp 1.096A in high mode, 1.809A in low mode,
1.286 in RASS mode.

At 0Z no significant rain in last 24h so rain gauge and isotope sampler 
both empty.  12Z sounding was delayed by ATC. Launch at 1203 UTC.

Students Adam Rydbeck, Gavin Roy and James Ruppert arrived last night
(after a one day delay in Singapore).

For the 0900Z sounding, we had a visit from Commander Tidwell and Lt. Commander Hildreth.

DAILY REPORT FOR TUESDAY 4 OCT 2011

Weather, fine, variable scattered clouds, variable SE breeze.

Profiler final amp current: 1.809A in low mode, 1.096A in high mode,
1.286A in RASS.

Pressure has been showing interesting 12-hour oscillation with about 
2mb amplitude - presumably the semi-diurnal atmospheric tide.

No signficant rain yesterday so rain gauge and isotope water sampler empty.
 

The iss3 datamanger lost touch with the outside world about two hours ago. The nagios Exposed SSH diagnostic noted this as a parse error to check_ssh :-).

Other computers on the wireless network were able to access the internet at this time.

External access was restored to the datamanger by cycling the power on the Linksys wireless router.

Tim noted the same problem in issue #12.

Addendum by Tim at 12:30am Local. Same problem popped up again, and it may have interferred with the sending of the 1700Z sounding. The Nagios status page will show a "Status Unknown" and on the Exposed SSH service. The remedy is to reboot the Linksys router, and then recheck.

I have repeated this procedure at least 4 times tonight. We seem to have an issue with keeping the data manager connected. The 21z sounding did make it out, but I had to reboot the router just prior, and again within 10 or 20 minutes after, just to verify it was sent.

DAILY REPORT FOR 3 OCT 2011

Weather cloudy early, with occasional light dizzle, clearing to scattered clouds by morning.  Light SE winds.

Rain gauge emptied at 0Z : 90mm.  Isotope sample at 0Z.
Both 24 hours (mainly fell between 3Z & 9Z yesterday).

Briefly interupted profiler at 2350Z (2 Oct) to adjust RASS parameters.
RASS sound briefly cut-out (say, a couple of seconds every 10s).
Reduced power on output (down to 12VAC on a multimeter from 14VAC),
which seemed to fix it - must have been slightly over driving. 

IR radiometer still showing glitches, John M is bringing in a replacement.

I believe the internet connection on the data manager has been down for as much as 6 hours. I was verifying that the GTS messages were being sent in Gmail, but could not reach any external web page. This outage did not affect the wireless connection on my computer, just the data manager. After rebooting the router,  I verified that the data manager had access. The Gmail account shows the messages that have been sent by looking at the "sent mail" folder, and the newest message is 6 hours old. (This is written at 4am local) We should routinely look to see if the data manager has internet connectivity is up and verifying data is being sent.

Oct 2 0Z sounding lost GPS at 450 mb so I didn't mark it as a good sounding,
however this means it wasn't transmitted to the GTS.
At Charlies suggestion I edited the D20111001_232654_P.1 file on the
sounding PC to change the operator standard comments line (near the end)
to say "Good Sounding" and saved it as D20111001_232655_P.1
(ie, added one second to the title) - this allowed Aspen to generate and WMO
message and sent it to the GTS.
Apparently it is acceptable to the GTS processes to have soundings like
this with some missing data.

DAILY REPORT FOR 2 OCTOBER 2011

Weather:  Rain last night and this morning, heavy at times.  
Occasional showers in afternoon easing.

0Z sounding lost GPS around 450 mb (see separate tklog entry).
3Z sounding was in heavy rain and had intermittant signal, lost at 200mb.

Emptied rain gauge and took isotope sample at 0Z : 35mm in 24 hours.
(Most probably fell between 14Z and 24Z yesterday).

6z sounding went up to approx 400mb then started coming back down very slowly 
in the range of 2-3 ms. Tracked down to 700mb then terminated. 
Continued slow decent.

At approx 1300 lost internet.

9z sounding lost signal at 400mb. suggest retune sondes off default.
Let run for 10 minutes and never got data back.PC locked up. 
Had to control alt delete. No files generated

Wind profiler SOAP data off-line from 6Z-24Z  (Oct 1), probably accidently 
reset while work was being done on DM.  
Spectral and consensus data okay so no raw data lost, just some plots that
can be recovered later.  Operation briefly interupted at 23:55Z to reset.

Power was lost island wide from approximately 19:02 to 19:30 including the ISS3 site. Charlie was present, and noted that all UPS's did NOT sustain any computer for any length of time, so all systems shutdown improperly.  All systems were restarted at approximately 20:00 hrs by Tim. No problems encountered, and the 21Z sounding was launched at 20:20 hrs. all systems ok except internet connectivity is still down.

In Epson printer. We now have one set of cartridges remaining.

DAILY REPORT FOR 1 OCTOBER 2011

Weather fine with light SE winds.  Mid-level cloud, widely scattered early,
but increasing during the morning, tehn clearing for a while, then rain in the
evening.

The DYNAMO IOP started today with the first sounding at 0Z (launched at 
5:25am local, 2325Z).  Soundings every 3 hours.

Ceilometer briefly interupted around 4Z for computer checks.

Rain gauge emptied at 0Z (approx 20 hours since last done) : 8mm
First rain sample for isotope sampling for CU collected at 0Z
(accumulation over prev 2 days).
 

DAILY REPORT FOR 30 SEP 2011

Mainly fine with light winds today and a couple of brief showers early. 
The past few days have seen some heavy rain, and brisk SE winds.
Tuesday (Sep 27) was particularly rainy and over 7 inches fell.
The last couple of days an inch or less fell and winds lightened.

The set-up of ISS3 has been completed and all systems are operational.

Sensors have been mainly running for the last few days, although have
been up and down as adjustments are made.

One issue is the IR radiation sensor, which has been very noisy at times.
It turns out the internal battery has failed despite being replaced recently.
Because it's an unusual part, a replacement will have to be brought either in
Singapore or Boulder.

Adjustments made to profiler settings around 2350Z.
Ceilometer window cleaned 0730Z.

Two test soundings were launched, approx 5Z and 12Z.  With the 12Z sounding,
the D file didn't close correctly and two D_P.1 files were generated
diagnosing the problem.  IOP soundings every 3 hours with start at 0Z (6am)
tomorrow morning.

Lou is due to fly back to Boulder this evening - thanks Lou!

ISS3 soundings on Diego Garcia.

A NCAR GAUS sounding rack using Vaisala RS92-SGPD soundings will be used.

A test sounding was launched at 5Z Sep 30, and another will be launched
about 1130Z the same day.

IOP soundings will start at 0Z tomorrow morning (Oct 1), every 3 hours.
Soundings will be launched between 45 and 30 minutes before nominal time
(ie, the 0Z sounding will be launched between 2315 and 2330Z). 

Soundngs will be logged in a spread sheet sounding_field_log.xls
Significant issues will also be noted in tklog.

Soundings will be transmitted to the GTS using aspen to generate a WMO file.
The WMO call sign is DRG. 

DYNAMO DIEGO GARCIA ISS3 SET-UP

ISS3 is being set-up at the US Air Force Tent City near Pt Marianne on the
island of Diego Garcia.

The location is:
Lat/Lon 7d 18.8493m S 72d 25.5932m E (7d 18m 50.8s S, 72d 25m 35.3s E) Alt 2m
Tent City area 9700, the trailer is on pad 9703, and the wind profiler is
between pads 9704 and 9705.

The ISS consists of:

LAP3000 915 MHz DBS Boundary Layer Wind Profiler with RASS
GAUS sounding system using Vaisala RS92-SGPD radiosondes
Ceilometer (Vaisala CL31)
10 m met tower : RM Young wind head at 10m, pressure, temp/RH at 2m
Eppy IR and Visible, and net radiation sensors
Tipping bucket rain gauge
WXT 510 Vaisala weather sensor with low-res discrometer function
All-sky camera

The site near the middle of an open flat area approx 200 m across, 
consisting of a number of concrete tent pads and mowed grass.  
Trees (mix of pine & palms 10-15m) flank the site to the east, north and west, 
there are low buildings to the south and south east.  
A few power lines, light poles, and other buildings are scattered around 
the site.  
There is a lagoon just beyond the trees to the northeast (approx 120m from 
the ISS) - so far the profiler doesn't seem to see much wave clutter.
The airport is to the west, closest point is about 200m, however there
seem to be just a few fights per day so little interference or clutter is
expected.

The ISS set-up crew is Bill Brown, Lou Verstraete, Tim Lim and Charlie Martin.