metcrax-iss3: Logbook

metcrax-iss3: Chronological Logbook Entries


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Entry Date Title Site Author #Graphics
102 Tue 31-Oct-2006IOP7 Sounding 7METCRAXLou
101 Tue 31-Oct-2006IOP7 Sounding 6METCRAXSharon and Wen
100 Tue 31-Oct-2006IOP7 Sounding 5Sharon and Wen
99 Tue 31-Oct-2006IOP7 Sounding 4Sharon and Wen
98 Tue 31-Oct-2006IOP7 Sounding 3Sharon and Wen
97 Mon 30-Oct-2006IOP7 Sounding 2METCRAXLou
96 Mon 30-Oct-2006IOP7 Sounding 1METCRAXLou
95 Mon 30-Oct-2006METCRAXLou
94 Sun 29-Oct-2006METCRAXLou
93 Sun 29-Oct-2006IOP6 Sounding 7METCRAXLou
92 Sun 29-Oct-2006IOP6 Sounding 6METCRAXWen,Lesley,Vince
91 Sun 29-Oct-2006IOP6 sounding 5METCRAXWen,Lesley,Vince
90 Sun 29-Oct-2006IOP6 Sounding4METCRAXWen,Lesley,Vince
89 Sun 29-Oct-2006IOP6 Sounding 3METCRAXWen,Lesley,Vince
88 Sat 28-Oct-2006IOP 6 Sounding 2METCRAXLou
87 Sat 28-Oct-2006IOP6 Sounding 1METCRAXLou
86 Sat 28-Oct-2006METCRAXLou
85 Fri 27-Oct-2006METCRAXLou
84 Thu 26-Oct-2006METCRAXLou
83 Wed 25-Oct-2006METCRAXLou
82 Tue 24-Oct-2006METCRAXLou
81 Tue 24-Oct-2006METCRAXLou
80 Mon 23-Oct-2006METCRAXLou
79 Mon 23-Oct-2006METCRAXLou
78 Mon 23-Oct-2006IOP5 Sounding 7METCRAXLesley and Sharon
77 Mon 23-Oct-2006IOP5 Sounding 6METCRAXLesley and Sharon
76 Mon 23-Oct-2006IOP5 Sounding 5METCRAXLesley and Sharon
75 Mon 23-Oct-2006IOP5, Sounding 4METCRAXLesley and Sharon
74 Mon 23-Oct-2006IOP5 Sounding3METCRAX
73 Mon 23-Oct-2006IOP5 Sounding 2METCRAXJason
72 Sun 22-Oct-2006IOP5 Sounding 1METCRAXJason
71 Sun 22-Oct-2006METCRAXJason
70 Sat 21-Oct-2006gens filledMETCRAXJason
69 Sat 21-Oct-2006METCRAXJason
68 Sat 21-Oct-2006IOP4 Sounding 6METCRAXSharon and Wen
67 Sat 21-Oct-2006IOP4 Sounding 5METCRAXSharon and Wen
66 Sat 21-Oct-2006IOP4 Sounding 4METCRAXSharon and Wen
65 Sat 21-Oct-2006IOP4 Sounding 4 Abandoned METCRAXSharon and Wen
64 Sat 21-Oct-2006IOP3 Sounding 3METCRAXSharon and Wen
63 Sat 21-Oct-2006IOP4 Sounding 2METCRAXJason
62 Fri 20-Oct-2006IOP4 Sounding 1METCRAXJason
61 Fri 20-Oct-2006METCRAXJason
60 Thu 19-Oct-2006IOP3 Sounding 7
59 Thu 19-Oct-2006IOP3 Sounding 6
58 Thu 19-Oct-2006IOP3 sounding 5
57 Thu 19-Oct-2006IOP3 Sounding 4
56 Thu 19-Oct-2006IOP3 sounding3
55 Wed 18-Oct-2006IOP3 Sounding 2METCRAXJason
54 Wed 18-Oct-2006IOP3 Sounding 1METCRAXJason
53 Wed 18-Oct-2006METCRAXJason
52 Tue 17-Oct-2006METCRAXJason
51 Tue 17-Oct-2006genset filledMETCRAXJason
50 Mon 16-Oct-2006
49 Mon 16-Oct-2006METCRAXJason
48 Fri 13-Oct-2006generator filledMETCRAXJason
47 Thu 12-Oct-2006IOP 2 Sounding 7
46 Thu 12-Oct-2006IOP2 Sounding 6
45 Thu 12-Oct-2006IOP2 Sounding 5
44 Thu 12-Oct-2006IOP2 Sounding 4
43 Thu 12-Oct-2006IOP2 sounding 3METCRAXKate
42 Thu 12-Oct-2006IOP2 sounding 2METCRAXKate
41 Thu 12-Oct-2006vaisala ground checkMETCRAXKate
40 Wed 11-Oct-2006IOP2 sounding 1METCRAXKate
39 Wed 11-Oct-2006Filled generatorsMETCRAXKate
38 Tue 10-Oct-2006Filled and service notesMETCRAXBill
37 Tue 10-Oct-2006fixed soundings have new names!METCRAXKate
36 Mon 09-Oct-2006Daily log Monday Oct 09METCRAXKate
35 Mon 09-Oct-2006test soundingMETCRAXKate
34 Mon 09-Oct-2006Power cycle for trainingMETCRAXBill
33 Mon 09-Oct-2006Daily Report Sun Oct 8METCRAXBill
32 Mon 09-Oct-2006Sounding Issues with IOP 1METCRAXBill
31 Sun 08-Oct-2006IOP1 sounding 7
30 Sun 08-Oct-2006IOP1 sounding 6
29 Sun 08-Oct-2006IOP1 sounding 5
28 Sun 08-Oct-2006IOP 1 - sounding 4
27 Sun 08-Oct-2006IOP 1 - sounding 3
26 Sun 08-Oct-2006Daily Report Sat Oct 7 - IOP 1METCRAXBill
25 Sun 08-Oct-2006Sodar RepairedMETCRAXBill
24 Sun 08-Oct-2006IOP 1 - Sounding 2METCRAXBill
23 Sat 07-Oct-2006IOP 1 - Sounding 1METCRAXBill
22 Sat 07-Oct-2006Daily Report Fri Oct 6METCRAXBill
21 Sat 07-Oct-2006Sodar - acoustic amplifier blownMETCRAXBill
20 Fri 06-Oct-2006Sodar downMETCRAXBill
19 Fri 06-Oct-2006Generator ServiceMETCRAXBill
18 Thu 05-Oct-2006Daily Report Thurs Oct 5METCRAXBill
17 Thu 05-Oct-2006Daily Report Wed Oct 4METCRAXBill
16 Wed 04-Oct-2006Daily Report Tues Oct 3METCRAXBill
15 Wed 04-Oct-2006RASS repairedMETCRAXBill
14 Tue 03-Oct-2006Daily Report Mon Oct 2METCRAXBill
13 Mon 02-Oct-2006Generators filled.METCRAXGary
12 Mon 02-Oct-2006Daily Report Sun Oct 1METCRAXBill
11 Sun 01-Oct-2006Training soundingMETCRAXBill
10 Sun 01-Oct-2006Daily Report Sat Sep 30METCRAXBill
9 Fri 29-Sep-2006Set-up continuedMETCRAXBill
8 Fri 29-Sep-2006Test soundingMETCRAXBill
7 Fri 29-Sep-2006Set-up continuedMETCRAXBill
6 Wed 27-Sep-2006restart surface ingest with corrected altitudeMETCRAXGary
5 Tue 26-Sep-2006Set-up at METCRAXMETCRAXBill
4 Wed 13-Sep-2006training classATD BoulderBill
3 Mon 11-Sep-2006ISS3 Tests for Metcrax in FL compoundATD BoulderBill
2 Tue 27-Jun-2000Sounding Launch Log TemplateUMBSiss
1 Tue 11-Apr-2000Logbook creatednoneiss


102: SOUNDING, Site METCRAX, Tue 31-Oct-2006 16:52:35 GMT, IOP7 Sounding 7
SERIAL # B1354131
Some high cloud winds have died down.
101: SOUNDING, Site METCRAX, Tue 31-Oct-2006 14:47:46 GMT, IOP7 Sounding 6
IOP7 Sounding 6, launched at 0300 LST, Oct 31. Had to hit Bad Sonde twice during the sonde preparation to proceed (although the Lock light was green). Good sounding, burst around 28.5 mb. 
100: , Site , Tue 31-Oct-2006 11:52:48 GMT, IOP7 Sounding 5
Serial NO: B1314644. Lanched at 0300 LST.
Good sounding. Burst at 32mb.
99: , Site , Tue 31-Oct-2006 08:49:53 GMT, IOP7 Sounding 4
Serial NO: B1364755. Lanched at 0000LST. 
good sounding. burst at about 27mb.
98: , Site , Tue 31-Oct-2006 05:53:25 GMT, IOP7 Sounding 3
Serial NO: B1354142. Lanched at 21:00 LST. surface is a little windy.
Good sounding. burst at about 26mb. 

97: SOUNDING, Site METCRAX, Mon 30-Oct-2006 23:54:41 GMT, IOP7 Sounding 2
Serial # B1334523
Clear sky windy cooling

96: SOUNDING, Site METCRAX, Mon 30-Oct-2006 21:15:57 GMT, IOP7 Sounding 1
Serial # B1324145
Very windy.Hazy warM
Good flight



95: DAILY, Site METCRAX, Mon 30-Oct-2006 21:13:22 GMT,
Everything looks good.
AAn IOP is called for to day.IOP7
Hazy warm and windy.Up to 10 meters per second could be fun.
Keyboard on Dispaly Manager seems to have a sticky keyboard.

94: DAILY, Site METCRAX, Sun 29-Oct-2006 20:44:46 GMT,
IOP6 ended to today.
All systems working well
Low level clouds over site. Winds picking up
Generators filled.
93: SOUNDING, Site METCRAX, Sun 29-Oct-2006 15:32:10 GMT, IOP6 Sounding 7
Serial # B1334513
Some highy cloud.
Good sounding, burst at about 26mb.
92: SOUNDING, Site METCRAX, Sun 29-Oct-2006 12:41:25 GMT, IOP6 Sounding 6
200g balloon launched 29 October at 0600 LST. Light surface winds, down to 3m/s.

91: SOUNDING, Site METCRAX, Sun 29-Oct-2006 09:34:01 GMT, IOP6 sounding 5
IOP6 sounding 5 lauched at 0300LST. 
Near surface with strong temperature inversion.
Balloon burst approx 56mb.


90: SOUNDING, Site METCRAX, Sun 29-Oct-2006 06:33:35 GMT, IOP6 Sounding4
200g balloon launched at 000 LST 29 October.


89: SOUNDING, Site METCRAX, Sun 29-Oct-2006 04:03:35 GMT, IOP6 Sounding 3
Sound launched on 28 October at 21 LST. GPS at first did not lock so we re-initialized the sonde and GPS locked the second time through, balloon was launched 4 min after the hour. 

Balloon burst at 36mb. Good Sounding.

88: SOUNDING, Site METCRAX, Sat 28-Oct-2006 23:35:54 GMT, IOP 6 Sounding 2
Serial # B1324143. Launched at 28 October at 18 LST. Good Sounding. Balloon 
burst at 36mb.



87: SOUNDING, Site METCRAX, Sat 28-Oct-2006 19:20:10 GMT, IOP6 Sounding 1
Serial # B1324141
High clouds, light winds.
Good sounding burst approx 35mb.


86: DAILY, Site METCRAX, Sat 28-Oct-2006 19:19:22 GMT,
IOP 6 today
All systems appear to be working well.
High clouds moved in in the afternoon
Cows were all around the profiler this evening so went down and drove them off before they did any damage.
85: DAILY, Site METCRAX, Fri 27-Oct-2006 19:28:24 GMT,
Everything is up and running.
Generators were refueled this morning.
Clear sky,warm temps and very light winds.
An IOP has been called for tomorrow night.
84: DAILY, Site METCRAX, Thu 26-Oct-2006 18:31:46 GMT,
Between 16:50 and 18:30 z the ISS and Sodar/RASS systems were shutdown for varying lenghts of time while the generators were serviced.
Mostly clear and breezy.
83: DAILY, Site METCRAX, Wed 25-Oct-2006 20:37:07 GMT,
All systems up and running.With the higher humidity etc the profiler is looking very good.
Generators refueled.
Partly cloudy, strong winds 10-12 mps most of the day.

82: DAILY, Site METCRAX, Tue 24-Oct-2006 19:09:11 GMT,
All systems up and running
Overcast with a forecast of possible showers and thunderstroms this afternoon into the evening.
81: SODAR, Site METCRAX, Tue 24-Oct-2006 19:08:03 GMT,
Both Sodar data directories backed up today.
80: GENERATOR, Site METCRAX, Mon 23-Oct-2006 22:11:55 GMT,
Well RSC Equipment Rental did not show today to service generators.

79: DAILY, Site METCRAX, Mon 23-Oct-2006 19:38:32 GMT,
IOP 5 ended this morning with a 9am [local time] sounding.Some high thin cloud moving into the area.This may mean no IOP's until maybe Thursday.
Both generators were refueled. 
Clouds have increased during the afternoon.
Noticed a time differrence between prof pc and Display Manager this afternoon ofapprox 2 minutes and 45 seconds with prof pc being fast. I intend to reboot profiler pc at approx 22:35z
Computers are time sync'ed again.
Also all systems are very dusty must be blown out upon return to Boulder.





78: SOUNDING, Site METCRAX, Mon 23-Oct-2006 16:07:02 GMT, IOP5 Sounding 7
IOP5 SOunding 7, launched at 0900 LST, 23 Oct.  Good sounding
77: SOUNDING, Site METCRAX, Mon 23-Oct-2006 15:19:49 GMT, IOP5 Sounding 6
IOP5 Sounding 6. Launched at 600 LST on 23 Oct. Balloon burst at 755 LST around 28mb. Good sounding with light winds.

76: SOUNDING, Site METCRAX, Mon 23-Oct-2006 10:10:51 GMT, IOP5 Sounding 5
IOP 5 Sounding 5, Launched at 0309 LST, 9 minute after the scheduled time. The previous sonde's GPS failed to lock despite that the 'Lock' light was green. This happened several times in the past and each time the problem disappeared after click on "Bad Sonde", but this time, it did not fixed the problem after three tries. A new sonde was then used with the already activated battery and the sounding went fine. 

75: SOUNDING, Site METCRAX, Mon 23-Oct-2006 09:35:20 GMT, IOP5, Sounding 4
IOP5 Sounding 4, launched at 0000 LST, 23 Oct. Good sounding. 

74: SOUNDING, Site METCRAX, Mon 23-Oct-2006 05:47:55 GMT, IOP5 Sounding3
IOP5 Sounding 3. Launched at 2100 LST, 22 Oct.  600 gram balloon. Burst at 2240 LST at 34 mb. Good sounding.

73: SOUNDING, Site METCRAX, Mon 23-Oct-2006 01:09:46 GMT, IOP5 Sounding 2
IOP5 Sounding 2, launched at 1800 LST, 22 Oct. Good Sounding.


72: SOUNDING, Site METCRAX, Sun 22-Oct-2006 22:02:20 GMT, IOP5 Sounding 1
First sonde of IOP5 number B1534262. Launched at 2200UTC. Weak telemetry at ~600mb for a few moments during flight. Regained strength and continued on.

71: DAILY, Site METCRAX, Sun 22-Oct-2006 21:24:04 GMT,
My final night (weather is great for IOP5) clear, 2mps winds SW
70: GENERATOR, Site METCRAX, Sat 21-Oct-2006 19:40:31 GMT, gens filled
Gensets have been filled once again.  Both have still not been serviced . I have checked the oil whilst they are running. Not the most accurate but it seems as though they are ok.
69: DAILY, Site METCRAX, Sat 21-Oct-2006 19:36:33 GMT,
wind blowing S at 5mps. Clear and slightly warm.  This morning Sharon notified me of a helium leak. It appears as though the filter element on the hose has failed. The spare regulator is being used to connect to the bottle and then to the flow meter. 
68: SOUNDING, Site METCRAX, Sat 21-Oct-2006 14:51:23 GMT, IOP4 Sounding 6
IOP4 Sounding 6 launched at 0600 LST, 21,, Oct.  Good sounding.
67: SOUNDING, Site METCRAX, Sat 21-Oct-2006 09:47:00 GMT, IOP4 Sounding 5
IOP4 Sounding 6, launched at 0300 LST.  Good sounding
66: SOUNDING, Site METCRAX, Sat 21-Oct-2006 07:30:14 GMT, IOP4 Sounding 4
This is the make up sounding for the 0000 LST, 21 OCT sounding. Launched at 0025 LST. Good sounding. 
65: SOUNDING, Site METCRAX, Sat 21-Oct-2006 06:49:12 GMT, IOP4 Sounding 4 Abandoned
IOP4 Sounding 4, launched at 0000 LST, Oct. 21. When ready to fill the balloon, noticed that the helium cylinder is leaking heavily. After several attempts, finally filled the balloon, but in a hurry to catch the time lost, forgot to close the sonde and the battery case, and the battery fall at the launch. Selected "No Sounding" for this launch, and started over again.

64: SOUNDING, Site METCRAX, Sat 21-Oct-2006 06:28:41 GMT, IOP3 Sounding 3
IOP3 Sounding 3, launched at 2100 LST. 600 g balloon. A bit wind since stronger wind aloft (~15 m/s weaterly) are begining to mix down to the surface
63: SOUNDING, Site METCRAX, Sat 21-Oct-2006 02:54:29 GMT, IOP4 Sounding 2
Sounding 2 launched at 6pm lst. B1534259 good sounding




62: SOUNDING, Site METCRAX, Fri 20-Oct-2006 21:45:10 GMT, IOP4 Sounding 1
IOP4 sounding 1 is B1534261. Winds have moved to more out of the east. Launch at 2200 UTC

61: DAILY, Site METCRAX, Fri 20-Oct-2006 21:15:47 GMT,
Conditions very favorable for IOP4.  Clear skies, slight wind out of the north east, expected to diminish by evening. 
60: SOUNDING, Site , Thu 19-Oct-2006 16:01:42 GMT, IOP3 Sounding 7
IOP3 Sounding 7, Launched at 0900 LST. 
59: , Site , Thu 19-Oct-2006 14:50:55 GMT, IOP3 Sounding 6
IOP3 Sounding 6, Launched at 0600 LST, Oct. 19.  Good soundings. Operators:  Sharon and Wen
58: , Site , Thu 19-Oct-2006 12:50:05 GMT, IOP3 sounding 5
IOP3 sounding 5, launched at 0300 LST.  Good sounding.  Operators: Sharon and Wen
57: , Site , Thu 19-Oct-2006 09:42:03 GMT, IOP3 Sounding 4
IOP 3 Sounding 3 launched at 0000 LST, Oct. 19. GPS did not lock initially after 5 minute waiting and moving in different direction.  Click on 'Bad Sonde', it was fine then.  
56: , Site , Thu 19-Oct-2006 04:11:48 GMT, IOP3 sounding3
IOP3 sounding3 at 2100 LST.  600 g balloon. The ballon looked really brown and ugly. Terminated at 6 mb right before the next sounding
55: SOUNDING, Site METCRAX, Wed 18-Oct-2006 22:13:56 GMT, IOP3 Sounding 2
Souding 2 from IOP3 is underway. No problems. Winds are still out of the north @around 5mps. sonde ID B1544113 Launched at 404mhz

54: SOUNDING, Site METCRAX, Wed 18-Oct-2006 22:10:26 GMT, IOP3 Sounding 1
First sounding of IOP3 @ 2200 UTC Sonde ID B1534639. Winds are were strong out of the north now becoming calm. Could not recieve signal at 400mhz. Several other "spikes" are in that spectrum. Launched at 404mhz

53: DAILY, Site METCRAX, Wed 18-Oct-2006 21:08:01 GMT,
IOP today. Light wind gusts, but expected to die down towards the evening.  
52: DAILY, Site METCRAX, Tue 17-Oct-2006 17:04:22 GMT,
Strong winds today. Partly cloudy with rain in surrounding areas
51: GENERATOR, Site METCRAX, Tue 17-Oct-2006 17:03:29 GMT, genset filled
Generators are filled and should be serviced on 10/18.

50: , Site , Mon 16-Oct-2006 18:54:20 GMT,

49: DAILY, Site METCRAX, Mon 16-Oct-2006 18:46:17 GMT,
Clear, cool, and windy today with windspeeds close to 12mps. No IOPs scheduled.
48: GENERATOR, Site METCRAX, Fri 13-Oct-2006 21:17:01 GMT, generator filled
jason has arrived on friday the 13th! generator filled at both sodar and ISS 3 by kate and jason.  

47: , Site , Thu 12-Oct-2006 17:59:02 GMT, IOP 2 Sounding 7
IOP2 Sounding 7, at 0900 LST, Oct. 12. Clear, Weak ESE winds. No problem with the sounding.
46: , Site , Thu 12-Oct-2006 17:58:11 GMT, IOP2 Sounding 6
IOP2 Sounding 6, at 0600 LST. Near Calm, clear, no problem. 
45: , Site , Thu 12-Oct-2006 10:06:45 GMT, IOP2 Sounding 5
IOP 2 Sounding 5 at 1000 UTC. Clear, but breezy with SW surface wind around 6 m/s. Weak SE winds aloft. Good sounding. Burst around 57 mb. 
44: , Site , Thu 12-Oct-2006 06:39:36 GMT, IOP2 Sounding 4
IOP 3, Sounding 4. 0700 UTC, Oct. 12.  Clear, breezy, sw wind at surface. Slow rising, had to terminate it for the next sounding. Good sounding
43: SOUNDING, Site METCRAX, Thu 12-Oct-2006 04:07:29 GMT, IOP2 sounding 3
Launched third sounding of IOP2 at 2100 LST.  Some data near surface was lost because sonde was launched before GAUS software was completed.  Sharon contacted Dave and he said it was not necessary to perform another launch. Conditions are calm and wind is light.  Sonde ID is A4530138.

42: SOUNDING, Site METCRAX, Thu 12-Oct-2006 01:02:03 GMT, IOP2 sounding 2
Launched second sounding of IOP2 at 1800. Calm, clear conditions. Sonde ID A4530131. Ground check system acted up, see earlier entry.

41: SOFTWARE, Site METCRAX, Thu 12-Oct-2006 00:39:57 GMT, vaisala ground check
After conditioning of the second radiosonde for IOP2, the vaisala ground check began flashing a message that said "please wait while conditions stablize".  After turning off the system and then turning it back on, it went back to normal.
40: SOUNDING, Site METCRAX, Wed 11-Oct-2006 22:10:20 GMT, IOP2 sounding 1
Launched first sonde of IOP2 at 1500 LST. Sonde ID is Z5040054. Weather conditions are calm and clear. 


39: GENERATOR, Site METCRAX, Wed 11-Oct-2006 22:09:29 GMT, Filled generators
Filled generators at ISS and sodar sites this afternoon.  Will fill again on Friday when Jason arrives.

38: GENERATOR, Site METCRAX, Tue 10-Oct-2006 02:10:23 GMT, Filled and service notes
Filled generators.
Called rental company - they say no service required until early next week.

37: SOUNDING, Site METCRAX, Tue 10-Oct-2006 00:30:33 GMT, fixed soundings have new names!
Two soundings had failure of launch detect during IOP1. D20061008_025954 was changed to D20061008_011519 and D20061008_052804 was changed to D20061008_035410.  The new filenames reflect time closer to actual launch.  LAU time in the file was also changed, as was the launch time indicated in the tail.  Data between the surface, that had not been saved in the previous D_P.1 files, was restored. 
36: DAILY, Site METCRAX, Mon 09-Oct-2006 23:42:18 GMT, Daily log Monday Oct 09
Kate arrived and is taking over for Bill, he leaves for home tomorrow.  Bill did a data back up this afternoon of the sodar and wind profiler to a portable USB.  A test launch was performed.  There is the possibility of an IOP tomorrow night. Conditions today were windy and partly cloudy.


Actually did backups to DVDs on data manager (and just sodar to usb drive), Bill.

35: SOUNDING, Site METCRAX, Mon 09-Oct-2006 23:37:07 GMT, test sounding
Test launch was performed.  Strong winds, about ~7.5 m/s, scattered clouds.  Sonde ID = Z5040050
34: GENERATOR, Site METCRAX, Mon 09-Oct-2006 23:07:57 GMT, Power cycle for training
Cycled the power (shut everything down)
for training for Kate.

33: DAILY, Site METCRAX, Mon 09-Oct-2006 01:41:20 GMT, Daily Report Sun Oct 8
DAILY REPORT Sunday October 8.

IOP 1 ended with the last sounding at 9am (16UT) this morning.
7 sondes were launched and there were some problems with the software
not recognising GPS lock and with transferring the data (see separate
tklog entry).  Ultimately the soundings were okay, although the data
will have to be reprocessed for some soundings.  Manually transferred the
data files.

Also did some work at the sodar site (tieing down the trailer since it moved
a little in the storm) and on the drain at the road to make access easier
if it rains again.  The ground there is finally dry enough to drive into
the site.

The weather today was mainly fine, with a little rain early in the afternoon
as a squall line or front went through. 

Filled the generators. 
Also stowed and restarted the MotoSat as the performance of the internet
link had been very poor - afterwards it was much improved.

Kate is due to arrive tonight.



32: SOUNDING, Site METCRAX, Mon 09-Oct-2006 01:20:54 GMT, Sounding Issues with IOP 1
The were a couple of issues with soundings for IOP 1.

1) GPS lock problem.  This appeared to be a software problem.
On a few soundings on the "Preview Radiosonde Data" screen, the wind
fields were red indicating on GPS lock on the sonde (the GPS reference
was okay).  "Bad Sonde" was then selected (taking us back to the 
"Prepare an RS-92 Radiosonde" screen) at which point the same sonde was 
immediately reused and this time the GPS was okay.
It was not a matter of not waiting long enough or moving the sonde around.

The sondes were then launched and the data appeared to come in correctly.
However on some of these sondes the D*_P.1 files had almost no data
(producing netcdf and skew-t files with no data).
Fortunately the D*.1 files appear to be okay so the soundings can be
recovered.

2) Transfer issue.  The sounding files were not transferred across to
the data manager computer (and thus to the web).
Crontab on the data manager appeared to show a transfer job, and on the
sounding PC windows task manager showed an rsync client running.
Rebooting the sounding PC did not help.
Manaully transferred the data by opening the samba mounted k drive.

31: , Site , Sun 08-Oct-2006 17:31:44 GMT, IOP1 sounding 7
IOP1 sounding 7. Launched at 9:00 am 9 Oct. No problems. Terminated at 30 mb.
Operators: Wen and Sharon
30: , Site , Sun 08-Oct-2006 14:37:28 GMT, IOP1 sounding 6
IOP1 sounding 6. Good sounding, no problems at all. Burst around 100 mb.
Operators: Wen and Sharon
29: , Site , Sun 08-Oct-2006 10:05:31 GMT, IOP1 sounding 5
IOP1 sounding 5.  Like sounding 3, no GPS signal after moving around with the sonde for 10 minutes. Hit Bad Sounding, then sees the GPS signal. After that, everything was fine and the sounding prep was completed. Suspect a software problem. Sounding 3 had exactly the same problem. Although the graph looked fine, no data were recorded in the data file. Aware of that, tried to check the data file before releasing the balloon to make sure that data were being recorded, but apparently, no file existed. Looks like a data file is created only when a sounding is stopped. The balloon burst around 300 mb. Many missing data points
Operator: Wen, Sharon


28: , Site , Sun 08-Oct-2006 06:58:45 GMT, IOP 1 - sounding 4
IOP1 Sounding 4 (0700 UTC). No problems. Weak wind from SW. Burst near 23000 m.
Data look great.
Noticed that the previous two soundings had no data recorded in the data file.
One was the problem with the sonde (bad sonde), another was due to an operator's error. 

Operators:  Wen and Sharon
27: , Site , Sun 08-Oct-2006 04:51:12 GMT, IOP 1 - sounding 3
Near calm condition. Bright moon. Perfect night.
Launched a 200 g balloon instead of 600 g, following the instruction from Dave. 
Launched the balloon before clicking Continue for final data check. As a result, may have missed data in the first few hundered meter (not sure whether the data are recorded in the data file).Sounding ends at 0528 UTC

Operators: Sharon, Wen, and Bill

26: DAILY, Site METCRAX, Sun 08-Oct-2006 02:39:28 GMT, Daily Report Sat Oct 7 - IOP 1
DAILY REPORT Saturday October 7

First IOP started at 3pm (22UT) this afternoon.
Plan is to launch every 3 hours with the last sounding at 9am tomorrow
(Sunday) morning.  Plan to use 600g balloon at 9pm.
Helpers are Sharon and Wen.

The weather has cleared and winds gradually declining during the afternoon
and evening.  Lots of Cu this morning, clearing during afternoon.

All systems now working normally.  Sodar was repaired this afternoon
(see separate log entry).

Had a little trouble with the second sounding of the IOP.
Initally didn't get GPS lock, however by 750mb is was okay.





25: SODAR, Site METCRAX, Sun 08-Oct-2006 02:29:15 GMT, Sodar Repaired
SODAR REPAIRED.

Replace MPPA acoustic amplifier A4 (which had a blown power transistor).

Also checked speaker leads and found that pins CD 2,4 (which correspond
to loudspeakers 9 and 13/17 and amplifiers D3 and B4) were short-circuited.
Also speaker 6 (amplifier B2) is open-circuit and speaker set 2/21
(amplifier A1) measures 12 ohms instead of the 6 ohms a pair should.

Disconnected amplifier B4 and D3 from the short-circuited speakers.

Sodar-RASS now seems to be working, although there will be some loss in power
and perhaps a little distortion in the beams.

Ground around site is gradually drying out, still cannot drive to
to the sodar site and need to walk in from road.


24: SOUNDING, Site METCRAX, Sun 08-Oct-2006 00:32:54 GMT, IOP 1 - Sounding 2
IOP 1 - Sounding 2  1UT. 

Could not get GPS signals initially. Launched it anyway. 
Clicked on Bad Sounding to get back to prev screen, then restarted
from there, which fixed the problem.  May be a software problem.
Missed first kilometre or so of sounding.

Sonde Number: B1544097
Winds decreasing, clear skies.

Operators Bill, Sharon and Wen.
 


23: SOUNDING, Site METCRAX, Sat 07-Oct-2006 22:17:02 GMT, IOP 1 - Sounding 1
IOP 1 - Sounding 1

Launched: 22:03 UT
Sonde number: B1534634
Weather: breezy southerly with scattered Cu

Missed burst as had to work on sodar.
32 cu ft Helium.
Good flight!

22: DAILY, Site METCRAX, Sat 07-Oct-2006 00:48:25 GMT, Daily Report Fri Oct 6
DAILY REPORT Friday October 6.

A series of storms passed through the area last night.
Peak sustained winds at the ISS site were 18 m/s yesterday evening
and the profiler indicated winds near the ground around 25 m/s.
The rain gauge indicates around 5mm of rain, however rain was observed 
to be blown over the top of the gauge so this is probably underestimated.
There was lots of surface water causing a few access problems on the dirt
roads (such as to the sodar site).

There may have been a nearby lightning strike.  Some surface group
equipment was affected, as was some of Dave Whiteman's hobo T sensors.
The sodar appears to have lost an acoustic amp and perhaps a speaker and
is currently not operating (see separate tklog entry).

Apart from the sodar, all other systems are operating normally.
Raised the profiler height range and Doppler velocity range to catch
last night's storms.  Returned to previous settings 1UT this evening (Oct 7).

The generators had a service check this morning (during a rain storm).

Our Motosat satellite internet connection is very slow, perhaps connected
with weather although still slow this evening.

Weather: Storms with blowing rain this morning, clearing during the afternoon.
Winds mainly southerly.  There are a few scattered small squalls to the south
so we might get a little more rain this evening.

The forecast for tomoorw is better and Dave says there's a possible IOP 
tomorrow (Sat) night.

21: SODAR, Site METCRAX, Sat 07-Oct-2006 00:44:58 GMT, Sodar - acoustic amplifier blown
The sodar is currently not operating.
It appears that one of the acoustic amplifiers on the sodar has blown.

The A4 unit power transistor has a corner broken off and one of the 
speaker curcuits appears to be open-circuit.
Will attempt to repair the amplifier tomorrow, how fixing the speaker
will be harder.

The RASS unit appears to be fine, however without the acoustic unit
cannot collect any data.

Access to the sodar site is still tricky, hopefully the area will dry
out tonight and tomorrow.  A grader driver made made a short access
driveway to the sodar site last week, however this blocked off the
drain along the road which resulted in a dam and may wash away our
access.  Dug a drainage ditch which will hopefully prevent a washout.
 




20: SODAR, Site METCRAX, Fri 06-Oct-2006 20:29:12 GMT, Sodar down
Sodar appears to have gone down around 6 UT last night.
The surface group say that some of their sensors went down around
the same time and suspect there may have been a nearby lightning strike
with the storms that went through last night.

Power also down at sodar for generator service.

Sodar appeared to come up okay around 19UT, will recheck it if I can 
this afternoon (however the access road to the sodar is cut-up with
the heavy rain so am having problems reaching the site).





19: GENERATOR, Site METCRAX, Fri 06-Oct-2006 20:24:23 GMT, Generator Service
Generators (all three) were inspected this morning.
This did not appear to be a full service (ie they did not change the oil).
We need to call them to check if they will do a full service next week.

ISS down from about 17 - 20 UT (while dealing with sodar - see separate
tklog entry).


18: DAILY, Site METCRAX, Thu 05-Oct-2006 22:38:00 GMT, Daily Report Thurs Oct 5
DAILY REPORT Thursday October 5

All systems operating normally.
Profiler winds to around 4 km, RASS to around 600m.

Sodar 10-minute average data now being uploaded to Boulder.

Weather: windy southerlies during day (southeast last night),
increasing in strength during the afternoon.
Cloudy with occasional showers and lightning in the distance 
(eg to west, east and south) during afternoon.
NWS forecast severe weather warnings around Sedona and Flagstaff.

Profiler indicates a little light precip last night, probably a little
rain reached the surface around 5Z and 10Z although not enough for the 
tipping bucket gauge to register.

More rain at site this evening.  Winds around 15 m/s and blowing rain over
the rain gauge and it may be missing some of it.
23:50 Widened Doppler range and height range since there's some velocity
aliasing and echoes are going up high.
Lightning nearby around 0UT.






17: DAILY, Site METCRAX, Thu 05-Oct-2006 00:51:56 GMT, Daily Report Wed Oct 4
DAILY REPORT Wednesday October 4

All systems operating normally.
Profiler seeing good winds to nearly 3 km, RASS to 600m.
Sodar seeing winds to 200m, RASS to 50 - 100m (better at night).

Weather: windy (southerly) with scattered high cloud, warm.
Not much prospect of an IOP until the weekend.

Fueled both generators and set up servicing for Friday morning.

16: DAILY, Site METCRAX, Wed 04-Oct-2006 01:35:17 GMT, Daily Report Tues Oct 3
DAILY REPORT TUESDAY OCTOBER 3

All systems are now operational.

RASS repaired today.  After much testing and replacing various cards,
it appears to have been as problem with the coherent integrator card.
(See the separate tklog entry for more details).
RASS working from about 0UT (Oct 4).

Wind profiler and RASS getting good coverage, winds to more than 3km,
and RASS to 500 - 800m this evening.  Sodar winds to about 200m,
and sodar-RASS to 50 - 100m due to the breezy conditions.

Briefly turned off Sodar-RASS transmitter 20:40 - 21:00 UT to test
whether it interferes with the ISFF data link to the south rim,
however there was no improvement to their link so it must be some other
problem.

Weather was breezy today, mainly southerlies last night switching to 
southwest this morning.  
Partly cloudy, with scattered Cu, clearing later.

Probably no IOP until at least Friday as winds too strong and possible
precip coming.



15: RADAR, Site METCRAX, Wed 04-Oct-2006 00:56:29 GMT, RASS repaired
WIND PROFILER RASS

RASS is now working.

The problem had been that there was no RASS signal at all on the profiler,
or if there was (it seemed to appear when NCI or IPP was changed) then
it was not locked correctly to range gates (i.e. it looked rather like a
wide RFI signal spread vertically in a narrow freq band at all range gates)
that disappeared when the acoustic amplifier was turned off.

After trying various other tests and fixes over the last few days
Lou shipped me some replacement cards from Boulder and I sucessively
replaced each one; radar controller card, then DSP card, then
coherent integrator card.  It turned out to be the CI card.
When I first installed it, a "sampling not finished in 5 seconds" message
appeared and the system hung; however I reset the jumpers on the card
(JP1&2 both to the left, and U62 row dip switches 3&4 down, the rest up)
then the system worked correctly.

The card situation now is:

Controller Card #4 replaced with Card #5
DSP Card 05384 replaced with Card 05385
Coherent Integrator Card 148 replaced with Card 9B
(and CI card switches changed as above).

The profiler was up and down during the afternoon and evening as the 
repairs and tests were done.  
RASS working correctly from about 0:10 UT (Oct 4).



14: DAILY, Site METCRAX, Tue 03-Oct-2006 00:18:20 GMT, Daily Report Mon Oct 2
DAILY REPORT MONDAY OCT 2

Windy (south to south-west) and partly cloudy.
Too breezy for IOPs for today and tomorrow.

Wind profiler seeing a little clutter and spurs with the wind at lowest levels,
however NIMA processing is cleaning it up okay.

The sodar range is limited with the high winds
(winds getting to 100m this afternoon, 200m last night,
and rass to only 50m this afternoon, 100-200m last night).

Gary leaving for Denver tomorrow.

13: GENERATOR, Site METCRAX, Mon 02-Oct-2006 18:32:15 GMT, Generators filled.
The sodar site generator fuel gauge for the top tank is broken, and the bottom
tank gauge is impossible to read.  The bottom tank was very close to full
already, then I filled the top tank.

The ISS site bottom tank was close to full, the top tank gauge read empty.
I filled both tanks.

12: DAILY, Site METCRAX, Mon 02-Oct-2006 01:08:00 GMT, Daily Report Sun Oct 1
DAILY REPORT FOR SUNDAY OCTOBER 1

Fine, warm, and breezy (westerlies) with high cloud.

Still fairly dry (RH<20%) so wind profiler echoes fairly weak.
Some spectral spurs at low levels, however NIMA processing seems to
be cleaning up the data well.

Did training sounding this afternoon for the student operators.
Went okay, however did not get good GPS lock until 700mb.
Used 600g balloon.




11: SOUNDING, Site METCRAX, Sun 01-Oct-2006 23:28:47 GMT, Training sounding
Training sounding 23 UT with 600g balloon.
Used 40 cu.ft. He since it was breezy.  Rise rate in trop was 2 - 3 m/s.

Serial number B1534627

GPS did not lock until 700mb.
Terminated at 300mb.

Operators:

Wenqing Yao
Leigh Jones
Maura Hahnenberger
Christy Wall
Crosby Savage



10: DAILY, Site METCRAX, Sun 01-Oct-2006 00:43:24 GMT, Daily Report Sat Sep 30
Daily Report Saturday Sep 30

Setup is complete.  Everything is working apart from the wind profiler RASS,
for which we are waiting on replacement DSP & CI cards from Boulder.
Did some more tests on both the wind profiler and sodar so there are some
periods of missing data, otherwise are working okay.

Sodar comms is now running (linked to ISFF trailer).

Weather fine and warm, light winds and scattered high cloud.

Lou and Tom's last day.  Gary went down into the crater with the surface group.

9: DAILY, Site METCRAX, Fri 29-Sep-2006 23:56:05 GMT, Set-up continued
Metcrax ISS3 set-up continued.

Everything is set up and running.

Did test sounding and that went well.

The one problem is wind profiler RASS which is not working correctly.
We suspect a problem with either the DSP or CI card and replacement
cards are coming from Boulder.

Winds data on the profiler looks good and agreed with the sounding.
Reduced lowest gate (down to 150m) since there seems to be very little
ground clutter.

Lou corrected the fan direction on the surface tower (to suck instead of blow),
at around 22UT.  There was a 3C drop in temperature and a few % rise in
relative humidity when he made the change.  Now correct.

Sodar running well.  Winds and RASS up to between 100 and 200 meters
depending on time of day.
Tried increasing TX freq from 1675Hz to 2000Hz from 23UT to match
T-REX settings. 

Weather warm, with light winds (mainly northerly).
Scattered high cloud.

Dave Whiteman dropped by and we discussed sounding schedules.



8: SOUNDING, Site METCRAX, Fri 29-Sep-2006 23:52:19 GMT, Test sounding
Sounding system test
Sonde number B1534631

Good flight - rather dry.  Winds agree with wind profiler.
Gary make a small change to ASPEN to allow sounding to go to the GTS.
7: DAILY, Site METCRAX, Fri 29-Sep-2006 00:35:27 GMT, Set-up continued
Set-up continued.

Surface station appears to be running okay.  
Tower slightly repositioned so that it's more level and improve guying.

Wind profiler up and running - collecting good winds data,
winds to 2 - 3 km during the day, although down to 1 km at night.
RASS is currently collecting very little data, and we are experimenting
with different settings to collect better data.

Sodar-RASS now also running and seems to be collecting good data,
winds and rass to about 120m this afternoon.

Weather warm, light northerlies and few clouds.


6: SURFACE, Site METCRAX, Wed 27-Sep-2006 23:37:18 GMT, restart surface ingest with corrected altitude
Reconfigured the surface station location with the correct altitude of 1670 m
and restarted the surface ingest.

5: DAILY, Site METCRAX, Tue 26-Sep-2006 22:39:03 GMT, Set-up at METCRAX
26 Sept 2006

Set-up of ISS3 at METCRAX experiment at Meteor Crater, AZ, Sept 24 - 29.

So far have profiler antenna and RASS set-up, 
although have not completed cabling.

Surface met tower up and running, along with rain guage and radiation stand.
Tipping bucket test at 22:30 UT.  Motosat up and tested.

Weather clear and warm with light NE winds switching to increasing SW breeze 
and increasing clouds.  
Widely scattered showers in the distance to west and south.

Set-up crew Bill, Lou, and Tom.





4: DAILY, Site ATD Boulder, Wed 13-Sep-2006 16:18:00 GMT, training class
Doing some training - system up and down

3: DAILY, Site ATD Boulder, Mon 11-Sep-2006 22:04:57 GMT, ISS3 Tests for Metcrax in FL compound
ISS3 Tests in FL compound for Metcrax

Profiler directions (corrected 9/11/06 22UT - previously about 180 deg out)
x37 direction pointed verly close to north

IR sensor plots look a little more variable than they should be,
could be as a result of placement on front of container.

2: SOUNDING, Site UMBS, Tue 27-Jun-2000 13:01:25 GMT, Sounding Launch Log Template
=====================
CLASS LAUNCH LOG						 version:951116
=====================
=========>> Enter data after all colons (:)  <<===========

1. Clone the original sounding log file.
2. Enter information before launch.
3. Enter post-termination data.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Use arrows to navigate, NO CARRIAGE RET, except in comments + wx descriptions!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SITE INFO
---------        

Site Name: 
date yymmdd: 
launch time UTC: 
Sonde coef tape #:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MET INFO
--------        For Sonde
Pressure mb	: 
Temp C		: 
RH %		: 

		For Surface Data
Pressure mb	: 
Temp C		: 
RH%		: 
Wind Spd m/s	: 
Wind Dir deg	: 

Pre-Launch		Note conditions not observable by automatic systems
Weather Description	( visibility, sea state, cloud coverage and cloud type, 
		          rain, virga, etc. )


------------------------------------------------------------------------------
POST TERMINATION
----------------

Termination Pressure mb	: 
Termination Altitude km	: 
Reason for Termination	: 

Post-Termination Weather Description: 

For Surface Data
		Pressure mb	: 
     		Temp C		: 
		RH %		: 
		Wspd m/s 	: 
		Wdir deg	: 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COMMENTS (data quality, unusual meteorolical features, launch problems, etc.)
--------




















1: LOG, Site none, Tue 11-Apr-2000 15:53:29 GMT, Logbook created
initial log file /iss/home/iss/tklog.log created by USER iss