Today we went out to the study site and went through our regular routine of digging up Smiley Plots and taking measurements from the markers at the experimental sites. It was a beautiful calm and sunny day so working outside was a real treat!
Elizabeth takes data from the HOBO weather station every two weeks.
This is the control panel for the HOBO. The data can be retrieved from here and the unit can be monitored.
We also retrieved the weather data from the HOBO Weather Station. HOBO is the name the company gave this unit when it was designed. Elizabeth has been collecting this data about every two weeks. It is this weather data that lets us know a lot about what has been going on in the area, and also gives us some important numbers that we can use to calculate the total amount of CO2 moving through the system. The station monitors the weather all year round and gives us a set of data every two minutes.
These are the instruments that measure the wind speed and direction.
The HOBO gives us wind speed in meters per second. It also measures the wind gusts, so we can know what the maximums are. Along with speed it give us information on wind direction. We use this data to position the snow fences so that we can maximize their affect on the wind. Of course we get air temperature readings all year. We also get relative humidity readings in percentages. This tells us how much moisture is in the air. The station also takes measurements on the air pressure, which goes into calculating the amount of CO2.
This is where the instruments that measure humidity and pressure are housed.
The last bit of information that the HOBO gives us is something called PAR. This stands for the Photosynthetical Active Radiation. This measures the amount of light that is coming from the sun and is used by organisms in photosynthesis. The range of this light goes from 400 to 700 nanometers in the visible spectrum. We use this measurement to figure out how much activity the plants are having on any given day.
This is the sensor that measures the PAR or the amount of sunlight that is used by the plants in photosynthesis.
This is a typical graph of all of the data from one sampling of the HOBO.
All of this data helps us build a more complete picture of what is happening on the tundra throughout the year. We have sensors in the ground that measure temperature and moisture and we can see how this all relates to what is going on in the atmosphere. When we come to our results and conclusions, this data goes into finding out what the carbon dioxide is doing.