Weather Monitoring - Natural Habitat RestorationProject Overview
Located near Ball State University in Muncie Indiana, the Cooper Farm is a diverse land area comprised of two properties: the Cooper Woodland Area and Cooper Natural Area. Within the farm, distinct micro-environments comprise a rich diversity reflecting various natural habitats found in east-central Indiana. The Cooper Farm offers students at Ball State an excellent outdoor laboratory for hands-on environmental education.
Within the 88 acre farm, a major effort is underway to more actively restore natural communities in some areas of this site, including wetlands, prairie and forest. Conversely, other areas will be left to develop without active restoration to provide opportunities for studying the succession process. Researchers hope to establish baseline environmental data at various locations within the farm so that they can better understand these processes.
NexSens Technology was contacted to assist in designing and implementing permanent monitoring stations for the biotic and abiotic components of the Cooper Field Area ecosystems.
System Description
Ball State University researchers selected radio telemetry as the most effective telemetry option for their monitoring network. Each of the five field site locations transmit data via license-free radio waves to the 4100-BASE radio base station, which is connected to a PC at a nearby farmhouse.
Project members selected an optimal location on the farm to simultaneously monitor multiple weather and soil parameters. Atop a 2" deployment pole, a Vaisala WXT510 Multi-Parameter weather sensor simultaneously monitors wind speed and direction, liquid precipitation, barometric pressure, temperature, and relative humidity.
Buried within the ground, Stevens Hydra Soil Moisture sensors simultaneously measure soil moisture, salinity, and temperature by measuring the electrical response of the soil. Researchers also setup a water evaporation monitoring system consisting of an evaporation pan and OTT Thalimedes shaft encoder. NexSens iChart software automatically calculates water evaporation based on changes in the water level.
At four stream and wetland sites throughout the farm, YSI 6920 V2-1 Multi-Parameter water quality sondes collect water quality data. Each sonde simultaneously measures temperature, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, pH, ORP and turbidity data at user-specified intervals. NexSens 4100-iSIC data loggers collect the instruments' water quality data, sending it at hourly intervals to the base station.
NexSens iChart Software and WQData Web Datacenter post real-time environmental data to the web, providing open access to students and researchers alike. These water quality and weather monitoring sites will enhance opportunities for both education and scholarly research by students and faculty at Ball State University. | NexSens 1001 | iChart software | NexSens WQData-6 | Annual data hosting package for up to 6 field sites, additional site expansion available | NexSens 4100-BASE | Spread spectrum radio base station | NexSens A41 | Omni antenna, radio frequency, 890-970 MHz | NexSens A31 | RF cable, low-loss, 10' | NexSens 4100-iSIC | iSIC data logger with spread spectrum radio telemetry | NexSens A55 | Pole/wall mounting kit | NexSens A38 | Ground kit | NexSens A22 | Solar power kit, 20-watt | NexSens A46 | Yagi antenna, radio frequency, 866-960 MHz | NexSens A36 | RF cable, micro-loss, 6' | YSI 6920-40 | YSI 6920 V2-1 Sonde with temperature/conductivity sensor | YSI 6565 | pH/ORP sensor | YSI 6562 | Dissolved oxygen sensor, polarographic, rapid-pulse | YSI 6136 | Turbidity sensor with self-cleaning wiper | Vaisala WXT510AAA0AA00B0 | Multi-parameter weather sensor, SDI-12 | Stevens 93640 | Hydra Probe II soil moisture, temperature, & salinity sensor, SDI-12 interface, 25' cable | OTT 55.430.001.3.2 | Shaft encoder & data logger | OTT 27.001.071.3.5 | Float, 80mm dia. | OTT 27.050.013.4.2 | Counterweight, 0.1 kg | OTT 27.150.040.9.2 | Float cable, 1.0mm dia., 10m length |
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