Meteorological Observations Trailer Online Lab Book and Field Notes

Latest information is given at the top. Times and dates are UTC.

2024/03/16 10:54 UTC \ David Delene: Could not connect vi Anydesk to Raspberry Pi. Connected to Brick-PC and SSH to Raspberry Pi, started the WXT536 software running in shell.

2024/03/07 13:15 UTC \ David Delene: The power on the UPS for the Deeplens had to be turned on. Deeplens1 came back up.

2024/02/10 15:18 UTC \ David Delene: Turn on the UPS connected to both of the Deeplens cameras. Deeplens2 will not turn on. Need to check if another power supply will fix Deeplens2 problem.

2024/02/10 14:18 UTC \ David Delene: Replaced a battery in the CyberPower 1350VA UPS attached to equipment in the MetTrailer. The UPS turned off and would not pass self-test. With new battery, UPS passed self test. UPS has a 2024/02/10 and 2020 battery in it.

2024/01/21 19:00 UTC \ David Delene: Replaced and moved the network coupler to withing the Power distribution box, which fixed the Wifi bridge issues that was causing the MetTrailer not to have internet connection.

2024/01/05 00:00 UTC
David Delene: Replace the Deeplens camera UPS with a different UPS that has new batteries. Added UPS to the small portable MetTrailer heater.

2023/12/27 22:00 UTC
David Delene: Replaced one of the batteries in the CyberPower 1350 VA UPS. Would not past self-test before replacing battery.

2023/12/20 15:00 UTC
David Delene: Installed the Imet XQ2 at the 4 m height, serial number 6113. Overnight instrument was outside but not mounted.

2023/12/15 16:00 UTC
David Delene: Have the network working again. The Cradlepoint bridge was not connecting to the wifi and the Cell has been deactivated so no network access for any systems on the MetTrailer. Change the Cradlepoint bridge to connect the the wifi instead of using the network cable, which tested good but seem to not always work.

2022/07/15 12:00 UTC
David Delene: Marwa report that Deeplens (192.168.1.106) when offline. I checked on the camera had all three lights blue on the front. Rebooted system but no images online. Logged into MetTrailer-Brick computer and could connect to the system via Putty. There are problems with ssh on Aircraft that is in the process of being addressed.

2022/05/13 15:40 UTC
David Delene: Shutdown MetTrailer instrument to enable removal from the Fargo, North Dakota airport.

2022/04/20 15:00 UTC
Michael Willette: Deeplens camera (west) required some recentering and cleaning. CCNC continuing to malfunction, baudrate is now switched from 9600 to 38400 with continued data stream dropouts.

2022/04/19 17:00 UTC
Michael Willette: After a reboot, CCNC back online. Another crash and reboot occurred shortly thereafter. Underlying issue unknown. GillSonic malfunctioning again, requiring a unplug/replug of its USB cord to Raspberry Pi. Deeplens Camera (west) back online. Issue likely a crontab startup error.

2022/04/15 21:00 UTC
Michael Willette: CCNC down once again. Unable to fix due to easter holiday weekend. Ryan R. will take a look next Tuesday.

2022/04/12 17:00 UTC
Michael Willette: West deeplens camera remains malfunctioning. Ryan R. waiting for cord to take a further look at camera. Mini Fan put on AllSky Bric computer as it was running hot and likely overheating.

2022/04/11 17:30 UTC
Michael Willette: After resetting the malfunctioning deeplens cameras, one of them (North) is working while the other (west) is not working. Ryan R. will bring camera into WMI lab to do some further maintenance. Temperature inside is running around 76F. Turning on just black space heater to heat the trailer. Set to 60F.

2022/04/08 12:00 UTC
Michael Willete: CCNC not reporting data. CCNC computer showing blue screens of errors. Ryan R. rebooted machine and refilled CCNC distilled water, CCNC back up and running.

2022/04/08 09:21 UTC
David Delene: Rebooted the station's Raspberry Pi since no data on Grafana. Data feed started after reboot.

2022/04/06 17:00 UTC
Michael Willette: Dropouts in MetTrailer measurements due to power issues at Fargo Jet Center. Periodic outages should continue due to winter storm in the area, likely next couple days. GillSonic required cord to be unplugged and plugged back in before it was brought back online.

2022/03/30 22:00 UTC
Michael Willette: Dropout in AllSkyCamera on the 25th due to bric computer freezing up. Ryan R. hard rebooted the computer. Camera is on and images now saving onto computer. Deeplens cameras are also offline, even after an attempted power cycle. Suspected Wi-Fi issues related to the deeplens. CCNC distilled water intake low and was refilled.
Instrumentation errors: Deeplens Cameras

2022/03/18 14:00 UTC
Michael Willette: After a brief dropout in met. trailer data, wind speed measurements on the 3D-PAWS are back offline.
Instrumentation errors: 3D-PAWS (Pres., Irrad., WS.)

2022/03/18 04:51 UTC
Michael Willette: RH and Temperature measurements on the 3D-PAWS are back online, unknown about the cause. Pressure and irradiance still offline.
Instrumentation errors: 3D-PAWS (Pres., Irrad.)

2022/03/17 19:00 UTC
Michael Willette: CHORDS server back online. Issues with both GillSonic and 3D-PAWS coming back online. Ryan R. looked into GillSonic, a broken power wire needed to be soldered. Wires were twisted together and came apart. Upon soldering, GillSonic now back up. 3D-PAWS back online after a power cycle, however only the wind speed and precipitation measurements are recording. Everything else on 3D-PAWS is down.
Instrumentation errors: 3D-PAWS (Temp., RH., Pres., Irrad.)

2022/03/15 18:00 UTC
Michael Willette: Ryan R. grabbed spare unused heater from met. trailer to be delivered to GF. Also filled the distilled water jug and emptied the distilled water drain for the CCNC.

2022/03/11 14:50 UTC
Michael Willette: CHORDS server down affecting Grafana visualizations. CHORDS memory issue. All instruments not uploading to data server.
Instrumentation errors: All

2022/03/02 21:00 UTC
Michael Willette: Emptied CCNC distilled water drain and refilled distilled water intake. Removed CPC from met. trailer for maintenance.
Instrumentation errors: 3D-PAWS(WS, WD, Precip.)
Offline/Removed Instrumentation: CPC

2022/02/16 22:00 UTC
Michael Willette: Adjusted main wall heater to lowest setting. Refilled distilled water fill for the CCNC.
Instrumentation errors: CPC, 3D-PAWS(WS, WD, Precip.)

2022/02/10 12:00 UTC
Michael Willette: Distilled H20 circulating through CCNC after previous pump replacement and shutdown/startup. Normal values reported.
Instrumentation errors: CPC, 3D-PAWS(WS, WD, Precip.)

2022/02/09 15:30 UTC
Michael Willette: Ryan Richter performed dry shutdown of CCNC previous day with a dry startup this morning.
Instrumentation errors: CCNC, CPC, 3D-PAWS(WS, WD, Precip.)

2022/02/09 04:00 UTC
Michael Willette: Dropout in both wind speed and precipitation data of 3D-PAWS a couple hours after reboot. Suspect wiring/power issue that needs more rigorous inspection. Wind direction anomalous constantly reporting 0 degrees.
Instrumentation errors: CCNC, CPC, 3D-PAWS(WS, WD, Precip.)

2022/02/07 18:00 UTC
Michael Willette: All previously malfunctioning instrumentation brought back online, including the 3D-PAWS, GillSonic Anemometer, CPC, and CCNC. IMet sensor unable to be brought back online, taken off met. trailer, and sent back to Grand Forks for analysis. CCNC still not reporting correct data, malfunctioning pump replaced and installed. CPC also not reporting correct data, likely due to a butanol pump issue.
Offline/Removed instrumentation: iMet
Instrumentation errors: CCNC, CPC

2022/01/28 17:00 UTC
Michael Willette: General met. trailer maintenance performed, including: refilling Butanol and Distilled Water fill bottles, installing a new temperature-controlled space heater, and reattaching a loose tube on the CCNC. Tried checking cabling and switching out USB cables for the malfunctioning iMet sensor, still no data.

2021/12/21 21:00 UTC Michael Willette: Delene performing updates and maintenance to CHORDS server as part of efforts to add a second server, causing periodic CHORDS/Grafana downtime over the last couple days. Will likely cause downtime of CHORDS in the near future.

2021/12/13 11:00 UTC David Delene: Temperature setting 5 seems to be good for outside temperature range of -5 F to 35 F.

2021/12/13 11:00 UTC David Delene: Been running new Instrument Play list that seems to have been crashing the CHORDS/Grafana server.

2021/12/08 20:00 UTC Michael Willette: Both GillSonic and iMet instruments down. Likely need power cycling to restart instruments.

2021/12/06 15:00 UTC Michael Willette: Met. trailer internal temperatures quite low. Kurt turned heater up to setting 5 from the default of setting 3. Temperatures increased to more acceptable levels. Power cycled All Sky Camera computer due to data dropout and fixed the issue. CCN counter data now streaming onto CHORDS/Grafana server. Will have to save and process raw images for any case study analysis.

2021/11/19 20:00 UTC Michael Willette: Traveled to Fargo Jet Center for general met. trailer maintenance and subsequent meeting with WMI. Cycled power to malfunctioning 3D-PAWS and is now operational. Refilled empty butanol and distilled water jugs for CPC and CCNC. Tested and successfully read CPC and CCNC data. WindSonic still displays unknown output. MiniOFS now down, likely related to wiring issue during maintenance.

2021/11/12 12:40 UTC David Delene: The CS125 instrument stopped at 2021-11-12 03:23:02. Program not getting in more data. Reset program; however, no data.

2021/11/08 06:00 UTC Michael Willette: Added functionality for all data acquisition programs to run upon reboot/power-cycle of the raspberry pi. Only exception remains the AD2CHORDS script.

2021/11/04 12:00 UTC Michael Willette: 3D-PAWS remains down. Likely some power/wiring issue. Will need to travel to met. trailer location to remedy.

2021/11/03 00:00 - 14:12 UTC Michael Willette: 4m, 6m, 12m instruments not uploading to CHORDS. Upon looking at raspberry pi, AD2CHORDS was still running and recording data. Unknown issue uploading data to CHORDS/Grafana. Stopped and restarted AD2CHORDS, instruments now uploading to server.

2021/10/22 23:00:00 UTC Michael Willette: Instrumentation went down but upon remote logging to raspberry pi, programs were still running (but giving errors), indicating we had a network outage. Instruments back up shortly after investigation with total downtime around 1 hour.

2021/10/19: 19:30 UTC Michael Willette: Created bash script to restart all instrumentation and subsequent terminals at once, rather than individually pull up each terminal and run each python program. Works for 6 of the 7 instruments/python scripts. AD2CHORDS.py script displays output differently to the rest, need some tweaking of its code to work with bash script. Individuals involved: Michael Willette

2021/10/19: 18:30 UTC Michael Willette: Instrumentation down due to morning power work at MetTrailer. In the process of getting exposed power strips and connections off the ground, power to the cameras went out. Due to additional bumping and cord adjustments, power to instrumentation went out. Total instrument downtime around an hour. Individuals involved: Kurt Hibert and Coworker

2021/10/15: 14:30:00 UTC Michael Willette: Deployed to the Fargo Jet Center (46 55' 48.43 N, 96 48' 39.80' W) to support NSF RAPID grant. Located on the north side of the Jet Center building, west of adjacent parking lot power hookups. All systems deemed operational and instruments uploading to CHORDS/Grafana. Individuals involved: Dave Delene, Kurt Hibert, Michael Willette

2021/10/13 14:00:00 UTC Michael Willette: Prepared for MetTrailer transfer to Fargo Jet Center during the day. Upon finishing preparations, tail lights/turn signals on MmeTrailer were not working. With moderate rainfall at the time, decided to delay departure until the tail lights were fixed, likely on Friday (2021/10/15). Individuals involved: Dave Delene, Michael Willette, Nicholas Camp

2021/10/08 21:00:00 UTC Michael Willette: Completed various Met. Trailer preparations for impending departure to Fargo Jet Center next Wednesday (2021/10/13). Drilled a new hole within the side of trailer for additional external instrument cords to pass through. Calibrated the CS125 visibility sensor. Attached a Met. Trailer sign/logo to the front door. Began construction of a ground-based instrumentation tripod for use adjacent to the trailer. Individuals involved: Dave Delene, Michael Willette, Joseph Gufford

2021/10/04 16:25:00 UTC Michael Willette: Met Trailer instruments (minus 3d Paws) all went down. Unable to read any of the USB ports. Rebooted system and instrumentation able to be read through USB again. Restarted python scripts and dataflow to Grafana/CHORDS.

2021/09/16 00:00:00 UTC Michael Willette: Fixed an issue with the IMet displaying erroneous data on Grafana. Two versions of same code were uploading two different IMet Temp./Humidity sensors to the single IMet instrument on CHORDS/Grafana. Stopped the python code running in CH423 and modified to prevent issue from happening.

2021/08/23 23:00:00 UTC David Delene: Added all sky camera and turned mask up, only one extension up for the 12 mask.

2021/06/20 14:48:00 UTC David Delene: Cleaned window and put rain shade on Deeplens2/3. Clean rain gauge funnel and restarted Raspberry Pi to start getting rain gauge data. Light rain but no measurement yet.

2021/06/14 13:30:00 UTC David Delene: Wind Sonic data stopped. Time out error on upload to CHORDS. Added try protection to code and restarted.

2021/06/07 00:07:00 David Delene: The UPS cyber power fail for the second time, with no indication of why via the lights on the USB. Will check the UBS often to see if we can catch the problem before battery dies, assuming it goes on better. Will obtain and install another UPS in the MetTrailer.

2021/04/12 13:28:00 David Delene: Put out second sign, distances are 57 ft and 93 ft.

2021/04/04 22:00:00 David Delene: Added new rain funnel, wind speed sensor, change direction setup, added Deeplens systems.

2021/04/04 02:00:00 David Delene: Started measurement at Delene's Home site (47.864203N, -96.935236W, 258.0 m)

2021/04/01 20:00:00 David Delene: Packed up trailer and moved back to Grand Forks.

2021/03/27 22:00:00 David Delene: Kurt Hibert filled the CCN counter jars. There was 100 ml left in the fill jar.

2021/03/16 22:00:00 David Delene: During afternoon visit to ICE. Added a second Deeplens below the first Deeplens. Added light to closer sign. Move first sign to 90 ft and second sign to 180 ft. Adjusted main heater to setting of 1.

2021/03/16 11:00:00 David Delene: During afternoon visit to ICE. We added a new temperature/humidity sensor, which seems to have a better high relative humidity measurement, does not go above 100% like the 3D-PAWS goes, which climbs to 103 %. The new temperature/humidity measurement is available on the Visibility (CS125) dashboard. We also adjusted the height of the Deeplens signs and added new lighting system (light above sign and turn off light on MetTrailer. This provides better fog measurements using the camera. Turn wall heater in trailer back on and set to level 2.

2021/03/04 23:00:00 David Delene: During afternoon visit to ICE. Connect up CPC and CCN counter. Changed the Web camera to use a different USB port, which resulted in better images but some green images on animation, maybe could try go directly to computer instead of USB hub. Got the Ku link to sync, gave valid Wifi on Cradlepoint web site. Left Gopro camera with on UAS. Put rain gauge on 3D-PAWS.

2021/03/04 13:27:28 David Delene: Overnight trailer temperatures good at between 65-70 F. Overnight the visibility only decreased to 30 km (18 mi). The overnight low temperature was -1.5 C. Relativity humidity high was 92 %. Wind speed decreased to 1.5 m/s. The RAMSDIS indicated fog stayed to the south and west, but is forecasting fog for Friday morning. Issues - Deeplens time should be changed from local time to UTC. The 3D-PAWS wind speed not working, but have the Sonic, 3D-PAWS having issues yesterday on reboot so plan not to address at this point.

2021/03/04 8:32:00 David Delene: “No Go” for operation for this morning. No indication of fog at field site. Looks like fog will stay away from site this morning.

2021/03/03 19:00:00 Michael Willette: Returned to ICE during afternoon. Calibrated wind sonic anemometer to correctly indicate wind direction. Updated code for the visibility sensor to prevent complete shutdown of data when there is network/wifi issues. Cleaned web cameras, though one is still whitewashed. Tested burning hygroscopic and small AgI flares using the pully system. Added modifications to pully system to prevent flares burning too close to the tower. Ran into issues restarting raspberry pie, not uploading complete desktop with no mouse/keyboard functionality. Eventually worked after 15(ish) times of restarting.

2021/03/01 18:30:00 David Delene: The Met Trailer was deployed to Ice Crystal Engineering for spring fog operations. The location is Latitude 47.678247, Longitude -97.00965, and Elevation 185.0 m.

2020/12/30 14:36:14 David Delene: The trailer has been located at the Delene's home since start of operations this fall. The location is Latitude 47.864203,Longitude -96.935236, and Elevation 258.0 m.

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