Category Archives: Rainfall
HydroLynx 5050P – Maintenance
Stevens Shark – Download Data
- Turn on Bluetooth capability (procedure will vary by laptop)
- Click on appropriate site from list
- If site does not automatically connect, use the password 1610
- Open WinComLog
- Select correct COM port
- Follow standard directions for downloading data from the ML1 here
Standard Rainfall Gauge – Maintenance
- Remove funnel from top of can and clean all dirt and debris
- Locate measuring mark on side of can; if no mark present, use the seam of the can
- Measure distance to oil surface from rim of can
- Record distance in yellow field book and subtract from previous visit to determine depth of rainfall
- If oil cap has turned white/milky:
- Pump material into “ook” container
- Add 1” of oil to can
- Measure new distance to water surface and record value in yellow field book
- Replace funnel on top of cap
Hydrological Services TB3 – Maintenance
This is the tipping rainfall bucket used at most rain gauge sites. Field maintenance is often performed concomitantly with data downloads, so please refer to this when servicing TB3 units.
Cleaning
- Loosen three screws at bottom of TB3 and remove circular enclosure
- Clean funnel and enclosure using paintbrush and/or damp rag
- Turn enclosure over an unscrew syphon
- Apply grease to syphon O-ring, if necessary
- Remove and clean filter screen
- Reassemble filter screen and syphon, hand-tighten back on to enclosure
- Remove debris and clean bucket assembly
- Verify base is level by utilizing bullseye levels
- Reattach enclosure and tighten 3 screws at bottom of TB3
Annual Maintenance
To decrease the likelihood of lost data, the 3.6V battery in ML1s must be changed each year during annual maintenance runs. Also, rain gages must be calibrated each year.
Dynamic Test
Prior to this dynamic test, disconnect TB3 from the terminal block (preferred) or from the transmitter. After the test is complete, make sure to reattach TB3 and confirm tips via website.
- Download data and clear ML1
- Place funnel back on top of TB3
- Set tripod on top of funnel
- Fill calibration cylinder until meniscus forms on top
- Screw on 100 mL nozzle taking care not to spill water
- Set on tripod, open valve and wait for water to drain out of bottle
- Target is 82 tips, but a range of 78-86 (5%) is acceptable
- Download data into calibration file and clear ML1 again
- If number of tips is out of range, perform static calibration below
Static Calibration
- Fill syringe with 10 mL of water
- Slowly add water to bucket on one side of TB3
- When bucket tips, record volume expelled from syringe
- Target is 6.8 mL, but a range of 6.46 – 7.14 mL (5%) is acceptable
- Repeat calibration on other side
- Use set screws underneath each bucket to increase or decrease the amount of water needed to tip the bucket
- Once calibrated, perform dynamic test (above) again
Hydrological Services ML-1 – Transfer Data
Rainfall data downloaded from equipment in the field should ideally be transferred immediately from temporary media (e.g., USB key) to a folder on the laptop, and should be stored in the SiteMonthDayYear format (e.g., 066e072015).
Rainfall data downloaded via Bluetooth will not have site visit start/stop bucket tips to demarcate beginning and ending of data blocks, so those will have to be created for each site visit.
Data Downloaded via Cable
- Locate appropriate file on laptop and transfer to network drive (e.g., Q:\RAINSTNS\TL\199.15)
- Open Hydstra Explorer (HYEXPLORE) and select from the menu tree: Programs by Function > Hydstra/TS – Time Series > Hydstra Data Management > HYDMWB – Data Managers Workbench
- Press the Open folder icon or select File > Open
- In the Open Time Series Site dialog box that opens, enter the site number in general format (e.g., 199) in the Site Specifier field and press the Lookup Site button
- Select the specific site (e.g., 199A) that appears in the dialog box and then press OK
- In the Open Time Series Sites dialog box confirm that the proper site is shown, then press OK
- Single-click the site icon that has an A at the end (e.g., 199A A) and select File > Copy
- Select B as the New DataSource in the dialog box and then press OK; a new file icon is placed on the workbench (e.g., 199A B)
- Select File > Import Data and navigate to appropriate file on the network drive, as described in step 1, and then press Open
- Press Finish and close the event log that appears in HYEXPOLRE; a new file icon is placed on the workbench (e.g., 199A C) in HYDMWB
- Drag the C file to the B file and release
- In the Merge Files dialog box, select the Resolve Overlaps: Split blocks if necessary, preserving C File data radio button, verify the Delete Source box is checked and press OK
- Double-click the B file to open the work file
- In the dialog box that opens, double-click the row 11.00 Rainfall (inches) – High-Resolution
- To fill the data gap between previous visits, highlight most recent block and the one above it, then press Fill Gaps
- In the Fill Gaps dialog box, select the Extend Backwards radio button and select 2 Good quality edited data from the Inserted Quality dropdown and press OK (the beginning date of the most recent block should be adjusted backwards)
- Press the Text tab to view data in the newly modified block
- Select one or more records with Qual values of 151 and press the Quality edit button
- In the Quality Edit dialog box that opens select 2 Good quality edited data from the New Quality dropdown and press OK
- The last record in the block should have a Qual of 1, which indicates the bucket tip at the start of your field visit, as described here
- Select this last record and press the Data edit button
- In the Edit Data Point dialog box that opens, change the Value to 0.00 and the Quality to 2 Good quality edited data, the press OK
- Press Yes in the warning dialog box that opens
- Record the rainfall total in the yellow field book
- Select File > Close or press the X in the top right corner of the High-Resolution dialog box
- In the HYDMWB dialog box that opens, press Yes to save the file
- Select File > Close or press the X in the top right corner of the Work File dialog box
- Drag the B file to the A file and release
- In the Merge Files dialog box that opens, select the Merge (preserve B File data if duplicates) radio button, verify the Delete Source box is checked and press OK
- Close the event log that appears in HYEXPOLRE
- In the Hydstra Data Manager’s Workbench, verify that one of the site icons is highlighted and select File > Close Site
Data Downloaded via Bluetooth
- Follow steps 1-14, as described above
- Note that there are no bucket tips to indicate the beginning or end of the current or previous site visits, only the tips generated by rainfall between visits
- To create a block of data with appropriate starting and ending times, select the current block, then select Blocks > Add New Point
- In the Edit Data Point dialog box, enter a Time (ending in :00 seconds) that matches the ending time and date of the previous block, enter a Value of 0.000 and select 2 Good quality edited data from the Quality dropdown, then press OK
- Repeat step 4 for the end of the current block, consistent with the end of your remote “site visit”
- Your new block of data should now stretch from the end of the previous site visit to the end of the current site visit (which will be used as the starting point for the next block of data for the subsequent site visit)
- Press the Text tab to view data in the newly modified block
- Select one or more records with Qual values of 151 and press the Quality edit button
- In the Quality Edit dialog box that opens select 2 Good quality edited data from the New Quality dropdown and press OK
- The last record in the block should have a Qual of 1, which indicates the bucket tip at the start of your field visit, as described here
- Select this last record and press the Data edit button
- In the Edit Data Point dialog box that opens, change the Value to 0.000 and the Quality to 2 Good quality edited data, the press OK
- Press Yes in the warning dialog box that opens
- Record the rainfall total in the yellow field book
- Select File > Close or press the X in the top right corner of the High-Resolution dialog box
- In the HYDMWB dialog box that opens, press Yes to save the file
- Select File > Close or press the X in the top right corner of the Work File dialog box
- Drag the B file to the A file and release
- In the Merge Files dialog box that opens, select the Merge (preserve B File data if duplicates) radio button, verify the Delete Source box is checked and press OK
- Close the event log that appears in HYEXPOLRE
- In the Hydstra Data Manager’s Workbench, verify that one of the site icons is highlighted and select File > Close Site
Hydrological Services ML1 – Download Data
ML1 data loggers are attached to TB3 tipping rainfall buckets at most sites. Please refer to this for further details on maintenance of TB3 units while downloading data from ML1s.
- Remove three screws from bottom of TB3 and remove circular enclosure
- Remove black cap from ML1 and connect to laptop via RS232 serial cable
- Open WinComLog
- Select appropriate COM port and baud rate (usually, this is COM1 at 9600 for hardwired connection, but will be different if connecting to ML1 via Bluetooth (see this)
- Once connection is made, press Status to display parameters
- Make note of time and date if different from that on laptop
- Tip rainfall bucket to verify connection and to establish beginning of site visit, Time/Date/Value are displayed
- To download data, press Start Capture and then CSV-1
- Navigate to data folder on field laptop and enter name in SiteMonthDayYear format (e.g., 194a081715)
- Press Dump Rain, Would you like to plot this data? is displayed, press No
- Once data download is complete, verify file in selected data folder on field laptop
- Return to WinComLog and press Stop Capture
- Enter PASSWD=BOMM to access ML1memory
- To clear data, enter CLR and verify by pressing Status button (rainfall total should be reset)
- If appropriate, set time and date to match that of field laptop using TA function
- Tip rainfall bucket to mark end of site visit
- Perform field maintenance on TB3 as described here