Catalina Island

RAD-Met

The RAD-Met is located on a grassy slope near the top of a ridge north of the field station near the water treatment facility and adjacent to an existing ROHN tower.

• AC power is provided by an outlet ( photo ) in a box on the adjacent ROHN tower ( photo ). Neoprene jacketed cable runs between the enclosure and the ROHN tower through flexible conduit ( photo ). The cable goes through a large hole in the bottom of the box on the tower which has been plugged with a stainless steel scouring pad ( photo ).
• The site is close to the ocean and high levels of corrosion can be expected so materials used should be selected with this in mind. All mechanical parts should be fabricated with 316 or 304 stainless steel as allowable.
• The RAD-Met enclosure is made of 316SS. It attached to two 1 ½ in. sch 40 galvanized pipes with unistrut ( photo ). The pipes have concrete footings.
• The MRR is mounted on METEK's aluminum tripod and staked to the ground ( photo ). The MRR heater is not in use as this site does not see freezing temperatures. The MRR data/power cable runs through rigid non-metallic electrical conduit buried beneath the ground ( photo ). The conduit terminates at the MRR with a junction box. The cable exits the junction box through a cable gland ( photo ). The disdrometer housing is grounded with 6 gauge stranded copper wire ( photo ).
• The disdrometer is mounted on a single 2 in. sch 40 6061-T6 aluminum pipe with a concrete footing ( photo ). Two 8 in. pieces of rebar were inserted perpendicular to the pipe below ground level before concrete was added to the footing. The data/power cable runs through rigid non-metallic electrical conduit buried below the ground ( photo ).  The conduit terminates at a junction box at the base of the pipe. The cable exits the top of the junction box through a cable gland and continues up to the disdrometer through split loom ( photo ). The disdrometer housing is grounded with 6 gauge stranded copper wire ( photo ).
• The cell antenna is attached to the top of one of the poles and 900 MHz RF antenna is attached to the other. The GPS antenna is mounted to the top of a piece of unistrut between the two other antennas ( photo ).

SurfaceMet

• The Campbell Scientific SurfaceMet is mounted on a stainless steel tripod down slope from the RAD-Met ( photo ).
• The tipping bucket is mounted on an 1 ½ in galvanized steel pipe with concrete footing ( photo ). The cable between the tipping bucket and the SurfaceMet runs through flexible aluminum conduit and is buried beneath the ground.
• Data is telemetered to RAD-Met using 900 MHz radio modems.