Potter Valley Central

The RAD-Met is located in a field south of the Potter Valley Fire Department (PVFD). The school districts maintenance yard is located to the south of the field. The station is installed on soft soil with grass ground cover.  During the summer the PVFD periodically mows the grass around the station to reduce fire fuels. The adjacent open area is used by PVFD for a Memorial Day picnic.

• Power is run with an extension cord from an outlet mounted on a post on the SW corner of the shade cover noted as 10521 in the photo above ( photo ). The cord is run through flexible conduit and buried a few inches below the surface ( photo ). A deeper buried conduit run would be preferable and was discussed with PVFD when the system was installed but has not been implemented.
• The RAD-Met enclosure is made of painted steel.  It is mounted on a unistrut stand that is sitting on the ground. The enclosure is covered by a wood box to minimize solar heat gain ( photo ). The box is designed to cover all four sides of the enclosure and must be lifted off over the RF antenna to access the enclosure.  The enclosure is oriented so that the door opens away from the prevailing wind direction. A thermostatically controlled fan was installed on the side of the enclosure in summer 2019 ( photo ).
• The MRR is mounted on METEK's aluminum tripod designed for the sensor and staked to the ground ( photo ). The dish heater is not connected ( photo ).
• The disdrometer is mounted on a galvanized steel stand ( photo ) that is mounted on a flat triangle of unistrut with a 25 lb barbell attached to each corner of the triangle.. The power supply for the disdrometer is mounted in a stainless steel enclosure attached to the disdrometer stand with AC power to the power supply running from the RAD-Met enclosure. Two disdrometers were originally installed at this location ( photo ); only one is currently installed.
• A Pluvio weighing rain gauge is installed at this site ( photo ).
• The GPS is installed on one leg of the SurfaceMet tripod ( photo 1 , photo 2 ).  The GPS antenna is installed on a tripod cross arm ( photo ).
• All cables between the RAD-Met and the sensors are covered with split loom ( photo ).