DOE/SC-ARM-TR-206 Tethered Balloon System (TBS) Instrument Handbook D Dexheimer January 2018 DISCLAIMER This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by the U.S. Government. Neither the United States nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the U.S. Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the U.S. Government or any agency thereof. DOE/SC-ARM-TR-206 Tethered Balloon System (TBS) Instrument Handbook D Dexheimer, Sandia National Laboratories January 2018 Work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research D Dexheimer et al., January 2018, DOE/SC-ARM-TR-206 Acronyms and Abbreviations AGL above ground level AMF ARM Mobile Facility AOS aerosol observing system ARM Atmospheric Radiation Measurement COTS commercial, off-the-shelf CPC condensation particle counter CTAF common traffic advisory frequency DOE U.S. Department of Energy DQR Data Quality Report DTS Distributed Temperature Sensing GPS Global Positioning System ID identification LWS leaf wetness sensor MSL mean sea level NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOTAM Notice to Airmen POPS printed optical particle spectrometer QC quality control SLWC supercooled liquid water content sonde TBS Tethered Balloon System iii D Dexheimer et al., January 2018, DOE/SC-ARM-TR-206 Contents Acronyms and Abbreviations ...................................................................................................................... iii 1.0 General Overview ................................................................................................................................. 1 2.0 Mentor Contact Information ................................................................................................................. 1 3.0 Vendor Contact Information ................................................................................................................. 1 3.1 Balloons and Winches .................................................................................................................. 1 3.1.1 Winch and Tether .............................................................................................................. 3 3.2 Radiosondes ................................................................................................................................. 5 3.3 Tethersondes and Supercooled Liquid Water Content Sondes .................................................... 8 3.4 Leaf Wetness Sensors................................................................................................................. 11 3.5 Distributed Temperature Sensing System .................................................................................. 12 3.6 Printed Optical Particle Spectrometer ........................................................................................ 13 3.7 Condensation Particle Counter ................................................................................................... 14 3.8 TBS Ground Station ................................................................................................................... 15 4.0 Instrument Description ....................................................................................................................... 16 5.0 Measurements Taken .......................................................................................................................... 18 5.1 User Notes and Known Problems .............................................................................................. 19 6.0 Links to Definitions and Relevant Information .................................................................................. 20 6.1 Data Object Description ............................................................................................................. 20 6.1.1 Tethersondes.................................................................................................................... 20 6.1.2 TBS Ground Station ........................................................................................................ 20 6.2 Data Quality ............................................................................................................................... 21 6.2.1 Tethersondes.................................................................................................................... 21 6.2.2 TBS Ground Station ........................................................................................................ 23 7.0 Technical Specifications of TBS Distributed Temperature Sensing System...................................... 25 7.1 Units ........................................................................................................................................... 25 7.2 Range .......................................................................................................................................... 25 7.3 Resolution .................................................................................................................................. 25 8.0 Instrument System Functional Diagram ............................................................................................. 25 9.0 Instrument Measurement Theory ........................................................................................................ 26 10.0 Software .............................................................................................................................................. 27 11.0 Calibration .......................................................................................................................................... 27 12.0 Maintenance........................................................................................................................................ 29 13.0 Safety .................................................................................................................................................. 29 14.0 Citable References .............................................................................................................................. 31 iv D Dexheimer et al., January 2018, DOE/SC-ARM-TR-206 Figures 1 Helikite. .................................................................................................................................................. 2 2 Aerostat. ................................................................................................................................................. 2 3 Meteorological balloons filled with less than 3.25 m3 of helium. .......................................................... 3 4 Electric winch trailer. ............................................................................................................................. 4 5 Hydraulic winch trailer. .......................................................................................................................... 4 6 My-te winches and helikite at Utqiagvik, Alaska. .................................................................................. 4 7 Autoreeler at Oliktok Point, Alaska. ...................................................................................................... 5 8 iMet-1-RSB radiosonde in custom housing on TBS. ............................................................................. 6 9 iMet-XQ used on TBS. ........................................................................................................................... 7 10 RS92 radiosonde used on TBS. .............................................................................................................. 8 11 Anasphere tethersonde and SLWC on TBS. ........................................................................................ 10 12 Anasphere SLWC sonde on TBS tether. .............................................................................................. 10 13 Manufacturer’s description and photograph of the SLWC................................................................... 11 14 Campbell Scientific Leaf Wetness Sensor deployed on TBS. .............................................................. 12 15 Sensornet Oryx+ DTS-XR used on TBS. ............................................................................................. 13 16 Silixa XT DTS used on TBS. ............................................................................................................... 13 17 Exterior and interior of Pops used on TBS. .......................................................................................... 14 18 HNP45C and IceFree3 on TBS ground station. ................................................................................... 16 19 Aerostat preparing to launch at AMF3, Oliktok, Alaska. ..................................................................... 17 20 Helikite preparing to launch at AMF3, Oliktok, Alaska. 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