Campbell Scientific, Inc. | 815 W 1800 N | Logan, UT 84321-1784 | 435.227.9000 | 435.227.9001 F | www.campbellsci.com July 2019 RE: Possible University of Alaska Budget Cuts To Whom It May Concern: As a manufacturer of rugged instruments used to monitor weather and infrastructure, it has been Campbell Scientific’s pleasure to supply many customers in Alaska over several decades, especially those working to advance science and technology at the University of Alaska. We recognize that it takes an added measure of expertise and dedication to carry out a given project or measurement campaign under the prevailing field conditions present in Alaska, and this accruing capability is part of the institutional knowledge base in the University of Alaska. Accompanying this letter are some case studies that exemplify that capacity and knowledge base. Campbell Scientific also supplies universities and state agencies in many other states and in many foreign countries, and we recognize the persistent political struggle to balance between available budget resources while meeting the needs and opportunities of research and higher education. We also recognize that the competence and confidence that accrues in the faculty and staff to the benefit of a given institution or state is greatest when institutional funding is not left lurching between feast and famine. For Alaska’s opportunities and challenges with its abundant natural resources and beauty, we hope that there is an active and productive political process of competing alternatives that sharpen the saw, but without removing teeth. We also hope that Campbell Scientific will have many future opportunities to continue our valued business relationship with the University of Alaska and with the great State of Alaska. Sincerely yours, Paul D. Campbell Associate & Chairman
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Campbell Scientific, Inc. | 815 W 1800 N | Logan, UT 84321-1784 | 435.227.9000 | 435.227.9001 F | www.campbellsci.com
July 2019 RE: Possible University of Alaska Budget Cuts To Whom It May Concern: As a manufacturer of rugged instruments used to monitor weather and infrastructure, it has been Campbell Scientific’s pleasure to supply many customers in Alaska over several decades, especially those working to advance science and technology at the University of Alaska. We recognize that it takes an added measure of expertise and dedication to carry out a given project or measurement campaign under the prevailing field conditions present in Alaska, and this accruing capability is part of the institutional knowledge base in the University of Alaska. Accompanying this letter are some case studies that exemplify that capacity and knowledge base. Campbell Scientific also supplies universities and state agencies in many other states and in many foreign countries, and we recognize the persistent political struggle to balance between available budget resources while meeting the needs and opportunities of research and higher education. We also recognize that the competence and confidence that accrues in the faculty and staff to the benefit of a given institution or state is greatest when institutional funding is not left lurching between feast and famine. For Alaska’s opportunities and challenges with its abundant natural resources and beauty, we hope that there is an active and productive political process of competing alternatives that sharpen the saw, but without removing teeth. We also hope that Campbell Scientific will have many future opportunities to continue our valued business relationship with the University of Alaska and with the great State of Alaska. Sincerely yours, Paul D. Campbell Associate & Chairman
CASE STUDY
EC150 used for flux and climate measurements
Case Study Summary
ApplicationMeasuring eddy-covariance fluxes in cold-climate forest
LocationBonanza Creek Experimental Forest (a National Science Foundation Long-Term Ecological Research site in the Alaska interior)
ContributorsEugenie Euskirchen, principal investigator, and Colin Edgar, research technician; University of Alaska Fairbanks
Participating OrganizationsU.S. Geological Survey and the University of Alaska Fairbanks
Measured ParametersDensities of CO2 and H2O, 3D wind speed, sonic temperature, ambient temperature, relative humidity, radiation measurements, soil heat flux, soil temperature, snow depth, equivalent rainfall
EC150 open-path CO2/H2O analyzer with CSAT3A sonic anemometer at a Bonanza Creek site
Scientists and land-use managers have long recognized the importance of forest lands for their role in carbon uptake. Predominantly, research and international policy focus has been on tropical forests and habitats because of their rapid growth characteristics, which also make them susceptible to frequent harvesting. More recently, however, habitats that are able to stably take up and store carbon are being recognized as an important piece of the global carbon picture, and there has been greater research focus on cool-climate landscapes, such as those in boreal regions. With mature forests and temperature limiting the rate of decomposition in these regions, the potential impact of climate change in altering these landscapes has brought an increased effort to more fully understand them.
Researchers from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, with funding support from the US Geological Survey, have instrumented three environmental monitoring sites within the Bonanza Creek Experimental Forest; part of the National Science Foundation’s Long-Term Ecological Research Network. The sites are situated across a chronosequence of permafrost degradation that is representative of key habitats of the terrestrial boreal landscape, habitats that are driven by differences in microclimate. The three sites include a black-spruce stand (which represents an area of stable permafrost with intact black-spruce forest), an active thermokarst site characterized by melting ground ice with underlying permafrost and considerable tree mortality, and a stable, treeless fen site with a deep active-layer depth.
The project goal is to collect continuous year-round measurements of carbon, water, and energy fluxes, as they are the key linkages and feedbacks between the land surface,
the atmosphere, and the oceans of the boreal climate system. To date, relatively few such studies have been undertaken in the arctic due to the harsh environmental conditions and difficult access to remote locations. Continuous monitoring at locations with limited solar power availability in winter and where wind power is not a viable option requires selecting robust sensors with extremely low power requirements, and remote system-diagnostic capabilities.
For the Bonanza Creek sites, Campbell Scientific’s EC150 open-path CO2/H2O analyzer with CSAT3A sonic anemometer and CR3000 datalogger was chosen for eddy-covariance flux measurements because of specific design elements that address many of these concerns. The very low power consumption of the EC150 proved especially beneficial over the winter months when solar power was limited. For these types of northern applications, periodic generator charges are often required during the darkest winter months. The EC150-based systems required only one generator charge throughout the winter, whereas the third site, which had a different CO2/H2O infrared gas analyzer, required three generator charges.
Another advantage of the EC150 that makes it a good choice for cold, remote locations is the self-regulating temperature control of the EC150, which protects the inner parts of the analyzer in extreme cold while maximizing power-use efficiency. The EC150 also allows field-based CO2 zero/span capability using only the datalogger, which allows uninterrupted monitoring, even in very remote locations.
Data collected from the Bonanza Creek sites includes fluxes of atmospheric carbon dioxide, water vapor, surface energy, photosynthetically active radiation, air and soil temperatures, rainfall, snow depth, soil moisture content, wind direction and speed, and average atmospheric concentrations of CO2 and H2O throughout the year. These data sets will help improve models of present carbon fluxes and guide predictions of how these processes are changing as the regional and global climates shift.
To read more case studies, visit the Case Study Library at
Arctic LTER monitors Lake Toolik with PME and Campbell Scientific gear
Case Study Summary
ApplicationMonitoring lake heat content and water column mixing
LocationAlaska, USA
Products UsedCR10X
ContributorsSally MacIntyre, Bridget Benson, J.P. Fram; UC Santa BarbaraChristie Haupert, University of Alaska Toolik Lake Field StationGeorge Kling, University of Michigan Kristen Head, Precision Measurement Engineering, Inc.
Participating OrganizationsArctic Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER)
Measured ParametersWater temperature at various depths
Related Websitewww.icess.ucsb.edu/biogeo/toolik1/toolikRT.html
Sally MacIntyre of the University of California investigating the linkages between hydrodynamics and ecosystem function
Toolik Lake is 130 miles south of Prudhoe Bay in northern Alaska. It is one of the main monitoring sites of the Arctic Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) project and a site for studies led by Sally MacIntyre of the University of California investigating the linkages between hydrodynamics and ecosystem function. Both studies are funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation. It is classified as a dimictic lake, meaning a lake that undergoes two mixing periods—one in the spring and one in the fall. The lake is thermally stratified during the summer since the sun warms the upper layers. A thermocline (a layer with a rapid change in temperature) separates the warm upper layer with the cold deeper layers. The lake is ice-covered in winter.
Toolik Lake is a Global Lakes Ecological Observatory Network (GLEON) site. At present, there are 22 sites worldwide, with new members joining each year. The goal is for all sites to be instrumented with thermistor chains combined with meteorological stations, transmitting data in real time to a central computing facility. Ideally, oxygen will also be measured in real time at these sites.
In an effort to better understand Lake Toolik's mixing dynamics, a T-Chain (vertical series of temperature sensors, from Precision Measurement Engineering, Inc.) was installed in conjunction with a Campbell CR10X datalogger. (The T-Chain can also interface with
our CR1000 and CR800 dataloggers.) The T-Chain and logger collect real-time, continuous temperature data at a series of depths, with an accuracy of plus or minus 0.01 deg C. The real-time data from Toolik Lake during the summer of 2008 can be seen at www.icess.ucsb.edu/biogeo/toolik1/toolikRT.html, and will be updated again when data collection resumes in the summer of 2009.
For several reasons, researchers are interested in monitoring the thermal stratification in Toolik Lake, as well as its mixing dynamics. One reason is that the most dramatic climate change is anticipated in the Arctic region, and temperature data are required to document the changes.
Another reason is that winds create internal waves in stratified lakes. If the winds are strong enough relative to stratification, the internal waves will break and cause nutrients, regenerated in near-bottom waters, to mix vertically. If the quantity of nutrients mixed vertically in the lake is large enough, phytoplankton growth rates will increase. Thermal stratification measurements are essential in order to quantify the productivity of lakes and to predict how the productivity will change over time. The amplitude and shape of internal waves are evident when multi-depth, time-series temperature measurements have been made. Similarly, these measurements allow users to compute the coefficient of eddy diffusivity, a parameter indicative of the amount of turbulence in a lake and critical for computing nutrient flux.
A third reason is that scientists are interested in the mixing dynamics of lakes of different sizes and in different latitudes. Time-series temperature measurements, coupled with measurements of surface meteorology, allow scientists to decipher the different dynamics in lakes in different regions. This knowledge will allow greater prediction of the quality of inland waters under changing climate regimes and with changes in land use.
Researchers are also interested in time-series oxygen measurements paired with temperature measurements. These measurements allow scientists to quantify the metabolism of a lake, that is, how much the phytoplankton and bacteria are growing. Changes in oxygen at different depths are also indicative of remineralization, the process which transforms organic matter to inorganic nutrients. In addition, time-series oxygen and temperature measurements are essential for determining how much of a lake is suitable for the growth and survival of fish. For example, with high loading of nutrients or insufficient mixing, oxygen depletion occurs at depth, causing a loss of habitat suitable for fish. This problem may be exacerbated by a changing climate.
Researchers monitoring the thermal stratification in Toolik Lake
Contracting agencies:Cold Climate Housing Research Center
Dataloggers:CR10X, CR1000
Communication links:RF310 radio network (CR10X), direct IP link through Moxa portserver (CR1000s)
Measured/calculated parameters:Soil profile and foundation temperature, temperatures in concrete foundation components and basement floor test sections (GWS-YSI thermistors), unfrozen volumetric soil-water content (CS616 probes), room temperature (Siemens Building Technologies, Inc.)
Monitoring Permafrost and
Foundations
APPliCAtion At A GlAnCE
Continued on back
W H E N M E A S U R E M E N T S M A T T E R
®CAMPBELL SCIENTIFIC, INC. AP No. 037: Monitoring Permafrost and Foundations
Campbell Scientific and Geo- Watersheds Scientific are research partners with the Cold Climate Housing Research Center (CCHRC). The CCHRC is a nonprofit research and testing organization that promotes healthy, durable, energyefficient, affordable homes, along with building products and designs for cold climates.
Applied science and environmental data generated through cooperation among these organizations is used to help improve living conditions for Alaskans throughout the state. These same advances have potential to improve conditions in other parts of the world as well. Benefits may include better construction techniques, improved use of water resources, and integration of energy resources.
The CCHRC recently completed its new Research and Test Facility (RTF)
Campbell Scientific gear used for cold-regions research
on the campus of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. The facility is built on an area with underlying permafrost at various depths. Permafrost is perennially frozen ground, which presents many foundation and structural design challenges. This is a major area of study at the RTF.
The RTF is instrumented with a variety of monitoring sensors under the building, in the foundations, in flooring systems, and throughout the wall and roof areas. There is also a weather and geotechnical station nearby to help improve the understanding of permafrost, foundations, and thermal control of the subsurface building envelope.
The foundation system was built to allow future leveling in case of degradation of underlying permafrost. Jacking pads under the foundations are used to adjust the concrete beams that support the building walls and lower-level floor system.
Various floor and foundation types were used in the construction of the building so that different temperatureprofile sections could be monitored for thermal analysis
of the building heat flow to underlying permafrost. The CCHRC network consists of ten CR1000 datalogger stations whose input channels are expanded by AM16/32A multiplexers interfacing hundreds of thermistors, dozens of CS616 soil moisture probes, and several other types of sensors.
In addition to studying foundation systems, the CCHRC expends major effort researching building envelopes, hybrid micro-energy systems, water reuse, and green roofs at the RTF. The data collected for these projects will be used for operations, education, and research.
Basement Station(CR1000, 3 multiplexers) • Basement foundation sensors • Center jacking pad/grade beam floor thermal test section • Center floating concrete floor thermal test section • Insulated concrete foundation (ICF)
Wall Thermal Test Section • ICF outer soils thermal and soil moisture test section
• Eastern foundation and permafrost thermal profile test section
South Bay Station(CR1000, 3 multiplexers) • South bay foundation sensors • South bay flooring thermal test section • South bay southern wall thermal test section • Ceiling and green roof thermal test section • Mezzanine window sill thermal and moisture test section • Southwest permafrost thermal profile test section
North Bay Station(CR1000, 2 multiplexers) • North bay foundation sensors • North bay flooring thermal test section • Northwest foundation insulation thermal test section
Utilidor Station(CR1000, 1 multiplexer) • Utilidor foundation sensors • Center floating concrete floor/ jacking pad thermal test section • Sewage treatment plant monitoring sensors
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