When I first started the surfacestations.org project, this Google Street level view tool was just a concept, now I’m actually able to find USHCN stations with it such as this one in Manassa, Colorado:
Click image for interactive Google Earth Street level view.
I’ve found quite a few, and there are some real stinkers out there, like this one in Greensburg, KY on a major thoroughfare through town. Note the south facing brick wall and concrete work:
The official USHCN NOAA climate station for Greensburg KY also has a great proximity view of the main drag through town:
Click image for an interactive Google Earth street level view.
It’s pretty easy to find a few stations now, since a good portion of the USA has now been entered into the street level database. Unfortunately stations like this are the exception, since many USHCN stations are not in the front yards next to the street. But those that are, we are getting.
Feel free to load this Google Earth KML file of stations that have been surveyed (thanks to Gary Boden for this great resource) and try your hand at spotting USHCN stations. The ones that show up as question marks are unsurveyed.
If you spot any please report them here. Or if you live within driving distance and have some time, why not go out and get a good quality set of photos after signing up at surfacestations.org ?
Hi Mike,
Yes, there are many wireless solutions that could be deployed – the data collection and transmission is trivial. The nasty part of this application is how to provide a good power source and calibrated temperature at temperatures below -20C.
First the easy part:
A wireless solution would need a battery, super cap, wifi chip, micro, ADC (auto cal capability), NV memory for backup, crystal with excellent aging properties <1ppm (total manufactured cost in 10ku <$40 for electronics <$90 for everything).
This is essentially the system employed with some power meter companies. Ironically, in the US many power meters were retrofitted with battery powered wireless transmitters, that do not run off of line power. Itron is one of the world leaders in this technology. There technology requires so little power that it only requires a non-rechargeable battery at installation and then works for (I forget – 10 to 20 years something like that)
If you want to make your own non-proprietary system:
Zero G Semiconductor is a company that makes exactly what you mentioned – a low cost low power WiFi chip. Many companies also have competitive ICs for different wireless standards that would work as well. Due to the low data rate and limited distance involved in this application it is a very trivial wireless problem. These new wireless semiconductors are extremely good against interfere and even though they are very low cost they use sophisticated techniques such as frequency hopping to ensure the data gets through.
To take and process the data, a good super low power micro is the MSP430 from TI. Microchip, Cypress make a nice competitive products too – these products have accurate enough analog. However if you want an even better measurement there are many low power ADC converters available from a host of companies like TI, Maxim, LTC, Analog Devices, etc. Once again this is not a tough application from a data collection or transmission point of view so many options will work.
Now the hard part:
The toughest problems with this application are: how to measure the temperature when the application needs to be very low power to not influence the measurement itself; age related drift of the measurement; and the wide range of the outside temperature (-80C to +60C).
Most semiconductor chips, batteries, etc. are not rated to this low of a temperature (-40C is the lowest temperature where the ICs still available at low cost, -55C for military spec’d chips but big money) and as a result all selected components would have to be screened and tested for performance. This screening process is not cheap and would raise the cost of the instrument by 2 or 3x. It is real hit and miss as to what specific IC part numbers will work, and if they operate, there will be a yield fallout for performance at -80C.
In recent years, many new battery technologies have been released that greatly simplify the powering problem. There are now Lithium batteries that work well to -40C (but are not cheap) vs. a traditional Li which loses 40%+ capacity at cold. Thankfully, the ICs released in the past 10 years have power consumptions of 10 to 100x lower so simply finding a big enough battery that can maintain enough power at cold would be sufficient for a 20 year lifespan with no-recharge. Another method would be to use a tiny ML-1220, selected because it should have enough juice for 6 months with no-recharge. Just before transmission, a super cap is charged up from this battery, then the super cap provides regulated power to the transmitter for the brief period it is on. The battery is recharged with a tiny solar panel and a resistor and so long as that happens within a 6 month period it should be fine (assumes temperature measurements are only take once per hour).
Finally, the other nasty part of measurement systems. How does one deal with aging? Everything ages. Some of the best non-aging devices are quartz crystals with only 1 ppm / year of aging for a moderately expensive one. However, traditional temperature sensors and the semiconductors that measure them, etc. all age at rates 10x and sometimes 100x that rate. I assume there is some type of low aging reference in the system to auto-calibrate the system with. How often is the current system re-calibrated? to what standard?
One super accurate way to measure temperature is to use a quartz crystal. Count the pulses and compare against the pure tone frequency (nearly an ageless atomic clock) transmitted from GPS (this technique is already in use in many applications). But once again, you would be into the problem of power consumption, how fast can GPS lock be obtained, etc.
Anyways, Mike – this problem would probably take 3 hardware, 2 software engineers about 6-9 months design time to properly develop a really good product or 1 engineer 4 months to make a nice prototype. Your idea is 100% possible and would remove the site problem. Of course, it would also cause anthropogenic global cooling as the current system is moved away from AC vents, brick walls, concrete pathways, blacktop parking lots, grills, and burn barrels.
vukcevic (03:49:47) :
Try this link:
http://www.greenworldtrust.org.uk/Forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=612#612
scroll down until the map appears on your screen.
Hope ir helps.
Wow, John, I had no idea it would be so difficult. To make it even more difficult… Could there be NO power at the instruments until a microwave (or something) lights them up from the building to energize and record the data?
Richard111 (11:56:27) :
Is that Richard the 7th?
Robert Wood (13:58:56) :
Richard111 (11:56:27) :
Is that Richard the 7th?
No. Richard the t(h)ird. Geddit? Old army name for me.
vukcevic (03:49:47) :
Sorry, I boobed. I just checked the link I gave you and find YOU are the originator!!
Off Topic…
It seems that the coral that was wiped out by the tsunami is making a big comeback:
http://www.physorg.com/news149768973.html
This is remarkable since the baby coral must fight Global Warming, sea acidification and coral bleaching. Perhaps this is only right wing propaganda! 🙂
Nasif Nahle,
Retired Engineer and I have been having an offline offline discussion about calibration. Can you describe the calibration method you use? Any information would be helpful.
Now that is pretty cool. Next thing: Street view for your house!
Dear SuperDBA,
Actually, we did not make the calibrations, but we sent the thermocouples and the digital and infrared thermometers to the manufacturers; they send back the instruments to us already calibrated. I have understood that they use outpost technology for the calibration of the instruments they manufacture like ice bath, controlled heat sources, electronic compensation, reference thermometers, etc.
Best,
Nasif Nahle