+------------------------------------------------------------------+ | JORNADA LTER | | New Mexico State University | | Data Set Documentation Form | +------------------------------------------------------------------+ All Jornada Desert Site NSF/LTER data sets must be documented on the following form. This applies to any data set intended for permanent archiving. All raw data sets collected under the auspices of the Jornada NSF/LTER Program will be described by the following standardized form. Information that is not available at this time, must be included when available. For these fields, enter . For fields that will not have information, enter . See data manager for any questions regarding this form. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) Data set access (RESTRICTED or UNRESTRICTED): --------------------------------------------- UNRESTRICTED 2) Data set title: --------------- SUMMARY: Minute totals, tipping bucket rain gauge precipitation - NPP sites 3) Project title: -------------- Tipping bucket rain gauge precipitation - NPP sites 4) Responsible investigator(s): ---------------------------- John Anderson 5) Date data collection commenced (mm/dd/yyyy): -------------------------------------------- 03/16/1999 (All except the 3 playa sites) 6) Date data collection terminated (mm/dd/yyyy or ONGOING): -------------------------------------------------------- ongoing 7) Expected duration of study: --------------------------- duration of NPP study 8) Frequency of measurement: ------------------------- by event 9) Researchers: (Personnel who will be obtaining data and who would need to be contacted directly if there is a problem in the raw data): ---------------------------------------------------------------- John Anderson (04/27/1998 - ) 10) Methods of recording (field data sheets, instrumental, etc.): ---------------------------------------------------------------- datalogger 11) Site location (Describe in sufficient detail that the site can be relocated): ---------------------------------------------------------------- Fifteen sites (3 in each of 5 ecosystem types) were selected for monitoring of NPP. Sites, abbreviations, and location summarized here and on LTER site map; directions are from stone pillars / gate marking entrance to Jornada Experimental Range, 6.6 mi north of US Hwy 70, east of Las Cruces, on North Jornada Road: Creosote - Caliche C-CALI From stone pillars, go 4.1 mi north to South Well. Turn left, drive 3.4 mi to College Ranch HQ. Turn left, drive south 1.3 mi (going through gate and crossing LTER transects); turn right (this is 2nd right) and proceed 0.3 mi. Turn left on small track; site is on right (uphill) of road, 70 m from turn. Creosote - Gravel C-GRAV From stone pillars, go 4.1 mi north to South Well. Turn left, drive 3.4 mi to College Ranch HQ. Turn left, drive south 3.4 mi (going through gate and crossing LTER transects, passing Upper Trailer). Site is on left (E) of road. OR - from stone pillars, turn left and proceed 2.6 mi; turn right at gate and go 0.6 mi along power line road, then 0.4 mi along right fork. Site is on right (E) of road. Creosote - Sand C-SAND From stone pillars, go 4.1 mi north to South Well. Turn left, drive 3.4 mi to College Ranch HQ. Turn left, drive south 1.6 mi (going through gate and crossing LTER transects). Site is on left (E) of road. Grassland - Basin G-BASN From stone pillars, go 4.1 mi north to South Well. Turn left, drive about 1 mi; park in pull-off on left adjacent to fence. Enter fence through gate; site is uphill about 50 m. Grassland - IBP G-IBPE From stone pillars, go 4.1 mi north to South Well. Take 2nd left (i.e., AFTER the well) and drive 8 mi (this is SW boundary of Exp. Range). IBP exclosure is on left of road 0.2 mi after it turns north away from boundary. OR - from stone pillars, go 10.2 mi north to JER HQ; past shop area, turn left and go 6.4 mi to West Well. Turn left (S) and go 1.4 mi to exclosure. Grassland - Summerford G-SUMM From stone pillars, go 4.1 mi north to South Well. Turn left, drive 3.4 mi to College Ranch HQ. Turn left, drive south 1. mi (going through gate and crossing LTER transects). Turn right (this is 1st right), drive 0.5 mi to power line road, turn left. Site is 0.3 mi from turn, uphill from power line at base of rocks. Mesquite - North M-NORT From stone pillars, go 10.2 mi north to JER HQ; past shop area, turn left and go 2.4 mi to junction with pipe line road, turn right. Proceed 0.6 mi N. Park; site is located about 400 m to west inside fenced exclosure. Mesquite - Rabbit M-RABB From stone pillars, go 10.2 mi north to JER HQ; past shop area, turn left and go 3.4 mi to Rabbit Rain Gauge parking area. Site is to north (left) of road, about 75 m, inside fenced exclosure. Mesquite - West M-WELL From stone pillars, go 10.2 mi north to JER HQ; past shop area, turn left and go 6.4 mi to West Well. Stay on road straight past well; site is about 150 m west of well, on right of road. OR - from IBP grassland exclosure, drive 1.4 mi north, turn left at West Well, site is about 150 m from well. Playa - College P-COLL From stone pillars, go 4.1 mi north to South Well. Turn left, drive about 2.5 mi to Lower Trailer (on left); park there and continue on foot along road to stiles over fence on right. Concrete block paths lead to playa. NPP grid is in western portion of fenced area of playa, just east of College Ranch HQ and pasture. Playa - Small P-SMAL From stone pillars, go 4.1 mi north to South Well. Turn left, drive about 3.4 mi to College Ranch HQ. Proceed through gate and HQ area; road jogs north and then heads west again. Proceed 3.8 mi from HQ; take small road on left, downslope 0.4 mi (through gate) to playa. Playa - Tobosa Tank P-TOBO From stone pillars, drive 10.2 mi north to JER HQ. Jog to right past shop, continue north 3.1 mi. Site is to right of road in fenced portion of large depression. Tarbush - East T-EAST From stone pillars, drive 2.6 mi north. Site is on right of road (E), in fenced area. Tarbush - Taylor T-TAYL From stone pillars, go 4.1 mi north. Turn right just before South Well. Take jog to left (N) across cattle guard, proceed east 2.3 mi. Site is on right (S) of road about 20 m in fenced area. Tarbush - West T-WEST From stone pillars, go 2.4 mi north. Site is on left (W) of road, in fenced area. 12) Data set description (State the hypothesis and / or objectives which collection of data set addresses): ---------------------------------------------------------------- Precipitation totals by minute for precipitation events occurring at the LTER-II NPP sites. Tipping bucket rain gauges (TBRG) installed at each of the 15 LTER-II NPP sites will provide detailed precipitation data on the spatial distribution of precipitation patterns on the Jornada Basin as well as the necessary precipitation detail at each of the 15 plant net primary production (NPP) sites which were established at the beginning of the LTER-II funding cycle in 1989. Beginning 16 March 1999, 12 of the 15 NPP sites had a new TBRG installed adjacent to it and in close proximity to the GRG gauges installed in 1989. Each TBRG is connected to a HOBO Event datalogger (Onset Computer Corporation). The datalogger is stored within the outershell of the TBRG, has memory capacity for up to 20 inches of rain data, and a battery with life expectancy of 1 year of continuous use. 13) Attributes measured: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Variable name: blank Number of columns between fields CCCCCCCC See attribute description Format: C = character (C3: Three characters [XXX]) I = integer (I2: Integer with two places [##]) F = floating point (F4.2: Total places with decimal point = 4, with 2 decimal places. [#.##]) Variable code: * See attribute description listing See external listing of variable codes N/A = Not applicable VARIABLE MEASURED VARIABLE NAME FORMAT UNITS CODE ATTRIBUTE DESCRIPTION -------- -------- -------- -------- ------------------------- zone C1 N/A C,G,M,P,T C = creosotebush veg. zone G = grassland veg. zone M = mesquite dune veg. zone P = playa veg. zone T = tarbush veg. zone site C4 N/A * * CALI,GRAV,SAND (C zone) BASN,IBPE,SUMM (G zone) RABB,NORT,WELL (M zone) COLL,SMAL,TOBO (P zone) EAST,TAYL,WEST (T zone) date mm/dd/yy N/A N/A month/day/year of rain event hh:mm hh:mm hour:min N/A hour:minute of event prec F3.1 mm N/A Total precipitation during time given in record. pc I1 N/A 0,1 Problem code (0=no problem; 1=see history file) 14) Missing or questionable values (describe how these are represented in the data set): ---------------------------------------------------------------- 15) Methodology (Provide sufficient detail such that an unaware reader could repeat the described data collection procedures.) ---------------------------------------------------------------- Data collection and processing: Precipitation from each tipping bucket rain gauge at the NPP sites is recorded using a HOBO Event logger (by Onset Computer Corp.) which is mounted inside the Qualimetrics Model 6011-B tipping bucket rain gauge. Each tip is equal to 1 mm of rainfall. The Event Logger records each tip with a date and time stamp to the nearest half second. Each Event Logger can hold up to 20" of rainfall. The battery for each is good for one year and should be replaced annually (or sooner if indicated by HOBO Shuttle during data upload). The data is collected monthly in the field using the HOBO Shuttle (also made by Onset Computer Corp.). Plug the Shuttle communication cable into the Event logger and press the button on top of the Shuttle to initiate upload. The flashing LED will signal when upload is complete and successful. The Shuttle will hold data from all 15 NPP Event Loggers. The data from the HOBO Shuttle are downloaded directly to a laptop or other pc using BoxCar Pro software, version 3.01 for Windows. Data from each TBRG is saved to a separate file whose file name identifies the site and date of upload from the field Event Logger. After review this file is then exported to a comma-delimited text file which is appended to a FoxPro database table. Data from all sites are appended to one database table. During the append process, the site identifier is added to each record. Data summarized in FoxPro using query file, NPP_MIN.QPR for minute totals. Field maintenance: Monthly maintenance includes cleaning funnel screens, the funnel, and the tipping buckets. Prior to the replacement of the TBRG at G-IBPE with the new design of tipping bucket which has a vertical barrier between the two buckets to prevent siphoning of water between them when dirty, the tipping buckets were thoroughly cleaned with wet Q-tips to remove dirt film, particularly along edges and corners, where water may otherwise wick over to the adjoining bucket during a low intensity rainfall. Since all the gauges at the NPP sites now have the barrier between the buckets, the scrupulous cleaning of dirt film from the buckets is not necessary. Routine cleaning is still done monthly to ensure there is no obvious dirt or debri residue in the buckets. The mechanical mechanism is also checked and cleaned of spider webs which are strong enough to prevent bucket tipping if allowed to develop. Datalogger connections are checked. 16) Key literature (Citations that describe sampling procedures, [reference of a published paper, thesis, etc.]): ---------------------------------------------------------------- BoxCar Pro Version 3.0+ for Windows User's Manual Part number: MAN-W-BXPR Onset Computer Corporation 536 MacArthur Blvd. P.O. Box 3450 Pocasset, MA 02559-3450 Phone: 508-563-9000 between 8AM and 5PM EST Fax: 508-563-9477 E-mail: loggerhelp@onsetcomp.com Web site: www.onsetcomp.com FTP site: ftp.onsetcomp.com/ 17) Keywords (keywords that describe data set; maximum of 10): ---------------------------------------------------------------- precipitation, tipping bucket rain gauge, NPP site, rainfall 18) Treatment of data: (List any programs used in analysis of the data): [Note: Programs should be appended and stored with this form.] ---------------------------------------------------------------- BoxCar Pro software, which is proprietary for the Hobo Event loggers (made by Onset Computer Corp.) converts the binary data files (dtf extension) to comma-delimited files (txt extension). 19) Associated computer accounts: ---------------------------------------------------------------- NONE 20) Files associated with this data set: ---------------------------------------------------------------- A) Metadata files FILE NAME DESCRIPTION OF FILES ------------ ----------------------------------------------- NPP_TBRG.PRJ Project documentation NPP_MIN.DSD Data set documentation ------------ ----------------------------------------------- B) Data files FILE NAME DESCRIPTION OF FILES ------------ ----------------------------------------------- NPP_MIN.SUM Summary data set file NPP_TBRG.HIS Data set history log ------------ ----------------------------------------------- C) Data entry, verification, and analysis files FILE NAME DESCRIPTION OF FILES ------------ ----------------------------------------------- NPP_TBRG.DBF FoxPro database file (Binary) ------------ ----------------------------------------------- D) Other (Any other related files.) FILE NAME DESCRIPTION OF FILES ------------ ----------------------------------------------- TIPTEST.WB1 TBRG tip test (Quattro Pro v5-Windows) (Binary) NPP_TBRG.DAT Precipitation detail by TBRG tip (ASCII) CGyymmdd.DTF BoxCar Pro software data set file C-GRAV site (Binary) CCyymmdd.DTF BoxCar Pro software data set file C-CALI site (Binary) CSyymmdd.DTF BoxCar Pro software data set file C-SAND site (Binary) GIyymmdd.DTF BoxCar Pro software data set file G-IBPE site (Binary) GSyymmdd.DTF BoxCar Pro software data set file G-SUMM site (Binary) GByymmdd.DTF BoxCar Pro software data set file G-BASN site (Binary) mryymmdd.DTF BoxCar Pro software data set file M-RABB site (Binary) MNyymmdd.DTF BoxCar Pro software data set file M-NORT site (Binary) MWyymmdd.DTF BoxCar Pro software data set file M-WELL site (Binary) PCyymmdd.DTF BoxCar Pro software data set file P-COLL site (Binary) PSyymmdd.DTF BoxCar Pro software data set file P-SMAL site (Binary) PTyymmdd.DTF BoxCar Pro software data set file P-TOBO site (Binary) TEyymmdd.DTF BoxCar Pro software data set file T-EAST site (Binary) TTyymmdd.DTF BoxCar Pro software data set file T-TAYL site (Binary) TWyymmdd.DTF BoxCar Pro software data set file T-WEST site (Binary) CGyymmdd.TXT Comma-delimited data set file C-GRAV site (ASCII) CCyymmdd.TXT Comma-delimited data set file C-CALI site (ASCII) CSyymmdd.TXT Comma-delimited data set file C-SAND site (ASCII) GIyymmdd.TXT Comma-delimited data set file G-IBPE site (ASCII) GSyymmdd.TXT Comma-delimited data set file G-SUMM site (ASCII) GByymmdd.TXT Comma-delimited data set file G-BASN site (ASCII) mryymmdd.TXT Comma-delimited data set file M-RABB site (ASCII) MNyymmdd.TXT Comma-delimited data set file M-NORT site (ASCII) MWyymmdd.TXT Comma-delimited data set file M-WELL site (ASCII) PCyymmdd.TXT Comma-delimited data set file P-COLL site (ASCII) PSyymmdd.TXT Comma-delimited data set file P-SMAL site (ASCII) PTyymmdd.TXT Comma-delimited data set file P-TOBO site (ASCII) TEyymmdd.TXT Comma-delimited data set file T-EAST site (ASCII) TTyymmdd.TXT Comma-delimited data set file T-TAYL site (ASCII) TWyymmdd.TXT Comma-delimited data set file T-WEST site (ASCII) ------------ ----------------------------------------------- 21) Comments (Include any comments here that more fully describe this data set): ---------------------------------------------------------------- Under 20(d) above: a. TIPTEST.WB1 contains data comparing lab test of tips from clean tipping buckets and tips from dirty tipping buckets for equal amounts and intensity of "rainfall" using water from calibration bottle. b. "yymmdd" in file name equals "year month day" when datalogger data was collected from the field. 22) Data set documentation history log: ---------------------------------------------------------------- Data set title - SUMMARY: Minute totals, tipping bucket rain gauge precipitation - NPP sites Data set file name - NPP_MIN.DSD ---------------------------------------------------------------- mm/dd/yyyy - Date of Comment Int - Initials of person making Comment JPA = John P. Anderson Changes/Updates - List any changes made to document mm/dd/yyyy Int Changes/Updates ---------- --- ----------------------------------------------- 04/11/1999 JPA Documentation completed. ------------------------------------------------------------------- END OF DATA SET FILE -------------------------------------------------------------------