Visibility for NearSys Station, 26 January 2020

Foggy. We had poor visibility this weekend. When I launched the UAVSonde, the visibility had only increased to 30 miles.

North

West

South

East (no Boise Mountains are visible)

Air Quality for NearSys Station, 17 - 23 January 2020

The air quality was fine earlier this week (except for a spike), but went way south towards the end. Probably from people using their fire places. The most worrisome particular matter is those with a diameter of 2.5 microns.

Air Quality for NearSys Station, 10 -16 January 2020

At last, a week of good air. What spikes we experienced were brief and minor.

All-Sky Photometer for NearSys Station, 19 January 2020

We had some haze today. But since there were no clouds, the sky brightness didn't drop out. At the same time, the sky never got very bright for a cloudless day. We experienced a thin layer of cirrus clouds only.

Visibility for NearSys Station, 19 January 2020

We're under a minor inversion that keeps a thin layer of haze close to the ground. Through the haze, visibility is around 15 miles. Above it, the visibility is in excess of 50 miles.

North

West

South

East

Visibility for NearSys Station, 14 January 2020

Overcast day, but the visibility did reach 50 miles towards the east where the peaks of the Boise Mountains rose above the cloud tops. To the south, peaks 30 miles away were not visible as the peaks of the Owyhee Mountains didn't clear the clouds.

Most of the snow from the previous day had melted by this afternoon. 

North

West

South

East - the tops of the Boise Mountains are visible 

All-Sky Photometer for NearSys Station, 11 January 2020

The sun came out on the 11th. Although, we did have a cloud pass over at around 2:15 PM

Air Quality for NearSys Station, 3 - 10 January 2020

We had good air quality this week except for a bit of time on the 4th and 8th. Otherwise, the air quality was in the green all week. One reason was because of our wind. An inversion was unable to establish itself.

House Finch at the Bird Feeder

I thought a photograph of a bird at one of my feeders would be perfect on a snowy morning. So here it is.

House Finch eating sunflower seeds on the morning of January 5th.

Visibility for NearSys Station, 5 January 2020

A mild snow shower blanketed the region in one inch of snow. Fog and haze from the shower limited visibility to about 15 miles.

North

West

South

East

Surface Temperature of the Snake River at Homedale, 2019

I used my thermal imager to collect occasional temperature readings of the Snake River. The location was on the edge of Homedale, ID, about a
1.5 miles from NearSys Station. Below is the chart I created from those readings.

I suspect that the speed of the river effected some of these readings. But it can still be seen when the river peaked in temperature.

All-Sky LED Photometer for NearSys Station, 4 January 2020

Wind blew over the photometer, so the morning's data is caput. The day started out cloudy and became mostly sunny layer in the evening.

Air Quality for NearSys Station, 27 - 31 December 2019

Our air quality was good for the end of the year. What smoke and particulate matter we had was most likely from wood-burning stoves and fireplaces. The most dangerous particles, PM 2.5 hardly went above 50, the level where they become a concern.