Saturday, December 22, 2018

24-hour Photometer for NearSys Station, 22 December 2018

The day started out clear, but got progressively more cloudy with cirrus clouds.



UAVSonde for NearSys Station, 22 December 2018

The UAVSonde was launched at about 2:00 PM MST. The sky was overcast with thickening cirrus, so the image taken towards the south shows a partial ring around the sun from ice crystals in the clouds. From the presence of the Boise Mountain Range, the visibility is over 50 miles.

At SFC,
Air Temperature: 47.6 deg
Relative Humidity: 39.3%

At FL4,
Air Temperature: 40.3 deg
Relative Humidity: 40.9%

East

North

South

West


Monday, December 17, 2018

24-hour Temperature and Relative Humidity for NearSys Station, 16 December 2018

We are experiencing mild and overcast days. There's a little rain and therefore high humidity.


Sunday, December 16, 2018

24-hour Photometer Data for NearSys Station, 16 December 2018

It was an overcast day, so the sky's intensity didn't increase significantly.



UAVSonde for NearSys Station, 16 December 2018

The UAVSonde was launched at 13:30 MST today. The visibility is at least 50 miles. A cloud bank or fog is visible to the east.

At SFC,
Temperature: 41.7 deg
Relative Humidity: 60.9%

At FL4,
Temperature: 43.6 deg
Relative Humidity: 42.6%

It's not windy at the surface, but the tilt in the pictures indicates it's windy aloft. That explains the sound of the props I heard on the ground.

East

North

South

West

Sunday, December 9, 2018

24-hour Temperature and Relative Humidity for NearSys Station, 8 December 2018

Our temperatures continue to rise (slightly) as can be seen in the temperature being higher at the reporting period than at its beginning. We're under a high pressure system that will give away to a series of cold fronts. As a result, we are expecting snow sometime Monday. I suspect the snow won't last in the valley with these higher temperatures.


Saturday, December 8, 2018

24-hour Photometer for NearSys Station, 8 December 2018

It was an overcast day. Interestly, the 890 nm infrared sensor reported intensity spikes several times before sunrise. The spikes were 1.6% as high as the afternoon intensity, but occurred during the hours of darkness.



UAVSonde Results for NearSys Station, 8 December 2018

The UAVSonde was launched at 8:40 AM MDT. The data indicates the visibility is only around 20 miles. Patchy fog is visible more than 10 miles south of the UAV.

Surface Conditions,
Air Temperature: 31.6 deg
Relative Humidity: 78.9%

At FL4,
Air Temperature: 36.5 deg
Relative Humidity: 85.8%

North

West

South

East

Tuesday, December 4, 2018

24-hour Temperature and Relative Humidity for NearSys Station, 4 December 2018

The Amprobe TR-200 recorded the following conditions for Tuesday. It's apparent the Treasure Valley is not experiencing large swings in air temperature.


Sunday, December 2, 2018

All Sky LED Photometer for NearSys Station, 2 December 2018

We had a small amount of rain and snow at NearSys Station this weekend. The precip prevented me from placing the photometers outside until noon today. So the extent of the data is more limited this weekend.

We have a break in the clouds that can also be seen in the CloudCam video posted to my YouTube channel (it will get posted tomorrow).






UAVSonde Data for NearSys Station, 2 December 2018

The UAVSonde was launched at 9:52 AM MDT at determined the visibility was 30 miles. From the tilt in the pictures, it can be seen that the wind aloft was strong.

At the surface, conditions were,
Air Temperature: 45.7 deg
Relative Humidity: 38.7%

Air Temperature: 39,1 deg
Relative Humidity: 63.0%

East

North

South

West


Friday, November 30, 2018

Weather for NearSys Station, November 2018

The air and ground temperatures continue their decline except during the last five days of the month. We experienced four rainy days that brought a total of 0.62 inches of rain and there was no snow. The average pressure decreased over the month, but there were two exceptions of high pressure.






Monday, November 26, 2018

24-hour Temperature and Relative Humidity for NearSys Station, 25 November 2018

The cold air at NearSys Station became very humid before sunrise and not long after sunset.


Sunday, November 25, 2018

24-hour Photometer Data at NearSys Station, 25 November 2018

Below is the visible, infrared, and ultraviolet photometer data collected today.



UAVSonde Data for NearSys Station, 25 November 2018

The UAVSonde was launch around 12:50 PM MDT. Data indicates that visibility is in excess of 50 miles. The conditions on the ground were 46.3 degrees and relative humidity of 50.7%. At flight level 4, conditions were 44.4 degrees and relative humidity of 48.6%.


West

East

North

South

Saturday, November 24, 2018

Paul's SciTrek: Utah State University Eastern Prehistoric Museum

Prehistoric Museum 155 East Main Street, Price, Utah

On November 17th, I visited the Prehistoric Museum in Price, Utah. The museum is open Monday through Saturday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Admissions are listed as follows,

Ages 2 - 12: $3
Adult: $6
Senior: $5
Military: $5
Family: $17
Military Family: $14

Parking is free and the museum does give tours with advanced notice. The museum in Price is one of the five accredited museums in Utah and is your one-stop destination to discover eastern Utah's prehistory.

The museum is two stories tall and consists of two wings. One wing is dedicated to dinosaurs (paleontology) while the other wing is dedicated to the Fremont People (archaeology). One corner of the paleontology wing is set aside for children to play through hands-on educational activities.

Older than a dinosaur, a Dimetrodon. This animal's descendants lead to mammals and not reptiles.

Stegosaurus, notice the bony bib protecting its neck.

Chasmosaurus belli, a 73 million year-old armored dinosaur.

The Utahraptor greeting you at the museum.
The large diorama in the archaeology wing. Human versus Mastodon.

A replica petroglyph of the Fremont People.

Some of the pottery on display.

Everyone's favorite, a Saber-toothed Cat (note, this is not a tiger).

A Short-faced Bear. These bears where 50% larger than modern bears and the largest predatory land mammals ever in North America.


A dire wolf. These big wolves were living in North America when humans crossed the Bering Strait.