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Water level loggers assist in residential well monitoring

brock — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:25:23 -0400

STUDY POINTS TO POTENTIALLY HARMFUL INCREASE IN GOLF COURSE STREAM TEMPERATURES

brock — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:49:42 -0400

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STUDY POINTS TO POTENTIALLY HARMFUL INCREASE IN GOLF COURSE STREAM TEMPERATURES

BOURNE, MA, October 20, 2009 — The green movement impacts many aspects of the golfing industry, and has led to a heightened focus on the role courses have on local environments.

While researchers have traditionally looked at the impact of course runoff and potential non-point source pollution on stream chemistry, significantly less work has been done on studying their effects on physical characteristics like stream water temperature.

Kevin Ashman, a researcher with Georgia Southern University, and his team recently studied a comparative analysis of stream water temperatures at six different golf courses in Greenville, South Carolina. Ashman monitored the water temperatures of the streams at each course, specifically in locations where there are continuous, tributary-free and lake-free reaches that pass through the golf course grounds.

“We chose a continuous, tributary-free stretch of stream to make sure that our results only reflected temperature changes caused by the golf course,” explains Ashman. “We also chose a lake-free stretch of the stream to show that even without a lake, which could impact stream temperatures, there were still significant temperature increases downstream.”

As part of their monitoring strategy, Ashman and his team chose HOBO® Water Temp Pro v2 temperature loggers from Massachusetts-based Onset Computer Corporation.

The loggers, roughly the size of a miniature flashlight, were secured to the bottom of the streams at each of the selected courses, and water temperature measurements were taken at five-minute intervals at sites upstream and downstream away from the course.

“Setting up the loggers for deployment was quick and easy and we were able to offload the data on-site," says Ashman.

The data loggers provide ±0.2°C accuracy over a wide temperature range and offer a 42,000 measurement storage capacity, making them suitable for long-term deployments.

Data from the loggers were offloaded directly to a laptop via a USB-based optical interface. The data was analyzed using HOBOware® Pro graphing and analysis software, which converted the collected data into easy-to-read graphs that reveal spikes in water temperatures.

In addition to water temperatures, a number of other parameters were monitored along the golf course stream reach including stream discharge measurements under baseflow conditions, stream length between sampling sites, the extent of riparian cover along the stream banks, and any human alterations to the stream's channel.

“The data revealed consistently higher stream water temperatures on the order of 4 – 10°F during the afternoon hours, and significantly larger diurnal temperature ranges – typically two to three times larger – compared to their upstream counterparts,” says Ashman.

According to Ashman, the temperature differences between the up and downstream sites were primarily due to the lack of riparian cover along the golf course reaches, and to a lesser extent, alterations in the stream channel’s structure.

“Although the impacts of these temperature modifications on the ecology, biology, and chemistry of the stream system are not known, the magnitude of the temperature change is large enough to be of potential consequence,” says Ashman.

Data logging technology helps paranormal investigators

brock — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 09:50:46 -0400

ONSET ANNOUNCES MEASUREMENT & VERIFICATION SYSTEM

brock — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 13:15:07 -0400

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ONSET ANNOUNCES MEASUREMENT & VERIFICATION SYSTEM

BOURNE, MA, October 1, 2009 — Onset (http://www.onsetcomp.com), the world’s leading supplier of data loggers, today announced the HOBO® Measurement & Verification System, a portable energy logging system for measuring, analyzing and documenting building energy performance.

The self-contained kit makes it convenient and economical for energy performance contractors, energy consultants, and building energy managers to track the performance of building systems, such as chillers and packaged HVAC units, and verify the impact of energy efficiency improvements.

“Due to the large amount of energy efficiency-related dollars being distributed through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, regulators are demanding greater accountability when it comes to building energy performance data,” said Frank Deshaies, product marketing manager for Onset. “The new HOBO Measurement & Verification System provides everything an energy engineer needs – straight out of the box – to handle a variety of M&V projects with a great deal of accuracy and reliability.”

The system, which is housed in a rugged, heavy-duty carrying case, provides pre-wired sensors for quick set up, and includes magnetic mounting feet for fast, secure placement in electrical panels.

Users can plot and analyze energy performance data with the accompanying HOBOware® software. HOBOware provides an intuitive, graphical user interface that enables users to quickly and easily graph, analyze and print data files, as well as export the data to Microsoft Excel and other spreadsheet programs.

The HOBO Measurement & Verification System is available in both single-phase and three-phase models. Both models include a 4-channel HOBO Micro Station data logger, energy sensors, software, and associated cables and accessories. The single-phase model is priced at $899; the three-phase model is priced at $999. Both systems are available immediately from Onset. Please visit http://www.onsetcomp.com for complete product details.

Study points to potentially harmful increase in golf stream temperatures

brock — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:55:26 -0400

Sustainable foundation switches to geothermal heating, looks for payback

brock — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:44:52 -0400

ONSET ANNOUNCES NEW TEMPERATURE SENSOR

brock — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:25:58 -0400

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ONSET ANNOUNCES NEW TEMPERATURE SENSOR

BOURNE, MA, September 17, 2009 — Onset (http://www.onsetcomp.com), the world’s leading supplier of data loggers, today introduced the new TMC6-HE air temperature sensor, the latest addition to the company’s line of external sensors for energy and environmental monitoring.

Ideal for a range of energy monitoring applications – from monitoring the efficiency of solar thermal systems to tracking building energy use – the sensor’s copper-plated probe ensures high-accuracy measurements and faster response time than previous models. The sensor can be easily attached to water pipes, hot water storage tanks, boilers and is compatible with a number of Onset HOBO U12 USB data loggers.

For plotting and analyzing temperature data, Onset offers HOBOware® software, an intuitive graphing and analysis software package for PC and Mac computers. HOBOware provides a user-friendly graphical user interface that enables users to quickly and easily graph, analyze and print data files, as well as export the data to Microsoft Excel and other spreadsheet programs.

The TMC6-HE temperature sensor is priced at $35 and is available immediately from Onset. HOBO U12 data loggers are priced from $85, and HOBOware software is priced from $45. Please visit http://www.onsetcomp.com for more information.

ONSET ANNOUNCES SUB-$400 WIRELESS FROST ALARM SYSTEM

brock — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 09:50:42 -0400

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ONSET ANNOUNCES SUB-$400 WIRELESS FROST ALARM SYSTEM

BOURNE, MA, September 21, 2009 — Onset (http://www.onsetcomp.com), the world’s leading supplier of data loggers, today announced a new wireless frost alarm system that helps growers prevent costly crop damage by automatically notifying them of frost conditions in the field.

The HOBOnode™ Wireless Frost Alarm System, which combines a wireless temperature sensor, receiver, and software for $389, provides a simple, cost-effective means of keeping an eye on frost. The system can wirelessly transmit air temperature readings to a PC, and can provide audible and visual alarm notifications via cell phone text messaging and email when frost conditions set in. The system also makes it easy for growers to view current temperature readings, as well as temperature trends over time.

“We recently had an unexpected frost event hit our area, and the HOBOnode system woke us up by a text message,” said Will Unger, field manager for Oregon Berry Packing Company. “We were able to respond fairly quickly and get the irrigation pumps working to shield our blueberry crop from the cold temperatures. The system gives us peace of mind knowing that we will be notified when situations occur – giving us one less thing to worry about.”

The wireless system offers a number of features designed to simplify deployment. For example, its compact design allows for easy sensor installation anywhere in the field, and integrated solar-rechargeable batteries eliminate the need to replace batteries.

The HOBOnode Wireless Frost Alarm System is currently available from Onset and is priced at $389. The system can be optionally equipped with additional temperature sensors, as well as wireless soil moisture sensors. Please visit http://www.onsetcomp.com for more information.

Vineyard Management – A Roundtable Discussion

brock — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 08:32:49 -0400

Onset recently assembled a roundtable to discuss the current role data loggers and weather stations play in vineyard management. Roundtable participants included: Paul Nunes, Newport Vineyards located in Newport RI, Gerald Bybee, Bybee Vineyards in Sebastopol, CA, and Virginie Bourgue, Southwind located in Walla Walla, WA.

Energy Performance Monitoring - Roundtable discussion

brock — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 14:12:55 -0400

Onset recently assembled a roundtable to discuss the current role data loggers play in energy and retro-commissioning applications. Roundtable participants included: Adam Knickelbein, Summit Blue Consulting, Don Gray, US Innovative Green Technologies, and Stephen Pfeiffer, Energy Plus.

ONSET WEATHER STATIONS SELECTED FOR UMASS COASTAL SENSING NETWORK

brock — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 09:39:38 -0400

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ONSET WEATHER STATIONS SELECTED FOR UMASS COASTAL SENSING NETWORK

BOURNE, MA, August 12, 2009 — Scientists with the UMass Boston Center for Coastal Environmental Sensing Networks (CESN) have developed and deployed five environmental monitoring buoys in Boston’s Neponset River Watershed for tracking dangerous bacteria levels and unusual environmental conditions off Boston Harbor.

The monitoring buoys were developed as part of CESN’s Boston Environmental Area Coastal Observation Network (BEACON) project, a two-year program funded by the Department of Energy and the Office of Naval Research. The buoys are tracking near-shore climate conditions around the harbor and measuring colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) content in area estuaries on a 24/7 basis.

Each buoy is outfitted with a web-based weather station from Cape Cod-based Onset Computer Corporation, which measures air temperature, wind speed and direction, solar radiation, barometric pressure, and other environmental parameters. The stations transmit the information to the Internet via cellular networks.

The collected data, which will be made available to the public on the Internet, will alert the researchers to dangerous bacteria levels in the water, rising seas, and unusual weather events that occur in the area.

“The Neponset is one of the big CDOM contributors to Boston Harbor, yet many people are unaware of the conservation issues connected to this important water system” said Franceso Peri, managing director for CESN. “By monitoring the system closely and raising public awareness, we are hoping to increase pressure on local decision makers who can help implement policies to help preserve the watershed.”

The network of monitoring buoys, according to Peri, represents a test-bed for innovative sensor technologies that CESN hopes to build upon over the next decade.

“What we are building is a scalable sensor infrastructure where we can easily add more sensors around Boston Harbor for greater measurement profiles,” he says. “Eventually, we are hoping to establish a sensorial “skin” over the watershed so we can sense everything that is happening there.”

To learn more, visit http://www.cesn.org/projects/beacon.php.

NEW WHITE PAPER FROM ONSET OFFERS TIPS ON OPTMIZING SOLAR THERMAL SYSTEM PERFORMANCE

brock — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:45:04 -0400

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NEW WHITE PAPER FROM ONSET OFFERS TIPS ON OPTMIZING SOLAR THERMAL SYSTEM PERFORMANCE

BOURNE, MA, August 12, 2009 — Solar thermal energy appears poised for a renaissance in the United States, as the Obama Administration presses forward with its green energy agenda. But the revival could be short-lived unless solar hot systems are maintained properly.

Consumers still remember problems associated with solar systems that were purchased during the green energy boom of the Carter Administration. Too often units were either installed incorrectly or never maintained. Energy savings were promised, but not delivered.

A new white paper from Onset, Optimizing Solar Thermal Performance with Data Loggers, discusses how solar thermal systems, with the help of portable data loggers, can be optimized to deliver the financial benefits residential and commercial users hope to achieve through their investments. The paper shows installers and engineers how portable data logging devices can be used to measure performance of solar thermal systems, pinpoint any defects or inefficiencies, and optimize performance for greater return on investment.

The white paper is available as a free download from Onset’s website at http://www.onsetcomp.com/solar.

NEW LIGHT SENSOR BRACKET FROM ONSET SIMPLIFIES CLIMATE CHANGE STUDIES, AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH

brock — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:03:21 -0400

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NEW LIGHT SENSOR BRACKET FROM ONSET SIMPLIFIES CLIMATE CHANGE STUDIES, AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH

BOURNE, MA, June 29, 2009 — Onset (http://www.onsetcomp.com), the world’s leading supplier of data loggers, today introduced a new bracket that makes it fast and convenient to mount the company’s light sensors in order to calculate Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values. NDVI is the standard measure of the density of green vegetation in an area.

Ideal for a range of monitoring applications – from climate change studies to agricultural research – the NDVI Light Sensor Bracket ensures accurate sensor positioning to provide ground-truth verification of satellite NDVI measurements, and ground-based data when satellites are not available. It also provides NDVI values at a finer resolution than is possible with satellite NDVI, which is useful for monitoring vegetation in test plots or sites.

The NDVI Light Sensor Bracket can be configured with Onset’s line of research-grade weather stations, including the company’s web-based HOBO® U30 Remote Monitoring Systems, 4-channel HOBO Micro Stations, and 15-channel HOBO Weather Stations. The systems offer plug-and-play operation, and can be equipped with a range of sensors for measuring air temperature, relative humidity, Photosynthetic Light (PAR), solar radiation, and more.

The NDVI Light Sensor Bracket is priced at $18 and will be available from Onset on July 15, 2009.

ONSET LINKS FLAGSHIP ENERGY MONITORING SYSTEMS TO REAL-TIME ENERGY DISPLAY SOFTWARE

brock — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:31:22 -0400

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ONSET LINKS FLAGSHIP ENERGY MONITORING SYSTEMS TO REAL-TIME ENERGY DISPLAY SOFTWARE

Building energy data from HOBO® U30 systems now viewable via NorthWrite’s Energy Expert software

BOURNE, MA, June 2, 2009 — Onset Computer Corporation (http://www.onsetcomp.com), the world’s leading supplier of data loggers, today announced that the company’s web-based HOBO U30 Remote Monitoring Systems are now compatible with NorthWrite, Inc.’s industry-leading Energy Expert software platform.

The Energy Expert software converts raw building energy and environmental data collected with HOBO U30 Systems into sophisticated, graphical “smart models” that predict building energy consumption. The information, delivered over the web, provides building managers, energy service consultants and others with easy-to-understand, real-time feedback on building energy use.

“While we are able to provide our customers with instant access to energy and environmental data via Onset’s HOBOlink® website, there is a segment of the market that requires data to be displayed in a very specific way,” said Mark Hruska, chief technical officer for Onset. “For this reason, we developed a set of web services which NorthWrite has used to incorporate real-time data from HOBO U30 systems into their own software. This, in turn, enables Onset and Northwrite customers to combine best-in-class energy monitoring hardware with a more customized dashboard software solution.”

“We have been impressed for a long time with the quality, flexibility and value of the monitoring devices Onset provides,” said Paul Bursch, chief technical officer for NorthWrite. “We’re excited to be able to offer Onset’s customers our sophisticated modeling technology, which was developed by the U.S. Department of Energy and commercialized by NorthWrite. The bottom line for Onset’s customers is that this new service will help them save money!”

Onset HOBO U30 Remote Monitoring Systems measure and record up to 15 channels of high-accuracy energy and environmental data. The systems feature a NEMA 6-rated enclosure designed for harsh environments, and can transmit data via GSM-cellular, Wi-Fi, and Ethernet communications. Sensors are available for a wide range of measurements, including kilowatt hours, voltage, current, air temperature, relative humidity, and more.

SCIENTISTS STUDY CORAL HEALTH IN SEYCHELLES ISLANDS

brock — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 12:51:45 -0400

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SCIENTISTS STUDY CORAL HEALTH IN SEYCHELLES ISLANDS

BOURNE, MA, June 10, 2009 - Onset Computer Corporation (http://www.onsetcomp.com), the world’s leading supplier of data loggers, today announced that researchers have selected the company’s HOBO water temperature loggers for environmental studies conducted in the Seychelles Island, Indian Ocean.

For several years, loss of live coral habitat due to coral bleaching has become a global concern prompting researchers and scientists to study the health of coral reefs around the world. One location affected by this phenomenon is the southern Seychelles Islands, in the central-western Indian Ocean, north of Madagascar.

Coral bleaching has been linked to rising ocean temperatures causing 40 to 50 percent of the coral in this region to become colorless and vulnerable to a variety of environmental stresses. To better understand the effects of rising water temperature on the coral's ecosystem, researchers are using HOBO® water temperature data loggers as part of a long term monitoring program.

"Coral reefs are one of the most productive ecosystems on the planet - equal in many respects to tropical rainforests and they are a very important component of the ocean's ecosystem,” explains Ray Buckley, a Principal Investigator with the Aldabra Marine Programme (AMP). “So when you have a coral bleaching impact, it has a major effect on local and regional ecosystems."

"The main focus of our research is Aldabra Atoll because it's a large remote coral reef ecosystem which has received little impact from human habitation. It is one of the last natural laboratories on the planet. What happens there is how nature really responds to an environmental impact."

To monitor water temperature, Buckley and the AMP team have strategically placed HOBO Water Temp Pro data loggers in several locations at Aldabra Atoll, and Assomption, Astove and St Pierre Islands to the east. Each data logger is deployed using cable ties and stakes, and water temperature measurements were taken every 30 minutes to an hour.

"The data loggers have become encrusted with bioaccumulation of coralline algae after two years on the reef and are still able to collect accurate temperature data," says Buckley.

The data logger provides ±0.2°C accuracy over a wide temperature range and offers a 42,000 measurement storage capacity, making it suitable for long-term deployments.

Data from the loggers can be quickly offloaded directly to a laptop via a USB-based optical interface, which provides high-speed, reliable data offload in wet environments. Its optical design eliminates the need for failure-prone mechanical connectors found in many traditional underwater data logger products.

The data was analyzed using HOBOware® Pro graphing and analysis software, which easily converts the collected data into easy-to-read graphs that reveal spikes and drops in water temperature over a 12-month period.

"Most coral bleaching studies take place in locations where there are major impacts to the corals due to human development," explains Buckley. "While those studies are critical in better understanding coral reef health, they are unable to provide a good baseline for how an ecosystem responds when there is no human impact. Aldabra Atoll is as close to pristine as we have and allows us to see how the coral and fish respond to the rising temperatures without outside interference."

Researchers have found that, in coral reef ecosystems impacted by human development, there is usually a shift in the dominant component of the ecosystem from live coral to algae.

"The fish populations then switch to mainly herbivorous species and the algae covering the dead coral makes it harder for the coral to recover. This causes a major shift in reef ecosystem," says Buckley.

According to Buckley, for the past 10 years, there were no substantial changes to the fish populations at Aldabra Atoll where there was essentially no human habitat.

"The coral bleaching event did not result in an algae dominated ecosystem and it wasn't catastrophic for the fish in this area. Fish were able to adapt to the rapid major loss of live coral habitat and development of a new coral habitat. We found that if there were no other variables affecting the ecosystem, fish can respond positively to these habitat changes, even though the matrix of the system changed."