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August 16, 2021
Setting up
By Marc SimardToday there were no flights. However, the Island Team was quite busy with setting up and testing instruments such as the water loggers and turbidity sensors. Unfortunately, the JPL team could not go on the water as their boat would not start. Instead, the team got busy training its team members to use and test equipment at the dock, and they also re-planned flights. Tomorrow, JPL will get a new boat at 6:30am.
Kyle Wright sets up turbidity sensors
Paola Passalacqua tests water gauges
There are flight delays due to maintenance of UAVSAR and AVIRIS-NG. Since the radars (i.e. AirSWOT and UAVSAR) must fly together to capture simultaneous flows in river channels and wetlands, we decided to also postpone AirSWOT flights and plan for radar flights over the Atchafalaya basin on Saturday and Sunday. We are hopeful that AVIRIS-NG will be available for science flights on Wednesday, and the Delta-X leadership will communicate any update with the field teams. Weather forecast from Paul Miller indicates openings in the morning sky, although it may not be as clear as today. The end of the week is, however, promising.
Tomorrow, the Water Quality (BU) team will be collecting water and spectral samples around sites 2568, i.e. the forested site located between the Wax Lake Outlet and the Atchafalaya river. Meanwhile, the JPL team will collect ADCP transects along the Wax Lake Outlet and verify that the water level gauges are functioning properly prior to radar flights. The gauges have been there since March. The Island Team will install sensors at Terrebonne’s 421 site, the southernmost Delta-X intensive site. These sensors will stay in place until the end of the campaign.
No flights tomorrow.