Science & monitoring update

Hydrologist Tony Bernardi mid installation, near Peter’s Pond on the Home Farm

One of two new weather stations commissioned from Environdata has been successfully installed at the Home Farm property by Research Coordinator Luke Peel and Hydrologist Tony Bernardi with a second installation planned at Duralla in the coming weeks. 

The weather stations will monitor air temperature, wind speed and direction, relative humidity, rainfall, barometric pressure, incoming and outgoing solar radiation, soil temperature and soil heat flux. The measurements will allow us to calculate evaporation and stored energy in the soil and monitor changes.

A soil moisture gauge will also be installed to more accurately assess soil water temperature cycle, evapotranspiration (plant usage) and tie in with the incoming and outgoing solar radiation meters on the existing weather station.

Acting MCNF Farm Manager and TMI Board Member Martin Royds visited during the installation and was quite impressed with the rain gauge’s brass bowl and its inner gold-plated tipping bucket which is accurate to 0.2mm. An temporary electric fence has been erected around the site thanks to Tessa Mettke from MCNF until a more permanent enclosure is installed. 

Both sites are located on Mulloon Creek Natural Farms and have been chosen for optimal placement within the Mulloon Creek catchment and to account for any minor differences between upper and lower catchment. The sites need to be in open spaces away from structures and tall plants, and away from tracks and roads to minimise dust, but also remain easily accessible. They need reasonable access to the mobile network for sending data (telemetry) to the data centre at Envirodata. 

Matthew Probets from Environdata reports that the weather station has been activated and all incoming information appeared true and correct so we are happy that the instruments are operational and sending accurate data. Eventually, this data will be combined with the many various monitoring instruments for viewing on Hydroterra’s Datastream website.

The Mulloon Rehydration Initiative is jointly funded through the Mulloon Institute and the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program and is supported by various affiliates.