Published: 9 November 2010

Editor’s note: Stephen Springston, a scientist from Brookhaven National Laboratory, headed to the STORMVEX deployment site in October to set up the Aerosol Observing System (AOS). This week, we will feature blog posts about his experience in Colorado.

Any new deployment, be it instruments, or in this case an entire new platform, has unexpected challenges. The Particle Soot Absorption Photometer (PSAP) instrument is a widely deployed model with hundreds of units in the field. The new unit for the AOS has custom-written internal software to remedy subtle round-off errors identified previously. However, there are still some rough edges, literally:

The red o-rings are supposed to make an air-tight seal when this filter holder is assembled. The mating part had sharp edges that tore the o-rings after only two or three changes. A quick trip to Ace Hardware for some fine emery paper and the problem seems to be solved.

Other issues are not so easy. Sitting in the structure, some stripped screws were noted in the wall-mounted Unistrut. This strut is part of the support system that holds the inlet during transportation. So far, this is the only damage noted during transport of the AMF2 AOS from Brookhaven National Laboratory to Steamboat Springs.

All instruments were transported secured to their racks with plumbing, power wiring and signal connections made back at Brookhaven. These racks are individually shock-mounted between the floor and ceiling to the AOS by cable isolators. This allowed pre-deployment testing AND greatly speeds up the on-site deployment.