Evaporometer Upgrades: improved Weatherproofing and Accuracy in
Real-Time Environmental Data Gathering
Abstract
The original Evaporometer prototype was designed by the Openly Published
Environmental Sensing (OPEnS) Lab at Oregon State University to remotely
collect near real-time environmental data, including temperature,
humidity, luminosity, and amount of precipitation, and transmit it to a
receiver hub, where it can be viewed online by researchers worldwide.
This eliminates costly and time-consuming site visits. Deployed during
the summer of 2017 in OSU’s HJ Andrew’s Experimental Forest, the
prototype failed after three months due to excess moisture entering the
enclosure and damaging the hardware. Over its first two months, the
prototype performed well, gathered over 90,000 data points, updating
every five minutes. To extend the lifespan of the Evaporometer, the
enclosure was redesigned to improve weatherproofing, include additional
sensors, and improve the accuracy of data readings. These improvements
will extend the Evaporometer’s field life, allowing it to reliably
gather and transmit data for longer periods of time while the ability to
gather albedo measurement expands the device’s sensing capabilities. The
upgraded Evaporometer provides researchers with a reliable, low-cost,
and open-sourced method of collecting environmental data in locations
that may not have previously been feasible.