Notes on circuits and breadboard.
Week 15: 5 May 2025
Monday:
Outcome: Students acquired 1 second pressure measurements moving the sensors from ground level to peak height (around 2 meters).
The pressure measurements over the weekend came up short.
Here is a data set that can be used instead of the short duration time series that were available from the Serial Monitor output.
Plan: Continue working on Assignment 10.
Arrive early to get all of the data needed for this Assignment.
UNR research scholarship starting in Fall 2025; applications due on Monday June 2nd.
The emphasis is on how wild fires and smoke from them impact ecosystems, climate, and weather,
though other research topics will be considered. We've had students write successful proposals.
One example is Chris who along with another student developed an instrument to
measure surface spectral albedo.
He used it in the Andes Mountains of Peru to measure glacier albedo in tropical regions where glaciers are melting.
Week 14: 28 April 2025
Monday - Friday:
Continue working on Assignment 10.
Continue to use TinkerCad to help learn the use of Arduino through simulation.
We may use Labview to view
Modify the first physical circuit of continuously lighting the LED to drive it with digital control using pin 13 so that it blinks.
We will go over it in class for the LED blink example. Here's the sketch.
Be sure to wire the breadboard and Arduino with it unplugged from the USB cable.
Check the circuit with the resistance measurement to be sure it doesn't have a short (very low resistance) before plugging it in to the Arduino.
Adjust the modulation frequency to larger values to find the frequency where it can't be seen to blink anymore.
We may use Labview to view the pressure data in real time.
Labview programs are called Virtual Instruments (VIs). A VI may be used instead of CoolTerm to acquire and graph in real time data from the Arduino.
Get the Labview VIs here as a zip file that must be unzipped to run properly. The lab computers are equipped with Labview.
Alternative Labview instructions in case your computer does not have the Labview program on it:
Get a compiled, executable program as a zip file that must be unzipped to run properly.
Move the zip file to your directory.
Unzip the file by right clicking on it and doing "Extract
All...". A folder will appear.
Double click on the folder, and again on the inner folder to reveal the two files.
With your Arduino attached to the computer, and with the combined sensor sketch on the Arduino with 1 second averaging time, double click on the file
Application.exe.
Presentation that summarizes the introduction to Arduino Uno.
UNR research scholarship starting in Fall 2025; applications due on Monday June 2nd.
The emphasis is on how wild fires and smoke from them impact ecosystems, climate, and weather,
though other research topics will be considered. We've had students write successful proposals.
One example is Chris who along with another student developed an instrument to
measure surface spectral albedo.
He used it in the Andes Mountains of Peru to measure glacier albedo in tropical regions where glaciers are melting.
Week 13: 21 April 2025
Wednesday and Friday:
Begin working on Assignment 10. We start with the following to get acquainted with the topic.
Get acquainted with digital voltmeters, breadboarding, and Arduinos:
Introduce breadboarding and digital voltmeters. With the person next to you, measure the voltage used for various resistance settings, and measure the voltmeter internal resistance.
Introduce resistors and color code for resistance values.
We will use TinkerCad to help learn the use of Arduino through simulation. Make a personal account.
We will go over it in class for the LED blink example. Here's the sketch.
Introduce the Arduino IDE and used it to blink the LED, the first circuit in the Vilros book.
Change the blink frequency until the light looks continuous.
View and discuss modified Arduino code for simplifying the observation.
Presentation that summarizes the introduction to Arduino Uno.
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Monday:
We will discuss the weather station comparison:
1. Temperature, do the sensor agree on sunny, cloudy, and at night? Are there systematic differences?
2. Pressure, same questions, and additionally, what
the precision of each measurement at 1 minute time average?
3. What are the manufacturer stated uncertainty in measurement?
4. How can we construct uncertainty (error) bars to answer questions 1 and 2 within the range of uncertainty?
Week 12: 14 April 2025
Friday:
We will overlay the 2D and 3D horizontal wind direction, atmospheric pressure, and air temperature.
View and discuss wind roses to show wind direction and speed in single graph. (Python script and example data for it from the UNR weather station.)
Monday and Wednesday:
Continue with 2D and 3D sonic anemometer comparison for April 1-7, bring your laptop or you can use a lab computer.
We will continue with histograms of wind speed for comparing the WS5000 weather station with the 3D RM Young sonic anemometer.
We will overlay the 2D and 3D horizontal wind direction, atmospheric pressure, and air temperature.
Week 11: 7 April 2025
Friday:
Continue with 2D and 3D sonic anemometer comparison for April 1-7, bring your laptop or you can use a lab computer.
We will overlay the 2D and 3D horizontal winds, make histograms of them, and makes overlays of wind direction, atmospheric pressure, and air temperature.
Wednesday:
Continue with 2D and 3D sonic anemometer comparison for April 1-7, bring your laptop or you can use a lab computer.
Monday:
Outcome: Weather station 2D sonic anemometer data. (right click and save to file).
3D sonic anemometer data as a text file for April 1-7. (right click and save to file). Calculations needed for the sonic data.
PurpleAir pressure data for the roof sensor. (Compare with the weather station and 3D sonic for structure in the 5-7 data).
Pictures of the 2D and 3D sonic anemometers.
Acquire and analyze the data since last Friday from the new 2D sonic anemometer-based weather station on the roof and the
existing 3D sonic anemometer, in support of Assignment 9. We will concentrate on the ability to measure windspeeds and directions at the stillness of night during post stormy nights, in addition to strong winds of stormy times.
Week 10: 31 March 2025
Friday:
Outcome: Installed the new 2D sonic anemometer-based weather station on the roof by the
existing 3D sonic anemometer for acquiring comparison data,
in support of Assignment 9. We will concentrate on the ability to measure windspeeds and directions at the stillness of night during post stormy nights,
in addition to strong winds of stormy times.
Wednesday:
Outcome: We acquired data from the new weather station, and from the ultrasonic anemometer at the next level up of the Physics building, and the Purple Air sensor (for pressure only).
Raw data from the day. Processed data shows decent agreement of sensors for wind speed and temperature and less so for wind direction.
We will meet in RM 113, and will later go to RM 323 and/or RM 400,
to obtain data from the new station and the sonic anemometer.
Continue working on assembling the new weather station and the net flux radiometer.
Figure out the network connection and how to save data in the on-board microSD card.
Put the station on a pallet for stability and
install it outside near the sonic anemometer.
Monday:
We will meet in RM 113, and will later go to RM 323 and RM 400.
Continue working on assembling the new weather station and the net flux radiometer.
Figure out the network connection and how to save data in the on-board microSD card.
Put the station on a pallet for stability and
install it outside near the sonic anemometer.
Outcome: The new weather station was installed during a storm.
Photos during and after installation,
assembly, finished, and snow falling.
Week 9: 17 March 2025
Friday:
We will meet in RM 113.
Contniue working on assembling the new weather station.
Figure out the network connection and how to save data in the on-board microSD card.
3D Sonic anemometer operation demonstration.
Begin getting data from the Apogee net radiometer (see assignment page for links).
Wednesday:
We will meet in RM 113.
Start working on assembling the new weather station.
Sonic anemometer example.
Some of the sensors and weather station data available from UNR and DRI for the Reno area measurements.
Monday:
We will meet in RM 113 and start a new lab.
Discuss wind and its measurement by propeller, hot wire, and sonic anemometers.
Discuss sensors and weather station data available from UNR and DRI for Reno measurements.
Start working on assembling the new weather station.
Week 8: 10 March 2025
Friday:
We will meet in RM 113 and continue with data analysis.
Outcome:
We finished the data analysis today in class.
Here's a step by step guide for getting data into Excel and for making publication quality graphs. It's for a different problem, but the basic ideas are the same.
Monday-Wednesday March 10 Monday's Measurements: |
Monday-Wednesday March 3, 5 Monday: Wednesday: |
| Resources: Simulation in Python of the measurements using the rotating sound source. Photo of the set up. Journal articles on Doppler radar: Continuous wave approach, pulsed approach, history. Sound generator for the modulated sine wave. The output from the computer's speaker can be measured with the computer microphone using Audacity to acquire and calculate the spectrum. |
Wednesday:
We will meet in RM 323.
Measurements at 440 Hz:
a. Time domain measurements using the oscilloscope of the frequency and amplitude of the speaker output as a function of distance from the microphone.
Then we'll move the equipment back to RM 113 and proceed with data analysis using Audacity and Excel.
Here's a summary of our analyzed measurements from last week. The measurements from this week are in Monday's notes.
From the archives, the rotating record player atmospheric circulation demonstation. An answer to 'where did the glitter come from?'
Monday:
We will meet in RM 323.
Measurements at 440 Hz:
Outcome:
a. Move the speaker from 70 cm radius to 24 cm radius to observe the effect on the spectrum when the sound source is moving slower.
b. Add a speaker on the other side of the copper tube to have both sources at 24 cm radius and running at the same time.
c. 1 speaker stationary at the center and the other at 24 cm.
d. Spectrum as a speaker was moved constantly away from the source by jogging down the hall and then returning.
e. Sound level recorded as a function of distance between the microphone and speaker to investigate the pressure amplitude drop off with distance.
| Data from the measurements on this day, including the Audacity Project file. Photos. |
Simulation in Python of the measurements using the rotating sound source.
Continue Work on assignment 8, Doppler frequency shift measurements.
Setup:
Audacity
settings for data acquisition assuming 0 kHz to 4 kHz frequency ranges.
Audacity:Audio Setup:Audio Settings ...:Project Sample Rate 8000 Hz.
Audacity:Microphone slider on the upper right: Slide ball to the right if needed to get a larger microphone signal.
Analysis:
Audacity:Analyze:Plot Spectrum:Size 131072.
Plot the spectrum to look at it.
Export the spectrum
Be sure to obtain measurements for at least 131072/8000 seconds (about 16.4 seconds).
The frequency bin size should be 8000/131072 Hz.
Week 7: 3 March 2025
Simulation in Python of the measurements using the rotating sound source.
Continue Work on assignment 8, Doppler frequency shift measurements.
Setup:
Audacity
settings for data acquisition assuming 0 kHz to 4 kHz frequency ranges.
Audacity:Audio Setup:Audio Settings ...:Project Sample Rate 8000 Hz.
Audacity:Microphone slider on the upper right: Slide ball to the right if needed to get a larger microphone signal.
Analysis:
Audacity:Analyze:Plot Spectrum:Size 131072.
Plot the spectrum to look at it.
Export the spectrum
Be sure to obtain measurements for at least 131072/8000 seconds (about 16.4 seconds).
The frequency bin size should be 8000/131072 Hz.
Wednesday:
Outcome:
1.
Rotating turntable measurements at a musical note of B6 (around 2 kHz) was done to see if there are more sidebands at higher frequency. Got a video of the setup.
2.
Rotating turntable measurements at 440 Hz with 1 speaker only.
3. Room acoustics test by having each person one at a time clap from different places in the room.
4. Rotating turntable measurements with the record player on the floor and the computer straight above. Got a photo. Surprising spectrum.
Same as Monday, but with the sound source at 2000 Hz (theory predicts 2000/440 more sidebands in the sound spectrum calculated from the rotating speaker measurements).
Measure the spectrum of the speakers while stationary and export the frequency spectrum.
Measure the spectrum of the speakers while rotating, export and overlay with the stationary spectrum.
Make a plot as in the examples for Monday below.
Monday:
Audacity has been updated.
Measure with the sound source at 440 Hz.
Measure the spectrum of the speakers while stationary and export the frequency spectrum.
Measure the spectrum of the speakers while rotating at 45 rpm, export and overlay with the stationary spectrum.
Results:
Overlay of stationary and rotating sound source frequency spectra.
Excel spreadsheet containing data.
Compare with model results.
Week 6: 24 February 2025
Work on assignment 8, Doppler frequency shift measurements.
Friday:
Setup:
Audacity
settings for data acquisition assuming 0 kHz to 4 kHz frequency ranges.
Audacity:Audio Setup:Audio Settings ...:Project Sample Rate 8000 Hz.
Audacity:Microphone slider on the upper right: Slide ball to the right if needed to get a larger microphone signal.
Analysis:
Audacity:Analyze:Plot Spectrum:Size 131072.
Plot the spectrum to look at it.
Export the spectrum
Be sure to obtain measurements for at least 131072/8000 seconds (about 16.4 seconds).
The frequency bin size should be 8000/131072 Hz.
Measure the actual rotation rate of the turn table.
Measure the spectrum of the speakers while stationary and export the frequency spectrum.
Measure the spectrum of the speakers while rotating, export and overlay with the stationary spectrum.
Simulation of the measurement in Python, and version for JupyterLab.
Simulation results for 1600 and 16 seconds measurement times.
Wednesday: Whiteboard discussion.
Monday: Get set up in RM 323 and initial tests.
Week 5: 17 February 2025
Finish with assignment 7.
Procedures:
0. Clean bubbles off the glass as they form.
1. Clean the apparatus to try for less aerosol in the clean water.
2. Deliver skim milk 20 drops at a time to make the transition from single to multiple scattering more gradual.
3.
Zoom the camera for photographs so it sees mostly the aquarium and not the background.
4. Make sure the polarization directions in the cards taped on the aquarium are easy to see.
5. Continue with skim milk, where the particle size and composition are likely different than whole milk.
Friday Feb 23:
Whole Milk:
Photo of the polarization with 27 and 110 drops of milk in the aquarium showing the effect of multiple scattering on polarization and color.
Overlay and animation of all spectra, and the transmission values.
Skim Milk:
Photograph of the water filled tank with polarizers in place.
Photograph with 130 drops (single scattering) and 510 drops (multiple scattering) of skim milk.
Summary overlay of all transmission measurements for skim milk and as seen on the laptop screen during measurements.
Animation of all spectra, and the transmission values.
Go to the roof and observe sky and cloud polarization and color with the polarizers and diffraction gratings.
Wednesday Feb 21:
Finished the skim milk measurements.
All photos.
All spectra.
Week 4: 10 February 2025
Continue with assignment 7.
Modifications and procedures:
0. Clean bubbles off the glass as they form.
1. Clean the apparatus to try for less aerosol in the clean water.
2. Deliver milk 1 drop at a time to make the transition from single to multiple scattering more gradual.
3.
Zoom the camera for photographs so it sees mostly the aquarium and not the background.
4. Make sure the polarization directions in the cards taped on the aquarium are easy to see.
5. Do the same with skim milk, where the particle size and composition are likely different than whole milk.
Friday Feb 14:
Started doing transmission measurements on skim milk.
Photos from the day.
Spectra from the day.
Transmission spectra so far (up to 130 drops).
Wednesday Feb 12:
Completed transmission spectra for whole milk. Overlay and animation of all spectra, and values.
All new photos from today, including notebook.
We estimated that 1 droplet has a volumetric mixing ratio with the water in the chamber of about 2.4 parts per milliion by volume.
Photo of the setup.
Photo of the polarization with 27 and 110 drops of milk in the aquarium showing the effect of multiple scattering on polarization and color.
Monday Feb 10:
Photos from today, including notebook.
Spectra from today, analyzed and raw.
Week 3: 3 February 2025
Friday:
Progress on the photography was made, especially in blocking stray light.
Wednesday:
Continued with assignment 7.
The milk concentration was too high using 1 tbsp to start with so it was diluted to repeat with a lower concentration of scatterers.
Using a syringe to deliver 1 drop of milk at a time will be better, in addition to cleaning the parts to have less suspended particulate in the water to start with.
The best photos turned out to be those that were magnified to see the aquarium mostly.
Photos.
Measured transmission spectra.
Monday:
Continue with assignment 7. Read this in preparation.
Week 2: 27 January 2025
Friday:
Continue with assignment 7. Read this in preparation.
Wednesday:
Discuss assignment 6, Atmospheric Pressure and Water Vapor Can Crushing Demonstration.
Repeated the demonstration of cloud formation by adiabatic expansion (assignment 5).
Started assignment 7, single and multiple scattering.
Monday:
Start with assignment 6 on atmospheric pressure and water vapor partial pressure.
Related reading material is at Read this first:.
Whiteboard notes.
Time Frequency plot of the spectrum of sound coming from boiling water.
Image and movie of boiling water for sound and bubble size. (Thanks Conner).
Hot can with water vapor in it just entering the water.
Hot can after crushing.
Slow motion video of can moving from the hot plate to the cool water.
Week 1: 20 January 2025
Friday:
Here are the photos and movie from Friday, thanks Connor. Right click on the zip file and select 'extract all' to see them.
Continue with assignment 5 on clouds. Related reading material is at Read this first:.
Whiteboard notes for cloud formation.
Wednesday:
Here are the photos from Wednesday, thanks Connor. Right click on the file and select 'extract all' to see them.
Ice crystals dancing in the electric field created by the charged balloon, from Nico. Local backup.
Introductions: Name, major, and goals for this class.
Places to learn about what is going on in this class:
Daily Notes (here).
Assignments. Online assignments 1-4 and lab assignment 5 have been posted. Review them.
Syllabus.
Webcampus.
The first assignment is on lab simulations of clouds and methods to measure them.
Opportunity:
NASA EPSCOR UNR undergrad research scholarship opportunity.
A free, online Atmospheric Science textbook is available for students new to the field.
Free online Introductory Textbook for Atmospheric Science and local backup.
How to keep a lab notebook to record what you do and help in lab report writing:
a. Make a table of contents at the back.
b. Number the pages so you can add entries to the table of content.
Discussion of lab notebooking from CU.
Atmospheric Instruments used at the DOE ARM meteorological/climate studies sites.
Measurement uncertainty and local backup.
