Operator`s manual

46
Installation, Operation and Maintainance of Buoy Operated Automatic Meteorological Stations
Annexes
Annex 4: Guidelines for Assessing Station Performance Using Daily Signature and
Battery Voltage Recordings
4-A General
BUOY_METSTAT includes routines to monitor two essential station performance indicators, namely (1) battery
voltage and (2) the signature of the active datalogger program.
The Open Circuit Voltage (OCV) of the battery in use is measured automatically on a daily basis. The voltage
recordings are stored in the logger’s RAM and periodically transferred, together with all meteorological information
and through the SM4M Storage Module, to a personal computer.
A series of daily battery voltage recordings gives a clear indication of the state of the battery and the performance of
the charging components. This information can be used to identify possible power failures at an early or intermediate
stage, hence avoiding data loss and/or damage to other system elements.
The signature concerns a number, which is a function of the actual text of the active datalogger program. Change
of a single letter will result in a different number. Consequently, an alteration of the signature indicates a corrupted
datalogger program.
The program signature is determined on a daily basis and stored in the logger’s RAM. It is retrieved together with
all other recordings in the Final Storage Area through the SM4M Storage Module.
The appropriate instructions to transfer information from the logger’s RAM to the SM4M are given in paragraph
2.3.
The appropriate instructions to transfer information from the SM4M to PC are given in “Manual on Data Retrieval,
Processing and Final Storage in the Nile Basin Database” or in Campbell Scientific’ Instruction Manual for PC208W
Datalogger Support Software.
The recorded station performance indicators can be accessed using the REPORT (SPLIT) module of PC208W (version
3.3). The remainder of this annex presents detailed instructions how to view, and interpret this information.
4-B Assessing Station Performance Information
Station performance information, i.e. daily battery voltage and program signature recordings, can be examined using
PC208W Datalogger Support Software, which icon is presented below.
Double click this icon to activate PC208W. The following toolbar appears:
Double click the REPORT icon to start the REPORT module (also called SPLIT) used to extract station performance
information from the data file. The SPLIT Version 1.7 window appears on the screen, as shown below.