Photos from summer field season 2016 (Bear Creek)

Summer field season 2016 started about a week ago and Niels is twitting his field updates almost everyday (you can follow him at @niels_c).

I have been posting photos from Niels’ field work since last year, so you can find some more pictures and info by clicking on these links:

Pre-irrigation NMR measurements May 2015
Spotting wildlife April 8, 2016
Pre-irrigation NMR measurements April 8-10, 2016
Borehole drilling April 26-28, 2016

So, last week I joined him and his crew (two field techs and one of his supervisors) to help with setting up his field instrumentation. We were preparing for the intensive survey which is ongoing right now. It’s quite cool: he’s collecting data to quantify the subsurface component of the water-budget in a flooding irrigation experiment. One of the questions he will be answering is how much water returns to the stream through subsurface pathways. He’s using multiple hydro-geophysical methods to do that.

Of course, next to helping, I had another task (my main task actually) – to film and take pictures while the other people were working. Eventually, the footage will end up in a short movie sometime this autumn. Hopefully, in the movie he will also explain why is all this work necessary and why quantifying return flow is important.

Here’s my photo report from the few days I was there (for more follow his @niels_c):

20160607-IMG_8077 — that’s how flood irrigation works; also, that’s the same field where we installed some of the monitoring wells (see the borehole drilling link above)

20160607-IMG_8080 — installing the time-lapse ERT

20160607-IMG_8082 — testing the ERT cable

20160607-IMG_8083 — before the thunderstorm rolled

20160607-IMG_8084 — after, while waiting for the rain to start pouring (which didn’t happen)

20160607-IMG_8089 — that’s the caravan where Niels and Jordan (his field tech) live during the flooding experiment (about 20 days)

20160607-IMG_8091 — view from the Game and Fish cabin, where the irrigators are staying (there is something cool about these gasoline tanks, the rocks behind and the green truck from Game and Fish)

20160607-IMG_8094 — late afternoon data processing

20160607-IMG_8095 — the restroom (left corner) and the gasoline tanks again (just because they are so cool)

20160607-IMG_8099 — did I mention that there is no running water in the caravan?

20160608-IMG_8101 — installing some sensors on the irrigation pipe to monitor how much water is applied on the field during the irrigation experiment

20160608-IMG_8102 — sage brush – that’s what grows here if you don’t irrigate

20160608-IMG_8104 — walk TEM and soil moisture sensor testing

20160608-IMG_8105 — that’s the irrigation ditch next to his site; the water from this ditch flows into the irrigation pipes (first pic); you can also see the “bridge” we used in order to get all his equipment from the trucks to the field; also the plant on the front is sage brush (that’s for the people who have never been in the West)

And here are two bonus pictures from the trip back to Laramie (the pollen season is on, so it’s not really clear, but the white at the background is actually snow in the mountains, not clouds):

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