Technician Support for Real-Time Hydrologic Sensor Systems within the Penn State Experimental Forest

0418798

Reed

Support form this award will establish a new Information Systems Technician position in support of the Penn State Institutes of the Environment's (PSIE) Real-Time Hydrologic Monitoring Network (RTH_Net). RTH_Net is a field facility within the university's experimental forest supporting research and education focusing on the interaction among atmospheric, terrestrial, and hydrologic processes. RTH_Net will support these efforts through the long-term deployment and maintenance of a real-time network of integrated sensor systems designed to augment the existing experimental infrastructure within the Penn State Experimental Forest. RTH_Net will integrate the existing but disparate observing systems within the Penn State Forest such that surface, groundwater and atmospheric data streams are coherent and in real time. Deployment and integration of traditional weather station technology with soil moisture/pressure arrays, groundwater level and stream stage sensors will allow a more coherent approach to the estimation of critical fluxes and feedbacks at the hillslope, watershed, and river basin scales. The network will play a fundamental role in improving forecast models of extreme events (flood, drought) as well as seasonal and interannual water resource dynamics. The facility will modernize and expand the current research infrastructure within the Penn State Experimental Forest. The Information Systems Technician will deploy physical sensor systems, maintain internet accessibility (i.e., IP connectivity) for the sensor data, and manage wireless or landline communication networks. The technician position will help ensure reliable data access and storage for RTH_Net through the management of combined onsite and offsite archives. The technician will manage internet-based publication using specialized software that will enable RTH_Net's datasets to be easily queried, analyzed, and visualized by researchers and students. These systems will be made accessible to the more than 30 faculty members within PSIE that have research interests in water resources. RTH_Net will support a long-term university-level effort to develop tools for a more holistic approach to real-time monitoring of water resources.

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