Monitoring Success - CSA officially Opens New Premises

The official opening of Campbell Scientific Australia’s new premises was held on Friday 30th March in Townsville, Australia. Approximately 40 dignitaries, customers, board members, invited guests and staff attended the function. We had customers travel from Brisbane, Canberra and Adelaide which was very pleasing in view of the long distances involved.

Above: Campbell Scientific Australia - New Premises - Front View

These exciting new premises are the culmination of 19 years of hard work and planning, with a good degree of the credit to go to Bert Tanner, a Director on CSA’s Board for most of that time.

Situated on a 6800m2 block, the former ten pin bowling alley building was ideally suited to CSA’s current and future needs. The large open plan frame was completely stripped and redesigned to provide purpose built premises. CSA currently occupies the rear half of the building and in the short to medium term, plan on sub leasing the front half. The approximate 1000m2 that we now occupy is double the area of our previous premises and will allow us to more than double our capacity before we will need to expand into the front half of the building. This move will then allow us to quadruple our current size and there will still be room for future expansion on the block if needed.

Above: Reception

Our Open Day comprised presentation sessions in the morning and afternoon, hands on product displays, and finished with a small celebration at the end of the day. Informative displays and demonstrations of many CS products, as well as an overview of some of our most recent case studies; including some spectacular pictures of applications on the Great Barrier Reef, were prepared for the event.

Above: The application engineers room - chatting with guests

Products on display included the CS data loggers and peripherals, the new IRGASON integrated gas analyser and sonic anemometer, the range of OBS water quality sensors, our latest family of discrete and composite water samplers, a visibility sensor developed by Campbell Scientific Limited in the UK, a new outdoor camera developed by Campbell Scientific Canada, the Hydrosense II developed here at CSA, various weather stations including the quick deploy FIREHAWK for fire fighting applications, as well a range of equipment suitable for Geotech applications such as the TDR systems we supply.

 Thanks to all customers and suppliers that were able to attend and to all CSA staff who put in an extra effort to make this a day to remember.

The Effect Of Lipids On Methane Emission

 Centre of Advanced Animal Science (CAAS), University of Queensland, Gatton Campus 

Methane chambers were constructed in climate control rooms within CAAS. There are two chambers within each of the two climate control rooms. Within each chamber are two steers housed in individual pens.  Methane emissions for each chamber are calculated using methane concentrations and airflow measurement within the supply and exhaust air ducts. Each duct is fitted with Debimo air flow measuring blades (Kimo®) and pressure transmitters CP200 (Kimo®). The datalogger acquires the airflow measurements from each of the six ducts every 15 minutes.  

Above: Each Chamber houses 2 steers

Data Logger - CR1000

Sensors & Peripherals - Debimo air flow measuring blades (Kimo®) are fitted in each of the six ducts (two supply and 4 exhaust).  Pressure transmitters CP200 (Kimo®) at each duct read in L/sec.  In terms of programming the supply ducts are 10V out = 2000L  while the exhaust ducts are 10V = 1000L.  Methane concentration within each duct is measured using an infra red technique (Columbus Instruments, Ohio, USA).  All equipment is in the plant room above the climate control rooms.

Above: Methane analyser and CR100

What parameters are being measured?

The parameters of interest are methane concentration and airflow within each duct.

Communications & Networking -  Data is retrieved on a laptop.  Programming was performed by Daniel Roebuck, Campbell Scientific

Project Description - This project focuses on the measurement of methane in Bos indicus cattle fed tropical pastures and supplemented with various lipids.  Methane is a digestive by-product from cattle and is a major greenhouse gas. Lipids can reduce methane emissions and are also a source of energy. Beef production systems in northern Australia use Bos indicus cattle grazed on subtropical pastures. These pastures generate high methane emissions and are seasonally of poor quality. The purpose of this project is to investigate the impact of lipids on the suppression of methane emissions and improvements in growth rate of cattle fed a diet of subtropical pasture. The lipids include algal meal, sunflower oil and whole cottonseed.   No research has been published with regard to methane emissions in cattle fed subtropical pastures supplemented with lipids. 

The 32 steers are supplemented for at least 50 days, food intake recorded daily and liveweight measured weekly.   Steers enter the chambers for four days (one day equilibration and three day emission measurement).

Above: Plant room ducts (above chambers)

This is a joint project with University of Queensland and DEEDI.  It is funded by MLA (meat and livestock association).  This project is headed by Assoc. Professor Athol Klieve. Karen Harper manages and runs this steer trial.

Case study courtesy of  Karen Harper University of Queensland.

New Campbell Water Quality Samplers

We are pleased to announce that Campbell Scientific has acquired the Sirco line of water samplers from Southwell Corporation in Canada. Sirco samplers have a 30-year history of successful operation in storm-water, wastewater, and other water-quality applications. As stand-alone water samplers, these products already meet a variety of sampling needs. As we integrate them with our existing data-acquisition, telemetry, and sensor products, we will provide even more solutions for monitoring and control applications


Our search for a high-quality water sampler began a couple of years ago and it didn’t take long to find Sirco samplers. After distributing them for a while, we decided to make them a permanent addition to our product line as Campbell Scientific water samplers. The acquisition was finalized earlier this year, and we have successfully transferred the entire manufacturing operation to our headquarters in Logan, Utah.  We have been manufacturing samplers since late summer.

The future is bright for these samplers. They are already capable of being programmed on their keypad for time-based, pulse-induced, 4 to 20 mA-input, and flow-based samples. We plan to extend their usefulness even more by integrating them with rain gauges, turbidity probes, pressure transducers, and telemetry devices—on top of the power, logic, and communications protocols (e.g., Modbus, DNP3, TCP/IP) provided by our data loggers.

One of the biggest advantages of these samplers is that they use external vacuum pumps to draw water through intake tubing, instead of the traditional peristaltic pumps that induce flow by squeezing flexible tubing. Advantages of the vacuum-pump method include faster sampling rates, better vertical lifts, longer sampling distances, more-precise volume control between samples, and less maintenance. Because the vacuum method disturbs water samples less, they better represent the original water solution, especially if the solution has high concentrations of suspended solids. To prevent cross contamination, the samplers use air pressure (up to 28 psi) to purge the tubing of excess water.

 
The new product line includes many different options for both portable and stationary samplers. The PVS4150, PVS4120, and PVS4100 are portable, battery-operated water samplers. Designed for easy transport, the PVS4150 includes wheels, a telescoping handle, and a rugged case. The PVS4120 is the lightest sampler, weighing only 27 lb. The PVS4100 has a bigger pump that supports the fastest sampling rates, highest vertical lifts, and longest sampling distances. It also can use wider tubing (5/8-in. ID), which is better for handling large solids. All the portable models include space for ice to keep samples cool.

The CVS4200 and BVS4300 are stationary, ac-powered water samplers for wastewater applications. They use the same big pump as the PVS4100 and support all of its capabilities. The CVS4200 is an indoor sampler that has a corrosion-resistant steel enclosure. The BVS4300 is an outdoor sampler designed to handle extreme environments. It has a corrosion-resistant steel enclosure with a locking door and bolted-down instrument panel. All of the stationary samplers have a refrigerator option to keep the samples at the EPA-recommended temperature of 4ºC.  They can also be equipped with insulation, circulating fans, and heaters as needed.

Both composite and discrete options are available in both portable and stationary models. Composite samplers take samples, then deliver them into the same container each time. Discrete samplers collect samples and deliver them to different containers, from 500 ml to 1000 ml.
We are excited about the possibilities these samplers bring to water-quality applications.  Don’t hesitate to provide us with your input as we carry this great product line into the future.

For more information please contact Dr David Hammond on 07 4772 0444 or send him an email.

University of PNG AWS Tender Won by Joint Australian/UK Campbell Scientific Bid

In 2010, the University of Papua New Guinea purchased an automatic weather station from CSA for evaluation. The system had to be web enabled, capable of handling the extreme tropical conditions of PNG and have adequate battery and solar power to remain online for extended periods in tropical monsoonal periods. Despite these challenges, CSA’s engineers and production team provided a system that passed the University’s requirements with flying colours.

In early 2011, the University of PNG applied for and secured external funding for 18 automatic weather stations based on the specifications of the unit previously supplied by CSA. The only problem was that the funding was provided by the European Economic Community (EEC) and their strict requirements required that the 18 stations be supplied by a company from a country within the EEC – which ruled Australia out.

Our sister company in the UK, Campbell Scientific Ltd, quickly agreed to manufacture and supply the 18 stations based on CSA’s specifications with some additional regional components being supplied by CSA. The stations have now been shipped to the University of PNG within budget and on time – another joint Campbell Scientific success story.

Charles Sturt Uni Rhizolysimeter Project

The new Charles Sturt University (CSU) Rhizolysimeter is the largest root-growth research facility in the world. The complex contains 72 intact soil monoliths encased in steel tubes. The encased soil monoliths are arranged in rows of 18 in two underground rhizolysimeter laboratories (2 rows in each lab) that allow access to the side of the soil cores beneath the soil surface. The design of the facility allows for nondestructive, in situ, and high temporal resolution measurements of integrative root growth and soil water dynamics. The soil monoliths can be fitted with a wide range of sensors. Campbell Scientific Australia are installing a total of 576 TDR (Time Domain Reflectometer) sensors, 8 in each soil monolith. The CS610 3-rod TDR sensors are connected to a network of multiplexers controlled by a CR1000 data logger.

View of the Rhizolysimeter site, the smaller old site can be seen to the left of the picture.

Inserting the CS610 probes into the drilled holes.

Crane over Lab 2 lifting the cores to provide access for drilling and installation of CS610 TDR probes.

Lifting the cores with a crane to provide access for drilling and inserting the top four CS610 probes.

Drilling holes in the lab for installing the CS610 TDR probes

More drilling!

Wiring up in Lab 1

Lab 1 with most of the enclosures installed.

Rain shades for sliding over the cores










Underneath