A Low-Cost System to Remotely Measure Piezometric Head |
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| Authors: | Mark E Schaefer HF Hemond |
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| Institution: | Mark Schaefer is a 1983 graduate in civil engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (77 Massachusetts Ave., Rm. 48–420, Cambridge, MA 02139). His interests include subsurface flow and transportprocesses, with an emphasis on field investigations and experimental verification of numerical models. Schaefer is presently completing a master's degree in civil engineering. His thesis work, involves investigating subsurface flow in peats and developing instrumentation for head measurements in compressible, low-conductivity soils.;Harry Hemond is a member of the civil engineering faculty at MIT (77 Massachusetts Ave., Rm. 48–420, Cambridge, MA 02139). His research interests include subsurface water quality, acid rain deposition and peatland biogeochemistry. |
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| Abstract: | Alow-cost rapid response system to remotely collect piezometric head data in compressible porous media has been constructed. The system is based on low-cost temperature compensated pressure transducers, standard low-cost CMOS logic devices, low-cost commercially available two-way radios and a portable microcomputer. The basic system operation involves encoding a pressure transducer output, which is then transmitted on command via two-way FM radios to a base station located up to one-half mile away. The base station includes a TRS-80 Model 100 microcomputer which controls the network of remote stations and decodes and stores the information. This information is partially processed in the microcomputer and may be readily transferred to a mainframe for further data analysis. The base station interrogates as many as 16 remote stations at a specified sampling rate. The versatility of the system also allows it to be used to operate any remote instrumentation system having a suitable voltage output. |
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