Update on the Evaporometer

Author: James Yang

Abstract: An update on where the Evaporometer is and addressing the issues as well as what the future plans are for the project.

Temperature Compensation Issues:

There are a few things that we are in the process of implementing within the project. To start, temperature data collected last summer had readings that spiked from 26 degrees to 700+ degrees resulting in huge inaccuracies. The reason is because the previous Op Amp would fluctuate in mass when the temperature changed. To fix this issue, we are replacing the previous OP amp with an INA125P to hopefully reduce temperature compensation problems.

Sustainability:

Another improvement we are hoping for this year is sustainability. We are changing the material of the Evaporometer from ABS to ASA filament in order to weatherproof the encasing, making these devices last longer. Depicted below is the encasing after a 3-6-month period vs. newly printed encasing. By using ASA filament, we can reduce the yellowing of the encasing from overexposure of UV radiation.


3-6 Month Used Evaporometer vs. Newly Printed Evaporometer3-6 Month Used Evaporometer vs. Newly Printed Evaporometer

3-6 Month Used Evaporometer vs. Newly Printed Evaporometer

Future of Evaporometer

Dr. Selker is planning on deploying approximately 50 Evaporometers to Africa around May.