Field Exercise #2

 

Temperature and Moisture Transects in Nottingham Park

 

          In this second field exercise we will be going “off campus” for our first trip to Nottingham County Park (NCP).  Several of the field experiments in the atmospheric environment section of this course will be held within this park.  In this exercise we will be using some very basic equipment to measure the atmospheric temperature and moisture content at several different locations.  NCP is an excellent location for field exercises because it is home to many diverse (and in some cases unique) environmental systems.  Before you continue reading about the specifics of this weeks’ exercise, please read the brief introductory material about the park that is given below.

 

 

Introduction to Nottingham County Park

 

During the atmospheric environment portion of this course we will be doing many of our field exercises within Nottingham County Park near Oxford, Pennsylvania.   Nottingham County Park (NCP) represents a unique ecosystem that is found in only a few parts of North America.  NCP is a Serpentine Barren Environment.  A barren is an area that does not support the “normal” vegetation that grows in a region and is difficult or impossible to farm.  Barrens are usually underlain by an unusual rock type that leads to relatively poor soils (Smith and Barnes 1998).  In NCP the underlying rock type is serpentine.  The serpentine bedrock leads to a soil that produces a distinct flora in many portions of the park.  You will be receiving a booklet that describes the geology and the fauna of the park in greater detail (see Smith and Barnes 1998 – The Geology of Nottingham County Park).

 

NCP covers an area of approximately 650 acres and is crisscrossed by a maze of hiking trails.  The park includes “cleared”, forested and savannah type environments.  In addition, two ponds are found within the environs of the park.  A map of the park is given below (you should also have received a map of the park in class).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Field Exercise Specifics:

 

          In this exercise we will be taking atmospheric temperature and moisture observations at a number of sites in NCP.  The rationale behind this exercise is twofold. 

 

1)     you will be hiking around a significant portion of the park, which will introduce you to the many diverse environmental systems that are found within its boundaries…

2)     by taking these basic atmospheric measurements you will be able to see how surface and vegetation conditions affect the lower portion of the earth’s atmosphere…

 

 

To complete this exercise we will “break-up” into two groups (A & B).  Each group will be accompanied by a “guide” on this initial visit to the park.  A map will be provided to each group with measurement sites marked on it, red sites for group A and blue sites for group B.  The map is given below and a “hardcopy” will be given to the groups on the day of the exercise.  We will be using handheld temperature/moisture sensors to take the observations.  Several observations will be made at each site including the air temperature, the relative humidity, the dew point temperature, a description of the surrounding environment, a description of the sky conditions and the time of observation.  Each student should fill-in the attached data table while completing the field exercise.

 

Every student will complete a field exercise report following the instructions given in class.  These reports will be due on Monday, September 11th.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fig. 1:          A map of Nottingham County Park showing locations for air temperature and moisture measurements (group A in red, group B in blue).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 1:       Data table to use to record information for this field exercise.

 

 

 

                                                               

Site #

Time

Temp (F)

R.H. (%)

DewPoint

(F)

Surface

Character

Sky Condition