Live Borehole Soil and Weather

The near-surface weather conditions are also viewable here:

https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/IAZPHOEN13

Any changes made  to the observatory are recorded here.

October 26, 2026.

I lowered the height of the WS90 so it is 18" above the surface rock. This was done to measure humidity closer to the ground which will hopefully allow for recordation of relevant atmospheric conditions for dewpoint events. These will show up as increased soil RH at the 0 cm surface probe, and if sustained, the subsurface RH probes should measure an increase as well.  The soil weather pattern should show a rise in humidity coupled with a reduction in soil temperature as we progress through Fall into Winter.

I would like to install another WS90 and place it 6' up to capture the humidity and temperature at that height so we have the ability to correlate "normal" atmospheric conditions against surface and subsurface conditions. This will allow us to compare our general atmospheric conditions more consistently with other PWS reporting on Weather Underground.

October 23, 2026.

Another soil temperature probe was added to measure the temperature of the exposed surface rock. A temperature probe was embedded inside a cobble that is directly exposed to the sun. It is crystalline granite so humidity is not a factor, and the hole was sealed with a dab of expanding foam.  I will refer to it as "Top Rock".  This should be an interesting addition to see how its internal temperature varies over time and conditions. I am hoping that we capture conditions where dew production begins within the rock and starts to charge the soil with moisture as measured at soil RH probe at 0 cm depth.

October 22, 2026.

The Ecowitt WS90 weather station is in place as well as a bank of in-ground soil moisture and temperature probes at 4 depths to map temporal flux and weather events. May need to re-do and re-calibrate probes if data erratic.  It seems as though the RH probes are "good enough", well within range of each other to be effectively meaningless, since the soil is just barely moist to the touch.  The temperature at 25cm is lowering and converging with the probe at 60cm.  The temperature probes at 0 cm and 10 cm are behaving as expected, with their respective temperatures in concert with changing atmospheric conditions and thermal transmission.

October 20, 2026.

All the soil probes are in the ground and covered with surface rock. Work began on October 16, 2026.

The probes are buried within the soil matrix at  50-60 cm, 25 cm, and 10 cm soil depth. At 10 cm rock is intermixed with rocky cover that itself is in contact with exposed surface rocky cover. Probes at 0 cm depth are at the soil interface which consists of only the exposed rocky cover that rises another 20-25 cm above. 

The substrate is native soil derived from the local Deem Hills Hickey formation which the house sits upon. It consists of decomposed basalt with clay, silt, sand and gravel (< 2cm), aeolian fine deposits, and sparse organic material. Rocky cover is granitic from 3 cm to < 30 cm diameter. The matrix is perhaps 15% coarse material with 5% pebble a just a few pieces added to mitigate soil compression.

Equipment

Ecowitt WittBoy WS90

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BW026060490

461FG-HP256

4BU-EC01

id: 016D41

18" 6ft height above the surface. No plant cover or obstructions.

Ecowitt Water Temperature Sensor WN34L

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BW025061480295

FG-WN34BL-EC01

CH5

id: A162

Embedded within a fully exposed cobble (<30 width) resting among the stones in direct sun.  I bored a 1cm x 4cm hole from the underside  of the stone and placed the sensor inside along with expanding foam to stabilize it and keep moisture at bay. Lovingly named "Top Rock".

BW025061480109FG-W

N34BL-EC01

CH4

id: A00D

0 cm depth, resting upon the soil surface beneath cobble (>15cm <30cm) and pebble (>3cm <15cm) rock, ~20 cm thick, loosely and roughly placed

BW025061480402FG-W

N34BL-EC01

CH3

id: A413

10 cm soil depth, resting within the soil

BW025061480426FG-W

N34BL-EC01

CH2

id: A16F

25 cm soil depth, resting within the soil

BW025061480434FG-W

N34BL-EC01

CH1

id: A12C

50-60 cm depth, resting within the soil

Ecowitt Soil Moisture Sensor WH51L

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W026031131489

FG-WH51BL-EC01

CH4

id: C6AE

0 cm depth, resting upon the soil surface beneath cobble (>15cm <30cm) and pebble (>3cm <15cm) rock, ~20 cm thick, loosely and roughly placed

W026031131412

FG-WH51BL-EC01

CH3

id: C4E9

10 cm depth, resting within the soil

W026031131848

FG-WH51BL-EC01

CH2

id: C926

25 cm depth, resting within the soil

W026031131822

FG-WH51BL-EC01

CH1

id: C4FD

50-60 cm depth, resting within the soil