CURRENT METER SELF-STUDY

A current meter, wading rod, and instructions manual are on reserve

at the North Hall Library. To use them, go to the Media Circulation

Desk on the first floor. There, you should ask to borrow the current

meter kit on reserve for Hydrology (GEL 330) -- be sure that the

attendant gives you all three items (meter, wading rod, and manual).

The goal of your study is to know how to do each of the following

tasks from memory, without using the manual. If you have questions

about any of these items, please see me before we go out to do a

discharge measurement.

1) Set the meter to collect data in the "Fixed Point Averaging" mode

with a 15-second collection time (pages 4-6).

2) Mount the sensor on the wading rod (pages 16-17). Please note that

we will use the double-end hanger instead of the universal sensor

mount. DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN!!

3) How to read the 1/10 foot, 5/10 foot, and even foot markings on the

wading rod (page 17). When the wading rod is submerged in muddy

water, you will need to know how to read the markings by counting

DOWNWARDS from each double mark or triple mark. You must be able

to do this perfectly or your results will be useless.

4) How to set the sensor to measure the current velocity at 6/10 depth

(pages 18-19). You must be able to do this perfectly, or you will

seriously underestimate or overestimate the current velocity.