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FTS RSS Distance Test, John C. Stennis Space Center, Dec 2015

Metadata Updated: October 29, 2025

Two identical Radar Stage Sensors from Forest Technology Systems, were evaluated to determine if they are suitable for U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) hydrologic data collection. The sensors were evaluated in laboratory conditions to evaluate the distance accuracy of the sensor over the manufacturer’s specified operating temperatures and distance to water ranges. Laboratory results were compared to the manufacturer’s accuracy specification of ±0.007 foot (ft) and the USGS Office of Surface Water (OSW) policy requirement that water level sensors have a measurement uncertainty of no more than 0.01 ft or 0.20 percent of the indicated reading. Both of the sensors tested were within the OSW policy requirement in both laboratory tests and within the manufacturer’s specification in the distance to water test over tested distances from 3 to 15 ft. Both radars were mounted to a plate at the end of a movable arm above the water. The water level was measured by using a float system attached to a Sutron Model 56-0540 SDI-12 shaft encoder. The arm level was measured with a separate Sutron Model 56-0540 shaft encoder. The reference distance from the arm to the water was computed based on the arm encoder reading and the water level encoder reading. The arm was initially set so that the radar was approximately 3 ft above the water. By using an attached motor controller, the arm was raised in 3.00-ft increments to a maximum air gap of 15 ft. At each 3-ft set point, both radars were given approximately 4 minutes to adjust to the new level before recording a water level measurement. At each step, the change in the RSS water level measurement was compared to the change in air gap. A total of five cycles from 3 to 15 ft and back to 3 ft were completed.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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Dates

Metadata Created Date September 12, 2025
Metadata Updated Date October 29, 2025

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI USGS DCAT-US

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date September 12, 2025
Metadata Updated Date October 29, 2025
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/usgs-59ce57e9e4b05fe04cc05d18
Data Last Modified 2020-08-26T00:00:00Z
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://ddi.doi.gov/usgs-data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id 8a8a0856-9a30-4351-af51-e16e7b4b7582
Harvest Source Id 2b80d118-ab3a-48ba-bd93-996bbacefac2
Harvest Source Title DOI USGS DCAT-US
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial -89.629, 30.3655, -89.629, 30.3655
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash a71ade9bb0d387ad5d152421e42596a9e73600d6b357b219c95e445ff938ac17
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -89.629, 30.3655, -89.629, 30.3655, -89.629, 30.3655, -89.629, 30.3655, -89.629, 30.3655}

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