A microcontroller-based data-logger design for seasonal hydrochemical studies

Detailed studies of seasonal patterns of karst processes are rare in remote regions with limited winter access. An important aspect of erosional and e nvironmental processes is how these change over time, and how they relate t o annual cycles of temperature, precipitation and runoff. Such measurements have consistently proved difficult in remote alpine areas, resulting in a paucity of continuous data from these environments. An automated data-logge r installation designed to perform under difficult conditions, including li mited sunlight for solar recharge, heavy snowfall and disturbance by bears, has provided four years of data at a 2-hour sampling interval of electrica l conductivity (used to predict solute concentration), water level (used to predict discharge) and temperature, at the Marble Mountains karst resurgen ce, California, USA. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.