Homestake Water Reduction and Microclimate Monitoring
Monitoring and Measurement of the Worlds Largest Pumping Well Test and Establishing Underground Climatic Monitoring Stations
The former Homestake Gold Mine in Lead, SD is the site of the nationa's new national lab, the Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory (DUSEL). The mine was closed in June 2003 and pumps that had kept the mine dry for ~100 years were turned off. In August, 2008 they were turned on once more. In these five years, water had filled the mine from 8150 feet to 4529 feet, a rise of 3621 feet. Instruments were placed inside the #6 winze (4550-ft level) in June 2008 to record the water reduction data. Instruments are currently deployed from the 4850-ft level and will soon be moved to the 5000-ft level. It is projected that the dewatering process will extend into 2012.
At the same time that water reduction began, six underground climate stations and one surface station were installed. The underground sites measure air temperature, relative humidity, and barometric pressure. Stations are located on the 1250, 2000 (2), 2650 (2), and 4850-ft levels. These data are critical in establishing a baseline of microclimatic conditions in the facility and have recorded significant changes as ventilation has been changed, the water level has been reduced, and human occupation has increased.
The surface station is located on top of the Sanford Lab Administration building and is monitoring wind speed and direction, air temperature and relative humidity, barometric pressure, and precipitation. This site is online at HMN Surface.
This project is headed by Dr. Larry D. Stetler, a geological engineer from SDSMT. Co-PIs include Dr. Arden D. Davis (geological engineer, SDSMT) and Rohit Salve, a hydrologist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0757883. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Data have been recorded since Summer-Fall 2008 with the exception of periods when the instruments were moved, or periods where access was limited and data cllection or maintenance was not possible. The following links provide the Water reducton data and microlimate information collected thus far.
UNDERGROUND MICROCLIMATE DATA
1250-ft level. Ths site is located approximately 20 feet from the Ross shaft.
All Data: November 2008 - December 2009
November 2008
December 2008
January 2009
February 2009
March 2009
April 2009
May 2009
June 2009
July 2009
August 2009
September 2009
October 2009
November 2009
December 2009
2000-ft level. This site is associated with the Hydrosatic Water Level System (HLS) Array A approximately 3000 feet ~N of the Ross shaft.
November 2008 - Janary 2009
Janary - March 2009
July - December 2009
January - March 2010
2600-ft level. Two sites are locate on the 2600-ft level. Site 1 is ~20 feet from the Ross shaft and site 2 is ~1000 ft form the shaft in a dead-end drift.
Site 1: All Data: November 2008 - December 2009
November - December 2008
April 2009
May 2009
June 2009
July 2009
August 2009
September 2009
October 2009
November -December 2009
Site 2: All Data: November 2008 - December 2009
UNDERGROUND WATER REDUCTION DATA
4550-ft level. Water reduction measurements began on the 4550-ft level in the #6 winze hoist room. These data include air temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, water temperature, water level, and specific conductance. Air temperature, barometric pressure
Air and water temperature
Water level, specific conductance
4850-ft level. Instruments were moved to the 4850-ft level in June 2009 and re-installed in 6 winze. Maintaining a ~static water table resulted in high volums of overlow onto the instruments, burning many of them out within a short time priod. This is seen on the plots. These data are below: Air temperaure/Relative humidity
Air and water temperature
Water level a barometric pressure
SURFACE CLIMATE STATION
The surface climate tower is located on the roof of the SDSTA Adm Bldg. The site has been active since August 2009. Data are organized by month.
August 2009 temperature, humidity and pressure
August 2009 Wind speed and direction
September 2009 temperature, humidity, pressure
September 2009 wnd speed and direction
October 2009 temperature, humidity, and pressure
October 2009 wind speed and direction
November 2009 temperature, humidity, and pressure
November 2009 wind speed and direction
December 2009 temperature, humidity, and pressure
December 2009 wind speed and direction
January 2010 temperature, humidity, and pressure
January 2010 wind speed and direction
February 2010 temperature, humidity, and pressure
February 2010 wind speed and direction
Contact: Larry Stetler
This page has been visited 725 times since 11/18/2009
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Last Modified: 08/26/2010 |
