{"id":7824,"date":"2023-08-21T12:50:38","date_gmt":"2023-08-21T12:50:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.lascarelectronics.com\/?page_id=7824"},"modified":"2025-11-17T10:15:31","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T10:15:31","slug":"usb-fort-stanton-cave-underground-river-monitoring","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/lascarelectronics.com\/intl\/case-studies\/data-logging\/usb-fort-stanton-cave-underground-river-monitoring\/","title":{"rendered":"USB: Fort Stanton Cave Underground River Monitoring"},"content":{"rendered":"

Using Lascar\u2019s voltage data loggers to investigate river flow underground<\/h2>\n

\u201cGroups of cavers are a little like motorcycle clubs. When they discover they share a strong interest in that one thing, they go for a ride together,<\/em>\u201d says Tim Frederickson, part of the Fort Stanton Cave Study Group (FSCSG).<\/p>\n

He explains that many people from early childhood have a steady fascination with caves and often find themselves pursuing that interest as a hobby. Such is the case for the numerous volunteers in the FSCSG who have joined together to study the scientific mysteries of one of the largest continuous cave formations on the planet.<\/p>\n

\"Cave\"<\/p>\n

Located in New Mexico on Bureau of Land Management property, Fort Stanton Cave has been the subject of exploration for hundreds of years. The recent discovery of the Snowy River Passage demonstrates that the cave extends much farther than originally thought, and it raises new questions for research.<\/p>\n

An ancient river shaped the passage, but although it was dry when first discovered, returning cavers found water flowing from bank to bank just a few years later.<\/p>\n

FSCSG then began to research the water flow in an effort to learn more about the source of the river that formed the cave. Pete Lindsley, one of the volunteer leaders of FSCSG, explains, \u201cBecause New Mexico is such a dry state, the work we are doing in Fort Stanton Cave is extremely important to better understand this valuable resource.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the FSCSG investigates something new, they turn to Tim for their technology. \u201cThey tell me what they want to measure, and I find an easy way to do it,<\/em>\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m really the technical cheer leader for these guys \u2013 they\u2019re the scientists, I\u2019m the one who researches solutions for their needs.<\/em>\u201d So when they discovered the \u201cdry\u201d Snowy River with flowing water in the summer of 2008, they asked Tim to find a quick solution to monitor the water flow.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew I was looking for something to log data,<\/em>\u201d Tim explains, \u201cand I also knew that there were a lot of factors that would make finding something workable very difficult. How do you power something underground that has to take readings over several months or even years? We needed to set up technology in an environment that would have no external power source, up to one hundred percent humidity, and could take an experienced caver as many as twelve hours to reach.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to place the prototype sensor about two hours from the entrance, but in 2009 we hope to install additional units more than eight hours from the entrance.\u201d He had to look for something easy to carry through small dark passages and able to collect and store the necessary data.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also had to worry about not destroying parts of the cave,<\/em>\u201d says Tim. \u201cWe basically needed something to do good science but not cross-contaminate the area \u2013 something that would survive but be small enough to contribute the least amount of toxic material if it washed away.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Tim knew he found the right match when he came across Lascar Electronics\u2019 website. \u201cI looked around at all kinds of different things until I found this logger. It was exactly what we needed.<\/em>\u201d The EL-USB-3<\/strong><\/a> is Lascar\u2019s voltage USB data logger, a small unit that features a pair of screw terminals and is supplied with a set of measurement leads terminating in crocodile clips.<\/p>\n

Tim decided to connect these to a small sensor that could measure the depth of the water in the Snowy River Passage. \u201cWe rigged the data logger up to a sensor that sits in the water and measures the resistance with a voltage source, so it measures and records the voltage drop once every half hour,<\/em>\u201d explains Tim. There would be no easy way for cavers to lug big equipment to the desired location, so the logger\u2019s size and simplicity was crucial for FSCSG.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cavers hike and crawl down into the cave with just a hardhat light plus several spare light sources to offset the pitch black, and with Lascar\u2019s logger, all they have to do is carry it in their pack and plug it into the cap already hooked up at the sensor rig. This logger is easy for our cave team to install.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\"EL-USB-3<\/p>\n

The EL-USB-3<\/strong><\/a> is not only ideal in size and method. It also provides a solution for future requirements of FSCSG. \u201cIt\u2019s small, it has a battery that will last a year in a cave, and we may also be able to use it when we want to measure other things like temperature, humidity, wind velocity and direction, barometric pressure, water chemistry or air chemistry,<\/em>\u201d Tim says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis turned out to be such a perfect fit that it will be easier to do a format conversion for those other measurements than it would be to find another kind of logger.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Exploring the science of a cave can be an expensive undertaking. The FSCSG is not an institution funded by the government, so Tim was happy to find that Lascar\u2019s loggers are available at such a low cost.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing else in the market fits this price range,<\/em>\u201d he says. Tim already purchased several voltage loggers out of pocket, but because of the price he is able to consider other loggers in the Lascar line. \u201cWe want to get a few temperature and humidity loggers as well \u2013 it will be important to measure those parameters because we need to know if the temperature or humidity fluctuates from the air flow in various passages.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

FSCSG has been very happy with their use of Lascar\u2019s voltage logger. The ease of data retrieval has allowed the speleologists to download the first two months of raw data from the prototype sensor and program the unit to run for another year. The data shows some interesting phenomenas and the scientists are now starting to review it.<\/p>\n

The water in the Snow River Passage is clean and unusual in the dry state of New Mexico, and FSCSG has had the opportunity to learn more about this very important resource with the EL-USB-3. Tim concludes, \u201cThose loggers are neat little devices. I need to get some more.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Using Lascar\u2019s voltage data loggers to investigate river flow underground \u201cGroups of cavers are a little like motorcycle clubs. When they discover they share a strong interest in that one thing, they go for a ride together,\u201d says Tim Frederickson, part of the Fort Stanton Cave Study Group (FSCSG). He explains that many people from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11857,"parent":7707,"menu_order":100,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-fullwidth.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-7824","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"spectra_custom_meta":{"_edit_last":["9997","9997"],"_edit_lock":["1763374532:9997"],"rank_math_seo_score":["57","57"],"_wp_page_template":["template-fullwidth.php","template-fullwidth.php"],"_thumbnail_id":["11857"],"download_pdf":["a:3:{s:5:\"title\";s:0:\"\";s:3:\"url\";s:70:\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/case-study_el-usb-fort-stanton-cave_iss4_06-19.pdf\";s:6:\"target\";s:6:\"_blank\";}"],"_download_pdf":["field_64de1d3c21c7e"],"hero_image":[""],"_hero_image":["field_64f1a7da7af44"],"hero_h1":[""],"_hero_h1":["field_64f19e1edd052"],"hero_h2":[""],"_hero_h2":["field_64f19e2ddd053"],"hero_text":[""],"_hero_text":["field_64f19e42dd054"],"hero_button_text":[""],"_hero_button_text":["field_64f19e4edd055"],"hero_button_link":[""],"_hero_button_link":["field_64f19e5ddd056"],"rank_math_contentai_score":["a:4:{s:9:\"wordCount\";s:3:\"100\";s:9:\"linkCount\";s:1:\"0\";s:12:\"headingCount\";s:3:\"100\";s:10:\"mediaCount\";s:5:\"62.22\";}"],"rank_math_focus_keyword":["Underground River Monitoring"],"rank_math_title":["Fort Stanton Cave Underground River Monitoring | USB Loggers"],"rank_math_analytic_object_id":["181"],"_uag_page_assets":["a:9:{s:3:\"css\";s:0:\"\";s:2:\"js\";s:0:\"\";s:18:\"current_block_list\";a:0:{}s:8:\"uag_flag\";b:0;s:11:\"uag_version\";s:10:\"1785760007\";s:6:\"gfonts\";a:0:{}s:10:\"gfonts_url\";s:0:\"\";s:12:\"gfonts_files\";a:0:{}s:14:\"uag_faq_layout\";b:0;}"],"rank_math_internal_links_processed":["1"]},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/lascarelectronics.com\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fort-Stanton-Cave-Underground-River-Monitoring-e1695893053295.jpg",1200,630,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/lascarelectronics.com\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fort-Stanton-Cave-Underground-River-Monitoring-e1695893053295-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/lascarelectronics.com\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fort-Stanton-Cave-Underground-River-Monitoring-e1695893053295-300x158.jpg",300,158,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/lascarelectronics.com\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fort-Stanton-Cave-Underground-River-Monitoring-e1695893053295-768x403.jpg",768,403,true],"large":["https:\/\/lascarelectronics.com\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fort-Stanton-Cave-Underground-River-Monitoring-e1695893053295-1024x538.jpg",1024,538,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/lascarelectronics.com\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fort-Stanton-Cave-Underground-River-Monitoring-e1695893053295.jpg",1200,630,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/lascarelectronics.com\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fort-Stanton-Cave-Underground-River-Monitoring-e1695893053295.jpg",1200,630,false],"crunchify-admin-post-featured-image":["https:\/\/lascarelectronics.com\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fort-Stanton-Cave-Underground-River-Monitoring-e1695893053295-120x63.jpg",120,63,true],"commercegurus-pdp-large":["https:\/\/lascarelectronics.com\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fort-Stanton-Cave-Underground-River-Monitoring-e1695893053295-990x520.jpg",990,520,true],"commercegurus-plp-mobile":["https:\/\/lascarelectronics.com\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fort-Stanton-Cave-Underground-River-Monitoring-e1695893053295-441x232.jpg",441,232,true],"cgkit_image_swatch":["https:\/\/lascarelectronics.com\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fort-Stanton-Cave-Underground-River-Monitoring-e1695893053295-100x100.jpg",100,100,true],"woocommerce_thumbnail":["https:\/\/lascarelectronics.com\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fort-Stanton-Cave-Underground-River-Monitoring-e1695893053295-441x232.jpg",350,184,true],"woocommerce_single":["https:\/\/lascarelectronics.com\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fort-Stanton-Cave-Underground-River-Monitoring-e1695893053295-800x420.jpg",800,420,true],"woocommerce_gallery_thumbnail":["https:\/\/lascarelectronics.com\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fort-Stanton-Cave-Underground-River-Monitoring-e1695893053295-150x79.jpg",150,79,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"AndyS","author_link":"https:\/\/lascarelectronics.com\/intl\/author\/andys\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Using Lascar\u2019s voltage data loggers to investigate river flow underground \u201cGroups of cavers are a little like motorcycle clubs. When they discover they share a strong interest in that one thing, they go for a ride together,\u201d says Tim Frederickson, part of the Fort Stanton Cave Study Group (FSCSG). 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