Taconite Inlet Project


2. Site description and images

The two weather stations operated through the Taconite Inlet Lakes Project consisted of electronic sensors mounted in fixed positions, connected to measurement and control devices capable of processing and storing the data in digital form. The ECHO station was situated at the highest point on Echo Peak, determined by altimeter to be 520 m a.s.l. (IMAGE: Weather station, looking west) Although Echo Peak rises steeply from the lake, the highest 50 m of the peak are only moderately inclined (estimated at 5 to 10°). The site was situated close to the median watershed elevation. (GRAPH: area-elevation curve) The ECHO station was located approximately 1800 m northeast of the Delta site at Lake C2.

When the area surrounding the Echo site was not snow covered, the surface was blocky talus of cobble and small boulder size. Vegetation was limited to crustose lichen, black in color, which nearly covered exposed surfaces of the talus. The tripod was situated on a slight ridge trending east-west, although the terrain basically sloped down in all directions. The upwind topographic influence was relatively consistent in all directions, at spatial scales up to approximately 100 m. At larger scales, the wind field was influenced by the larger scale topography, such as the steep west flank of Echo Peak, and Taconite Inlet valley. Solar radiation at Echo was unobstructed by topography in any direction, after approximately mid-April.(GRAPH: sun altitude vs. azimuth) Continuous daylight prevailed through each of the field seasons.

Weather Station ECHO index page

Weather & Hydrological Processes index page