Rain gauge set-up for collecting platform runoff

Hopefully this gauge will record some runoff for us this weekend!

praying mantis on Sedum kamschaticum

weather station

Today we also started collecting environmental data about the site. We've got a rain gauge,a light sensor, and an anemometer for measuring wind speed. This data will help us infer rates of evapotranspiration from the platforms.

Instruments!

At this stage of the study, we are trying to get all the instruments ready to measure the water cycle on our platforms while the plants get establsihed.  Here is a picture of the soil moisture sensor we will use.  Each sensor will be calibrated to the specific conditions in the greenroof media.

plant close-up

This is Sedum album. Here we are trying to get a good estimate of initial plant size (roots, shoots, etc). Note how fibrous the roots are!

nearly complete

compared to last month  there is a big difference.

we still need to add some plant biomass, the gutters, and some monitoring equipment

the plants

Nothing beats a trip to Emory Knoll farms on a sunny day to pick up greenroof plants.  Not only can you see how the plants are grown (and watered using solar energy- see the pic below), but you can also observe how they have been performing on several demonstration roofs (see pic above).  The farm's owner/operator, Ed Snodgrass was generous enough to give me a small tour of the grounds and share some of the wisdom about greenroof plants he has gained through years of experience. Ed and Lucy Snodgrass are the authors of the book, Greenroof Plants.