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Cimel CE318-N User Manual

Multiband photometer
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Multiband photometer CE318-N
User's Manual (rev. Apr. 2015)
Firmware version 5.0 and above

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Summary of Contents for Cimel CE318-N

  • Page 1 Multiband photometer CE318-N User’s Manual (rev. Apr. 2015) Firmware version 5.0 and above...
  • Page 2 Innovation and performance: we designed it so that it is always easy to use. In the line of Cimel products, you will also find a wide range of remote sensing and automatic Sun Sky Photometer CE318-N that can be coordinated with your new Cimel CE372 LIDAR.

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual Table of Contents Product overview..........................4 1.1. Presentation ............................... 4 1.2. System components quick description ................... 4 1.3. Sensor head types ..........................10 1.4. Data transmission ..........................11 Installation ........................... 12 2.1. Installation site recommendations ....................12 2.2. Hardware installation and setup .....................12 2.2.1.

  • Page 4: Product Overview

    Cimel’s photometers are still the benchmark devices for most aerosol observing networks and more specifically for the international federation of AERONET. The large range of parameters that are derived and calculated from the measurements and from the atmospheric physics equations make the CE318 photometer a worldwide benchmark device for the following applications: •...
  • Page 5 CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual User interface: 1: Graphic display. 2: Coloured buttons. Removable terminal block: 3: Wet sensor. 4: Sensor head. 5: Robot azimuth and zenith motion. 6: DCP / Serial communication. 7: Solar panel. 8: External battery. 2. Sensor head and collimator a.
  • Page 6 CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual 1: Front plate lenses and optical chambers entrance 7: Step by step motor 2: 4 quadrant detector lens 8: Detectors 3: Cover 9: Filter wheel detector 4: Threaded hole for collimator 10: 4 quadrant 5: Positioning notches 11: Optical chambers 6: Head sensor cord connector 12: Filter wheel carter...
  • Page 7 CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual 4. Tripod and tray The tripod is the supplied infrastructure where the protection case and the robot are fixed and that enables the whole system to be stably fixed on the ground. The tray is a part fixed horizontally on the tripod and where the robot will be fixed on. 1: Emplacement for the protection case 2: Tray...
  • Page 8 CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual 1: Cable gland. The wet sensor and solar panel wires will go through. 2: Cable gland. The robot and computer wires will go through 3: Cap. The sensor head cord will go through 4: Foam 5: Solar Panel 6: Wet sensor 6.
  • Page 9 CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual 8. Batteries and battery charger The black batteries supply power to the CU. The battery is 8AH. The YUASA battery is furnished when the satellite transmitter is used. The battery is 24AH. The battery charger is used only in case of solar panel breakdown. 9.

  • Page 10: Sensor Head Types

    The satellite transmitter is useful in remote places where no reliable PC is available. It enables to send the data directly to an appropriate geostationary satellite which has a dedicated transmission channel for the CIMEL photometers. 1: Solar Panel Solartek...

  • Page 11: Data Transmission

    CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual Figure 3: STANDARD option Figure 2: SEAPRISM option Figure 1: BRDF option Figure 4: POLARISED option Figure 5: BRDF 12 filters option Data transmission 1.4. The photometer can use 2 different communication protocols to send its data from the CU.

  • Page 12: Installation

    CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual Installation Installation site recommendations 2.1. The site should be chosen carefully in order to comply with the following conditions: • Easy access to facilitate the weekly maintenance of the device. • The device should be installed in a clear area where it has the largest field of view as possible so that it can track the sun from sunrise to sunset (no buildings, trees…).
  • Page 13 CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual 6. Attach the tripod feet to the ground with appropriate screws. Note: Orientate the protection case emplacement South if the location is in the Northern hemisphere or North if the location is in the Southern Hemisphere. Revision 5.0 April 2015 13/70...

  • Page 14: Case Mounting

    CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual 2.2.3. Case mounting 7. Insert the 4 ribs into the metallic frame in order to fix the case. 8. Tight strongly the screw into the ribs with the inside of the case in between. 9. Put the foam at the bottom of the case and on the sides, place the batteries and the CU as shown on the picture below.

  • Page 15: Robot And Sensor Head Mounting

    CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual 2.2.4. Robot and sensor head mounting 10. Put the screws into white plastic part. 11. Put the screws on the holes trough the robot base but don’t tight them to the end, let a 2 or 3 cm backlash so that the leveling that is done in the next part is easier to do.
  • Page 16 CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual 13. Launch a Park scenario in the CU menu. The robot will find its zero position. 14. Set the horizontal robot axis in the East-West direction by manually turning the whole base of the robot. 15.
  • Page 17 CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual Note: Watch out that the collimator and the sensor head are completely interdependent. There should be no slack while trying to move the collimator after having tightened it. 16. Strap the sensor head on the V-shaped support of the robot. Two things are to be checked.
  • Page 18 CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual 18. Level the robot up so that it’s perfectly horizontal by playing on both precision wheels until the spirit level on the top of the robot is centered. This part is a little tricky and may take few trials. Using an additional tubular sprit level may facilitate this step.
  • Page 19 CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual 19. Setting the date and the time UT in the AU menu Important note 1: the time set is UT. If you are not sure about it, please visit this website to get it: http://fr.thetimenow.com/utc/universal_coordinated_time Important note 2: seconds can not be set, wait until a whole minute is coming and validate the time at this point more or less 2 seconds.
  • Page 20 CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual 21. Launch a Park scenario in the CU menu. The photometer head will find its PARK position which is the nadir on the zenithal angle (head orientated down). If the head is pointing to zenith (orientated up), unstrap the sensor head, reposition it in the opposite sense in the straps and do step 13 again.
  • Page 21 CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual If not correctly centered on the zenithal axis, check the GPS coordinates and the time set, then repeat step 21, 22. The error on the zenithal axis should be inferior to 1 mm as long as the spirit level is well centered (if superior refer to part 5.2.2). If not centered on the azimuthal axis, refine the manual positioning of the robot base as done in step 14 (the screws being loosen the base can still be moved).
  • Page 22 CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual 24. When the track is done correctly, repeat step 18, 19 and 20 once or twice to validate the photometer behavior. 25. Tight the screws into the tray to fix the robot without changing its position.

  • Page 23: Communication Protocol Installation And Configuration

    • Install ASTPWin on the computer The software is provided on the USB stick sold with the instrument and can be downloaded on Cimel website. • Launch and configure ASTPWIN in the tools general setup menu In the communication tab: Tick automatic connection when starting.
  • Page 24 CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual In the data tab: Tick automatic data recording Define the folder the data are going to be recorded in • Click on connect to establish the communication with the photometer The Photometer is set. The first measures will be sent to the PC at the time defined in step number 27 in hardware install and configuration.

  • Page 25: Satellite Transmission Installation And Configuration

    CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual 2.3.2. Satellite transmission installation and configuration The satellite transmission of the data is done using a Satlink 2 logger and transmitter model SL2-G312-1 and a IAGI antenna. The satellite which will receive and transmit the data depends on the geographic location, it can be GOES, MSG… the satellite has dedicated communication channel that can be attributed to the Satlink2.
  • Page 26 CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual 2.3.2.1. Transmitter and antenna installation 1. Attach the mast support in the ground. 2. Insert the mast into the mast support. 3. Tight the screws to fix properly the mast. 4. Slide the stirrup through the mast until it gets to the end position. 5.
  • Page 27 CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual 6. Insert the stirrup extremities in the V-shaped part with the tubular metallic part in between to fix it. 7. Tight the 2 nuts slightly. 8. Insert the IAGI antenna support in the stirrups with the tubular metallic part in between.
  • Page 28 CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual 15. Insert the screws in the holes of the V-shaped part according to the tilt angle wished for the solar panel. 16. Insert the panel brace in the screws and tight the bolts strongly. 17. Repeat step 22 and 23 with the second panel brace. 18.
  • Page 29 CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual 19. Insert those screws in the panel braces. 20. Tight the bolts to fix the solar panel properly. To align correctly the antenna in the azimuthal plan, turn the antenna support to the right direction after having loosen the nuts. To align correctly the antenna in the zenithal plan, slide it into the support and tight the nut when the direction is right.
  • Page 30 CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual Note: It is advisable to buy the cable once the distance there will be between the transmitter and the antenna is approximately known. Note 2: Check the LED status for a few minutes after having powered the system. If the green led is flashing every 5s, the satellite is correctly set.

  • Page 31: Cu Navigation Menu

    CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual CU navigation menu Basic Display 3.1. There are two basic displays on the CU screen when getting out of the sleep mode, one when in manual mode and one when in automatic mode. 4 colored buttons enables you to navigate in the menu to set, validate, and cancel parameters.
  • Page 32 CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual The Block 2 corresponds to the Password 1 and 11 menu. It enables to set the following parameters: • DAT: set the year, month, day, hour and minutes in time UT. • INI: purge the memory of the CU. Note: The customized scenario you entered in PassWord 2 (block 5) will be deleted.
  • Page 33 CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual • FK1, FK2, FK3, FK4, FK5, FK6: SKY gain respectively associated to the 1020, 1640, 870, 670, 440, 500 nm filter. • ScanK_500, ScanK_380, ScanK_340 (ONLY with Polarized): Yes to activate measurements with the 500 nm, 380 nm or/and 340 nm filters for a Principal Plane and Almucantar scenarios.

  • Page 34: Scn Menu

    CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual SCN menu 3.3. The SCeNario menu is only accessible in manual mode. It enables to launch each scenario individually. The SCENARIO menu varies according to the photometer sensor head option. The table below lists all scenarios available according to the photometer sensor head used.

  • Page 35: Man Menu

    CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual In the BAT menu: • Bat: It displays the current value of the internal battery. • HH: it displays the status of the wet sensor. If the status=0, the sensor is dry. The photometer is running in normal operation. If the status=1, the sensor is wet.

  • Page 36: Description Of The Scenarios Measurements Proceedings

    CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual Description of the scenarios measurements proceedings Scenario description and sequencing 4.1. Scenarios may be launched either automatically via the scheduler or in manual mode via the SCN menu (see part 3.5). OFF: launch OFF scenario. PARK: Launch PARK scenario.
  • Page 37 CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual BCLSUN: The BCLSUN scenario consists in launching in continue TRACK/SUN scenario with a time interval defined in SETTINGS menu with BCLSUN mn parameter. SKY: The SKY scenario consists in measuring the sky radiance for several wavelengths.
  • Page 38 CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual BLACK: The black scenario consists in measuring the electronic noise of the device. The filter-wheel is positioned in between two filters so that the signal coming through the two channels is cut. Important note: The signal measured is the dark current. It is not substracted to the full signal measured.
  • Page 39 CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual Filters used and their order in the sequence Standard Polarized BRDF BRDF 12 filters 1020 nm 1020 nm SKY POL IR 1-2-3 1020 nm 1020 nm 1640i nm 1640i nm SKY POL IR 1-2-3 1640i nm 1640i nm 870 nm 870 nm SKY POL IR 1-2-3...
  • Page 40 CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual PP (Standard, BRDF) / PPP (Polarised): The Principal Plan technique also consists in measuring the sky radiance in the aerosol channels. Unlike the almucantar, a constant azimuthal angle is kept with varying zenithal angle to make measurements. In the PP scenario, zenithal angles vary from -6°...
  • Page 41 CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual Filters used and their order in the sequence Polarized BRDF Standard BRDF 12 filters 1020 nm 1020 nm SKY POL IR 1-2-3 1020 nm 1020 nm 1640i nm 1640i nm SKY POL IR 1-2-3 1640i nm 1640i nm 870 nm 870 nm SKY POL IR 1-2-3...

  • Page 42: Group Of Measurement Scenarios

    CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual LANGL: The LANGL scenario consists in compelling the scheduler update. This scenario is automatically launched at 1AM and each time than the coordinates or the date is updated. Calibr: The SKY CALIBRATE scenario consists in performing 3 SKY and 1 BLACK scenario.

  • Page 43: Measurement Schedule In Auto Mode

    CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual Measurement schedule in Auto mode 4.3. 4.3.1. Standard and polarized The photometer follows a daily schedule of automatic actions. Some actions are triggered by the time of the day and some by the air mass which is related to the thickness of atmosphere the sun light has been through to get to the photometer (Langley times).

  • Page 44: Brdf And Brdf 12 Filters

    CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual Morning times Afternoon times Group 09H00 15H00 Group F 09H15 14H45 Group D 09H30 14H30 Group D 09H45 14H15 Group D 10H00 14H00 Group F 10H15 13H45 Group D 10H30 13H30 Group D 10H45 13H15 Group D 11H00 13H00...

  • Page 45: Customized Scenario Programming

    CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual Customized scenario programming 4.4. The first 26 actions can be set by the user himself. The others actions are automatically defined. Go in the PassWord 2 menu to define your own actions (see part 3.2). Important note: •...

  • Page 46: Astpwin Software

    CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual ASTPWin software ASTPwin is the software that enables to establish the communication with the photometer when using the RS232 link. It has to be installed on the acquisition PC and it has to run permanently to receive the data from the photometer. Moreover the software offers many data processing and visualisation tools.
  • Page 47 CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual 3: k7 file visualisation and information such as: • The recording folder. • The file size. • The scenarios number. • The instrument type (standard, BRDF, polar). • The PC date. • The instrument date. Note: the instrument date and the PC date should not have more than a 2 minutes shift.

  • Page 48: Tools

    CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual Tools 5.2. The Tools rolling menu enables to: • Connect/disconnect to the photometer • See the transmissions historic (duration, date, speed…) • Use the conversion tool for GPS coordinates. The conversion tool is useful to convert GPS coordinates in degrees to GPS coordinates in hours.

  • Page 49: Configuration Menu

    CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual • Acess the configuration menu Configuration menu 5.3. The configuration menu is divided into 4 tabs: • Communication Communication type: MODEM, serial cable, USB loop, IP. [Serial cable] Automatic connection at start: tick to launch ASTPWin when the PC starts. This option should be activated.
  • Page 50 CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual Add a description header at the beginning of each file Always display data with numbers List, decimal, time and date separator • Misc Revision 5.0 April 2015 50/70...

  • Page 51: Processing

    CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual • Data Processing 5.4. These processing tools are mainly used for calibration of the instrument and are not useful for customers. However a remote control of the photometer can be done. The instrument remote control by PC enables the user to edit and run its own scripts from a computer via an easy click and drag system.

  • Page 52: Maintenance / Troubleshooting / Faq

    CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual Maintenance / Troubleshooting / FAQ Preventive maintenance 6.1. Before making any preventive maintenance, switch the CU in manual mode. (see part 3.2) Here is a procedure that should be done every week in order to prevent the occurrence of measurement, electronic or mechanical problems on the photometer.

  • Page 53: Corrective Maintenance

    CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual 6. Disassemble the collimator from the sensor head. Check each channel inside the collimator for possible obstruction. If necessary, clean it with dry air or a bottlebrush. It should be perfectly clean. 7. Check the four quadrant sensor. If dirty clean it with a cotton swab. Warning: Never clean the 2 main lenses on the front plate, except after a dust event when they can be cleaned with dry air.

  • Page 54: Robot Leveling Adjustment

    CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual 4. Loosen the 2 nuts maintaining the probe clamp. 5. Withdraw the screw and the wet sensor with is wire from the protection case 6. Slide the wet sensor to get it back and replace it. 6.2.2.

  • Page 55: Troubleshooting

    CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual Troubleshooting 6.3. 6.3.1. Communication and data transfer is down 6.3.1.1. Using serial port transfer protocol The possible causes that may interrupt the communication between the PC and the photometer are: • A power cut happened and the PC restart has not been executed properly. •...

  • Page 56: Bad Sun Tracking

    • Check that the GPS plugged on the transmitter have a good view of the sky • Make sure that the CIMEL and DCP time are correctly set plus minus 10 seconds compared to UT time. 6.3.2. Bad sun tracking If the photometer is declared in AERONET “bad sun tracking”...
  • Page 57 CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual The possible causes that may lead to a bad sun tracking are: • The sun spot is too far from the target after a GOSUN scenario (see step 11 and 16 in the installation part). •...

  • Page 58: Ingaas / Silicon And A / K Discrepancy

    If the resistance is almost null or null, the connection is OK, if it is tending to infinity, then the connection is broken. Please contact cimel technical support for any damaged sensor head cord or if the procedure is not solving the problem.

  • Page 59: Constant Humidity

    • Make sure that all the connectors on the card inside the CU are correctly plugged. • Check all external cables and wires especially the connections. If this procedure does not solve the problem, please contact CIMEL technical support. 6.3.5. Constant humidity If the photometer is declared in AERONET network, “constant humidity”...

  • Page 60: Robot Errors

    • Check the value on the second line of the screen (23 in the example above). • Unplug the wet sensor and check the value on the second line of the screen. If the value when the sensor is plugged is below 18 please contact cimel technical support, the sensor is probably time-worn or damaged.

  • Page 61: Dissymmetric Almucantar

    Launch a PARK scenario and look at the screen: The azimuthal and zenital switch values should be included in between 70 and 90. If below or above this values, please contact cimel technical support. 6.3.7. Dissymmetric Almucantar If the photometer is declare on the AERONET network, dissymmetric almucantar warning flags can be emitted.

  • Page 62: Technical Specifications

    CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual Technical specifications General 7.1. Specification value Irradiance precision < 0.1% Field of view 1.3° Minimal scaterring angle from the sun 2° Spectral range 340 to 1640 nm Optical filter derivation < 1% / year Automated mount Azimuth and zenith motors Sky angular scanning Whole sky :...

  • Page 63: Dimensional Drawings

    CE318 Photometer User's Operation Manual Dimensional drawings 7.2. Revision 5.0 April 2015 63/70...
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  • Page 70: After-Sales Service And Customer Relations

    Phone: (+33) 143 487 933 Fax: (+33) 143 486 261 Email: support@cimel.fr Cimel Electronique can use Skype and Team Viewer to provide technical support. When contacting us please indicate: • The reference and the serial number of your product. • Your email.

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