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OBS-3A Turbidity and Temperature Monitoring System
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Overview

The OBS-3A combines our OBS probe with pressure, temperature, and conductivity sensors in a battery-powered recording instrument. Batteries and electronics are contained in a housing capable of operating at depths of up to 300 metres—depending on the pressure sensor installed. (OBS® is a registered trademark of Campbell Scientific.)

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Benefits and Features

  • Runs 1,500 to 8,000 hours on three D-cell batteries
  • Monitors sediment concentrations up to 5,000 mg/l and turbidity up to 4,000 NTUs
  • Uses the field-proven OBS® technology (U.S. Patent No. 4,841,157) to measure turbidity
  • Logs instrument depth, wave height, wave period, temperature, and salinity
  • Records 200,000 lines of data in flash memory
  • Programs set points and sampling times
  • Offers an optional 5-point sedimentation calibration

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Technical Description

The heart of the OBS-3A monitoring system is an OBS® sensor for measuring turbidity and suspended solids concentrations. This sensor detects near infrared (NIR) radiation scattered from suspended particles.

A fast-response, stainless steel-clad thermistor monitors temperature. Pressure is measured with a semiconductor piezoresistive strain gage, and conductivity is measured with a four-electrode conduction-type cell. Working depths of the pressure sensor are selected as an option (see Ordering Info).

The monitor uses HydroSci software running under Windows XP, 7, and 8.

Specifications

Output RS-232, RS-485
Maximum Submersion Depth 300 m (984 ft)
Connector MCBH-8-FS, wet-pluggable
Operating Temperature Range 0° to 35°C
Storage Temperature Range -20° to +70°C
Drift over Time < 2% per year
Drift over Temperature 0.05% per °C
Maximum Sample Size 2048
Sampling Rate 1 to 25 Hz (when connected to a PC)
Maximum Data Rate
  • 25 Hz (connected to PC)
  • 5 Hz (used autonomously)
Data Capacity 8 MB
Maximum Number of Data Lines 200,000
Maximum Concentration Range
  • Concentration measurement range and accuracy depend on the sediment type.
  • 0.4 to 5,000 mg/L (for mud)
    Mud is defined as D50 = 20 μm.
  • 2 to 100,000 mg/L (for sand)
    Sand is defined as D50 = 250 μm.
PC Interfaces RS-232/115 kbps, RS-485/115 kbps
Battery Capacity 18 Ahr
Maximum Battery Life 8,000 h
Infrared Wavelength 850 nm
Pressure Measurement Range 0 to 10, 20, 50, 100, or 200 m
Turbidity Measurement Range 0.4 to 4,000 NTU
Conductivity Measurement Range 0 to 65 mS/cm (40 PSU, o/oo)
Concentration Accuracy
  • Concentration measurement range and accuracy depend on the sediment type.
  • 2% of reading (for mud)
    Mud is defined as D50 = 20 μm.
  • 3.5% of reading (for sand)
    Sand is defined as D50 = 250 μm.
Pressure Accuracy ±0.5% of f.s. (where f.s. = 50, 100, or 200 dBar)
Turbidity Accuracy < 2%
Temperature Accuracy ±0.5°C
Conductivity Accuracy 1%
Diameter 7.6 cm (3.0 in.)
Height 36.2 cm (14.3 in.)
Weight 1.5 kg (3.4 lb) without batteries

Compatibility

Field Cables

Campbell Scientific offers a choice of field cables used to connect the OBS-3A to a PC for system configuration. The cables differ in their length. The HydroSci support software can be dowloaded. 

Downloads

HydroSci v.1.2.1 (41.7 MB) 09-10-2017

HydroSci is used to configure and extract data from the CRS45X Recording Submersible Pressure Transducer and the OBS-3A Turbidity and Temperature Monitoring System.

Watch the Video Tutorial: Using HydroSci software with water-level recording sensors.

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