NRS Home Link
University of California's Natural Reserve System
   
Reserve Map

 

 

NRS System MenuReserve MenuResearch Database MenuPublications MenuGrants MenuFor Staff Menu
 

Status of NRS Reserve Internet Connectivity Development
(see map of NRS reserves at the system-wide office for reference)

UCNRS Information Manager, February 2009

The table on this page lists the status of Internet connectivity at the 37 NRS reserve field sites.

If a field site has no facilities, it is assumed that no internet connectivity is not a priority.

For remote sites with facilities, wireless technologies provide promising options to establish or improve connectivity. In particular, satellite links, are a cost-effective means to connect local area networks at those sites to the Internet. For example, Granite Mountains' solution is based on a satellite system. For Santa Cruz Island, we have initiated a wireless radio link that includes both network connectivity and phone channels.

We are also working with CENIC, which has a mandate to provide and improve network infrastructure for research and education in the state of California. Each reserve has been submitted to CENIC for revue. We are still awaiting specific information from CENIC on the types and speeds of connectivity options they may provide to NRS, as well as associated costs which may vary due to location.

For further details and additional connectivity resources see NRS Field site Internet connectivity options (incl. information on satellite systems and ways of connecting multiple machines at a reserve to the Internet, plus CENIC, HPWREN and more). In addition, the survey Information Technology and Electronic Networking in NRS provides baseline information on NRS connectivity as of May 2000.


TABLE: CONNECTIVITY ACTIVITIES BY SITE

BERKELEY


1. Angelo Coast Range Reserve

ANWI: Angelo Network Wireless Infrastructure

ANWI is a fixed wireless packet network to support NCED field research and communications at the Angelo Coast Range Reserve. Heavily forested, rugged topography throughout the 30 km2 Angelo Reserve poses extreme challenges for placing equipment and transmitting signal through the reserve. Angelo’s size and terrain makes simple ad-hoc or mesh networks impossible. In consultation with HPWREN and CENS, we have chosen to develop a multi-tiered, multi-protocol network.

Wired Internet Connection (155mbps OC3)
ANWI will connect at Cahto Peak Johanessen’
microwave installations on 3 peaks which link to the internet in Ukiah, CA 65km away. There, it enters an OC3 fiber-optic connection with 155 mbps bandwith and only 2millisecond latency. With this connection, we may have better network response at the Angelo Reserve than most of us have on our respective campuses.

Tier 1: Backbone
Often called the backhaul in the telecom industry, this is a set of high-speed microwave relays that operate as invisible wires to connect the Reserve with the outside world. Tier 1 will have 9 backbone sites (red cylinders in image). We are using Wi-Lan VP110-24 2.4ghz radios for these links. The Wi-Lan radios use a proprietary VINES protocol with
anypoint to anypoint, multi-hop capability. Standard “WiFi” protocol (802.11) cannot do this. The high frequency, 2.4ghz, allows for 11mbs on the network at very low latencies (2-10 milliseconds). This high capacity comes at a cost. 2.4ghz frequency needs to function with direct line of sight. Microwave is sensitive to moisture in the air, rainfall, and vegetation. Careful site planning was required to get line-of-sight between the radios.

Tier 2: Uplink Sites
While the backbone remains high on the ridges, the uplink sites are situated in areas of heavy use in the riparian zones of the canyons. Uplink sites, use Maxstream XTend radios to uplink to the backbone. (recommended by Tracy Allen, Electronically Monitored
EcoSystems). Maxstream XTend radios are 900 mhz frequency and have a throughput of 230 kbps. The lower frequency allows much higher penetration of vegetation. Maxstreams are also one of the most sensitive packet radios on the market, operating as low as -110RSSI (Wi-lan radios -92 RSSI).

Source of info

2. Chickering American River Reserve No UC facilities at field site.
3. Hastings Natural History Reservation Currently on Satellite Network at a high speed but with a daily bandwidth limit. Contract (in yr. 3/5) with Ground Control, (SLO) who provide fixed pricing for Hughes satellite connectivity (Business 300 plan; 1250Mb daily, 1200 Down, 300-512Kb up). Proposal to install a 5 ghtz radio link to a high speed service provider. Extensive wireless and Meraki Network avaiable to user.
4. Jenny Pygmy Forest Reserve no facilities at field site
5. Blue Oak Ranch 5 ghtz radio link to Lick Observatory. A solar powered repeater station makes the Lick Connection and then a 2.4 ghtz radio connects to the building. A router and meraki network provide connectivity to it's users.
6. Sagehen Creek Reserve A hard-line T1 connection tied directly with UC Berkeley. An extensive meraki network provides connectivity to it's users. Towers and various frequency radios are also used to provide connectivity throughout the mountain's experimental forest to weather stations. located at the towers.
DAVIS 7. Bodega Marine Reserve has adequate connectivity through Bodega Marine Lab (T1). Would like to extend that connectivity to the housing and dining area. They are looking into a T3.
8. Eagle Lake Field Station Satellite Connection provided by The Combined Resource Group at $1079.40 per year for internet service ( $89.95/month ).
9. Jepson Prairie Reserve no facilities at field site. Radio link to campus for weather station.
10. McLaughlin Natural Reserve Currently on Satellite Network at a high speed but with a daily bandwidth limit for Hughes satellite connectivity. Hard-line T1 connection may be possible at this location and would be a great improvement to their current situation. Plans are in place to extent the wireless network throughout the reserve as well as en extensive network camera surveillance system.
11. Quail Ridge Reserve Has a full T1 to the reserve linked to UC Davis campus.
12. Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve no facilities at field site
IRVINE 13. Burns Piņon Ridge Reserve Dial Up only. (possible CENIC candidate)
14. San Joaquin Freshwater Marsh Reserve

No facilities on site but very close to university. Could benefit from a wireless radio link.
NACS put in wireless in offices on the UCI North Campus - and put in good hard line outlets in every room as well.

LOS ANGELES
15. Stunt Ranch Santa Monica Mountains Reserve Currently no facilities at field site but plans for one have been made. The reserve has a very high level of researcher use and especially K-12 educational programs. A network connection could help bring this reserve into the classrooms to enhance their field trip educational experiences.
RIVERSIDE
16. Box Springs Reserve no facilities at field site. Very close to campus.
17. Boyd Deep Canyon Desert Research Center

High Speed connections via radio link to UCR Palm Desert Campus.
Also have a high-speed connectivity via HPWREN at Agave Hill.
Wireless connectivity and a Meraki Network available to users.

18. Emerson Oaks Reserve DSL connectivity currently. Extended this network to facilities further inside the reserve. Wireless connectivity and remote data collecting planned for area.
19. James San Jacinto Mountains Reserve Dual T2 connectivity through a dedicated link with UC Riverside.
20. Motte Rimrock Reserve DSL connectivity with wireless network infrastructure.
21. Sweeney Granite Mountains Desert Research Center

Use HughesNet for a satellite service, the plan usied is the BI500 which allows for upstream speeds of 512 kbps and dowload speeds of 3000 with the download threshold at 800 MB per day. The modem is the HN9000 model. Other than this, our local network is still using the LinkSys and Meraki units as you have seen in the past. Rad-Direct VDSL modems connects the buildings. Extensive Meraki Network available to it's users. Telephone company equipment and cabling to the reserve is outdated and problematic making high speed hard-line impossible without improving the telephone infrastructure. There are plans from the city to solve this problem so Granites may be a candidate in the near future for a hard-line high speed network.

SAN DIEGO



22. Dawson Los Monos Canyon Reserve Trailer with laboratory on site. DSL connectivity with wireless infrastructure
23. Elliott Chaparral Reserve no facilities at field site. No AC power or connectivity.
24. Kendall-Frost Mission Bay Marsh Reserve Trailer with utilities, lab space, and living area. DSL connectivity with a limited range wireless router, no infrastructure yet.
25. Scripps Coastal Reserve no facilities at field site. No AC power or connectivity. Extending campus network wirelessly over the reserve could allow researchers to take advantage of remote data collection technology.
SANTA BARBARA






26. Coal Oil Point Natural Reserve DSL Connection with wireless infrastucture. Experiencing limitations due to bandwidth. Plans are in place to directly connect to the UC Santa Barbra network via 900 ghtz radios and improve connectivity on the reserve and surounding area.
27. Carpinteria Salt Marsh Reserve no facilities at field site.
28.  Kenneth S.  Norris Rancho Marino Reserve Cable Modem connecitity with a wireless infrastructure. Meraki Wireless Network provides connectivity to all buildings on the reserve.
29. Santa Cruz Island Reserve Two hop Microwave link for our Internet connection. The Internet service connection from the island goes directly into the UCSB campus system and seems to operate at about T1 speed. The connection has been quite reliable. Connections available at the Field Station as well as at director's house. Use VoIP for the phone lines.
30. Sedgwick Reserve Has adequate connectivity; linked directly to UCSB campus via frame relay (256 kB/s). Expect to expand this capability for higher throughput. Small Meraki Network installed with plans to expand the network to other locations on the reserve. In the process of upgrading to a T1, primarily to provide faster access for the telescope project.
31. Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory At SNARL we now have a wireless point-to-point connection back to our ISP in Mammoth Lakes, the Mono County Office of Education. We use Solectek 4.8 and 5.2 GHz radios for two hops using a relay point on Doe Ridge above Mammoth airport. We get download speeds of around 20,000 bps.
32. Valentine Camp We use a system similar to the one at SNARL although all at 5.2 Ghz. We have a relay point at a private residence in the Juniper Ridge subdivision above Valcamp. Once we get the Internet into Valcamp we distribute it to all the cabins using a 900 Mhz wireless system.
SANTA CRUZ



33. Aņo Nuevo Island Reserve On the mainland we don't have internet connectivity, but the park does. The park has put a new webcam on the island and there might be internet connectivity attached to that at some point. If that happens it would probably have daytime hour limits since it is solar powered. All office work has been moved back to Long Marine Lab at this point.
34. Fort Ord Natural Reserve no facilities at field site. There is potential for line of site internet. We would need a solar array as there is currently no power.
35. Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve Satellite connectivity with many throughput issues as well as power drain on solar powered system. Location makes hard-line connection very difficult due to lack to telephonic infrastructure. Has the facilities to support a more robust network connectivity framework.
36. Younger Lagoon Reserve no facilities at field site. Lab across for reserve could potentially provide wireless internet connectivity to allow for remote sensing technology.

 


CONTACTS, COST ESTIMATES AND FUNDING:

The UCNRS Information Manager (infomgrucnrs.org) is a contact for all listed projects. In addition, key contacts for the various projects are listed below.

Satellite links and other technologies: see the connectivity options page.

CENIC: David Wasley, Director of Projects, (510) 987-0445, David.Wasley@ucop.edu. (Bob Sams in the Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, UCOP, has expressed interest in coordinating their communications needs with those of NRS. David Wasley has invited him to participate in our planning discussions). Cost Estimate and funding: The costs for connections through CENIC are not yet known. I have submitted a list of potential field sites to David Wasley, and he is presently looking into the possibilities for connections to those sites. Once we get information about CENIC options and associated costs, individual reserves will have to find the resources to fund the connections. Because this is a coordinated system-wide effort, we will look into the possibility of grants from NSF's Division of Biological Infrastructure and other funding organizations.


HPWREN: Hans-Werner Braun, senior fellow, SDSC, 858- 822-0949, hwb@nlanr.net; PI of the HPWREN project;
Braun and his associate, Frank Vernon of UCSD (HPWREN Co-PI, and SIO geophysicist, vernon@epicenter.ucsd.edu) went on a site visit at Boyd to meet and discuss details of the microwave link with reserve director Al Muth. Cost Estimate and funding: The HPWREN project is willing to provide the 802.11b radios and antennas for the link, including on Toro Peak, Agave Hill, and the target location at no cost. At the target location, the demarcation will be an Ethernet interface. Boyd will have to provide electricity and equipment housing on Agave Hill (examples: line power or 12V via a solar array) and whatever is needed to house the radio(s) and antennas (weather proof box, and 10' tower segment, such as a Rohn 25G that you would concrete into the ground). Due to weather constraints, installation of the link with Red Mountain and Toro Peak will likely be after winter 2001/2 (May+). The link will have a bandwidth > T1.


Santa Cruz Island Microwave link: Lyndal Laughrin (LLaughrin@ucnrs.org, 805-448-3491) is the main contact. In addition, Brian White (brian.white@commserv.ucsb.edu, UCSB Communications Services, 805-893-7279). The project is unusually complex as it involves several other parties (The Nature Conservancy; California Coastal Commision; UCSB campus departments such as Engineering). Also, in addition to a high-speed Internet connection, the link includes four direct phone lines to replace the present single cell phone connection.

Cost Estimate and funding: Lyndal Laughrin obtained a grant from NSF's Division of Biological Infrastructure for a communications link to the main land. The complexity of the link (data and voice, incl. infrastructure on the island), and the extreme physical parameters (31 miles over water), account for the total price tag of $35K (Lyndal will provide an updated cost breakdown with equipment and installation costs). In addition, the UCSB Communications Services department has been exceptionally helpful in providing assistance and services at little or no cost (incl. antenna installation on the Engineering building, planning for the campus feeds of voice and data).

 

 


LIST OF NRS SITE ADDRESSES SUBMITTED TO CENIC:

================
Angelo Coast Range Reserve:
Coordinates: 39 deg. 43 min. 45 sec. North
121 deg. 38 min. 40 sec. West
Address:
42101 Wilderness Lodge Rd.
Branscomb, CA 95417

================
Hastings Natural History Reservation:
Coordinates: 36 deg. 12 min. 30 sec. North
121 deg. 33 min. 30sec. West
http://nrs.ucop.edu/reserves/hastings/hastings.html
Street address for connection:
The office building there is not at a street address, but is about 1 mile in
from the Carmel Valley Road. There, it is at Martin Road, the
crossroad, and this is 38601 E. Carmel Valley Road.

================
McLaughlin: http://nrs.ucop.edu/reserves/mclaughlin.html
Coordinates: 38 deg. 52 min. 0 sec. North
122 deg. 25 min. 40 sec. West
Street address for connection:
26775 Morgan Valley Rd.
Lower Lake, Ca 95457

================
Quail Ridge: http://nrs.ucop.edu/reserves/quail.html
Coordinates: 38 deg. 28 min. 40 sec. North
122 deg. 08 min. 50 sec. West
Street address for connection:
7100 Highway 128
Napa, Ca 94558

================
Motte Rimrock Reserve:
Coordinates: 33 deg. 48 min. 45 sec. North
117 deg. 15 min. 30 sec. West
Address:
21800 Lukens Lane
Perris, CA 92370

================
Sweeney Granite Mountains Desert Research Center:
Coordinates: deg. min. sec. North
deg. min. sec. West
closest addresses:
(To the north, about 50 miles)
Mojave National Preserve Information
Center, 72157 Baker Blvd., Baker, CA 92309.

(To the south, about 30 miles)
Ludlow Chevron, 25635 Crucero Rd., Ludlow, CA 92338.

================
Kenneth S. Norris Rancho Marino Reserve :
Coordinates: 35 deg. 32 min. 30 sec. North
121 deg.05 min. 30 sec. West
Address:
393 Ardath Drive
Cambria, CA 93428

================
Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory:
Coordinates: 37 deg. 36 min. 51 sec. North
118 deg. 49 min. 47 sec. West
Address:
Route 1, Box 198, Mt. Morrison Rd.
Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546

================
Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve:
Coordinates: 36 deg. 3 min. 40 sec. North
121 deg. 34 min. 28 sec. West
Address:
Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve,
Coast Route, Big Sur, CA 93920

© UCOP
Contacts       Donations      Jobs       Site Map       Search       WebMaster
last updated 09/20/2006