A visiting scientist says MUCHAS GRACIAS!

During this time I was involved in different tasks like taking soil and tree (stump, roots) samples, measuring soil moisture and soil fluxes, irrigating the study site, leading the construction and decorating the Isodrones’ “caseta” (wooden hut), digitalizing data, assisting as Spanish interpreter and translating documents.

The work was very intense and implicated:

• early starting days sometimes ongoing until very late in the night;
• many weekends that were just gone as field work does not follow the normal office week schedule;
• surprising visits by some wild animals like tarantulas, scorpions and snakes;
• some days with up to 40° C in the shadow …

However, all was fully compensated with many unforgettable experiences:

• active and entirely outdoor days;
• sharing the day to day life with an amazing group of people from the Isodrones team and Horizontes station;
• very dynamic and diverse tasks … every day was a new challenging adventure;
• team work to take samples, make different measurements, or discuss and solve field issues;
• some sunsets found us playing a very spontaneous “mejenga” (street football) that went on as long as the ball was visible!
• … or enjoying a short swim at magic playa Cabuyal;
• the best rice & beans made with so much love by Franklin (station´s cooker).

As I have a strong background in stochastic hydrology, i.e. I am more a database final user, having the opportunity of being part of Isodrones during this field campaign gave me the chance to see how much effort it takes to install the equipment to measure data, how important are the methods used for taking samples, what errors might be involved during the sampling and how to reduce them during the field campaigns.

I want to thank the Isodrones team for letting me be part of this extraordinary trip!