UNDERSTANDING THE METHODS USED TO ANALYZE THE DRIPPING RATES AT INNER SPACE CAVERNS

Inner Space Caverns, also known as Laubach Cave, is a large public cavern near Georgetown, Texas. As part of a larger effort to understand the complexities of this cave, a study was conducted to understand the methods used to analyze the dripping rates of the cave. To understand the variability of the dripping rates, lab experiments were conducted with three (3) sensors that tracked the amount of water droplets dispensed. The 3 sensors used were an optical sensor, webcam-based sensor, and a data logger. The optical sensor is a light sensor that is directly attached to the water source. When a droplet passes through the light, the sensor counts one droplet. The webcam-based sensor is run by a MATLAB code that takes the standard deviation between the frames collected, makes a threshold value, counts a droplet when the threshold is passed, and saves the data and current frame every five (5) minutes. The data logger is the actual instrument that is put into the cave. The data logger utilizes a glass plate on top of a sensor that picks up vibrations and records the intensity of the vibrations created as the corresponding number of droplets. Analyzing the data from the lab experiments showed that the data logger was inaccurate, counting 90% of the total drops during the 1st day experiment and between 130-150% of the total drops during the 2nd day-long and 3 day-long experiment. Due to the fact that the lab experiment was conducted using a data logger that was previously in the cave, the previous data that was collected from the cave is inaccurate. In order to continue properly studying the cave in the future, the sensors in the cave should be removed and corrected. Correcting the sensors will ensure that the true relationship between the dripping rates/calcite precipitation and rainfall is accurately portrayed. This will help with climate models and the understanding of speleothem growth.