Apogee News

The Apogee Instruments Guardian is a multi-sensor monitoring platform designed to be used in controlled environments like greenhouses. One of the sensors of this platform is a photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) sensor mounted on the top of the unit. The Guardian is typically mounted using a trio of hooks and wires that allow it to be hung from a structure like a pole or bar to measure both electric light and natural sunlight in a greenhouse setting.
The purpose of this experiment was to assess the influence of the shadows cast by the thinner original wires versus the new thicker mounting cables on DLI totals calculated by the Guardian. This experiment was conducted by John Huber, an Apogee technical support specialist.

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We at Apogee Instruments are thrilled to express our gratitude to all our amazing customers and subscribers who have supported us for the past 28 years. We couldn't have done it without you! To celebrate our 28th anniversary, we recently ran a 12 Days of Giveaways anniversary celebration on our Instagram account @apogee_instruments.

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Do you know the difference between tipping gauges and weighing precipitation gauges?

Tipping gauges were traditionally used to measure precipitation due to their comparatively lower cost. However, as technology has progressed in the precipitation monitoring sphere, many limitations of the tipping buckets have become apparent. Most people are therefore transitioning to the more accurate weighing gauges.

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Apogee sensors could soon be taking a trip to the moon! Apogee's revolutionary sensors are about to take a giant leap forward. NASA is currently testing our quantum and ePAR sensors, pyrgeometers, pyranometers, and infrared radiometers in a rigorous vacuum and vibration test to ensure the sensors can withstand the extreme conditions of space flight and rocket launch.

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Apogee Instruments has some exciting news! We are proud to introduce Keegan Garrity, our new Sales and Marketing Director! Click the link below to learn more about Keegan's impressive sales and marketing background.

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Apogee Instruments' founder, Dr. Bruce Bugbee, hosted an Ask Me Anything event on Reddit where he answered questions about growing medicinal cannabis based on his groundbreaking research at Utah State University's Crop Physiology Laboratory.

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Congratulations to Apogee founder, Dr. Bruce Bugbee, for being named a Fellow of the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS), the highest honor bestowed by the society on its members.

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Aridea Solutions was looking for a high-accuracy, cost-effective infrared sensor to integrate into their new Aridea Solutions Fever Screening Kit and Apogee infrared sensors fit the bill. For their application, Aridea Solutions requested that Apogee create a custom infrared radiometer, now known as the model SI-4B1-SS, with a tighter calibration range focused around human skin temperatures and with an SDI-12 digital output. After this was quickly delivered by Apogee, Aridea created an easy-to-use system utilizing the Apogee SI-4B1-SS sensor and soon launched this new rapid human febrile temperature screening system that has now been deployed at several factories and venues around the world. The Aridea Fever Screening system provides a completely touch-free way for up to 500 people to be fever-scanned in under 30 minutes.

Apogee is proud to have been a small part of providing the sensors that helped bring an important device to market during the COVID-19 pandemic. For information on how Apogee can provide high-accuracy infrared sensors for any other systems, contact us today.

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In this video, Dr. Bruce Bugbee summarizes the dual effects of photon quality on photosynthesis and plant shape. Spectral quality has an enormous effect on shape, but the effect varies among species. Conversely, the effect of spectral quality on photosynthesis is nearly constant among species, but our definition of photosynthetic photons may need revision to include both far-red photons and UV photons between 360 and 400 nm.

If you can't access the video via Youtube, click here.

In this video, Dr. Bruce Bugbee shows the calculations necessary to determine drop yield potential when light is the only limiting factor. This is now widely used to predict yields in indoor agriculture and vertical farming. The approach starts from the efficiency of photosynthesis (measured as quantum yield), expands to include the efficiency of respiration (called carbon use efficiency) and includes photon capture efficiency and harvest index. The model is called the Energy Cascade Model. It has been used by NASA to model the size of a space farm in regenerative food production. It is also used by the USDA to calculate potential yield of agriculture on Earth.

If you can't access the video via Youtube, click here.

Bruce Bugbee and a team of scientists at Utah State University are leveraging their expertise in controlled environments to research best cultivation practices, optimize yield, and enhance the quality of hemp (cannabis) for botanical medicines.

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Due to popular demand, the Apogee MC-100 Chlorophyll Concentration Meter now features specific cannabis and grapevine settings in addition to the 20+ previously available species. While a general setting has always been available to measure these and other non-specified species, the newly added cannabis and grapevine coefficients mean these species can be measured with even higher accuracy. The new settings come preloaded on MC-100 units with serial #1390 and above and are easily added to older MC-100 units by following the instructions in this video.

If you can't access the video via Youtube, click here

Ben Crabb talks about a set of new coefficients we have for our MC-100 Chlorophyll Meter. These two new settings now come preloaded on newly purchased meters and can be added to all older MC-100 meters by following the instructions outlined in the video above or on the Chlorophyll Meter Support page.

If you can't access the video via Youtube, click here

This video covers Apogee's Lab Spectroradiometers -- our PS-100, PS-200, and PS-300 units. We will also cover the common applications of spectroradiometers, the differences between the models, setting up the instrument, demonstrating the software, and then how to export data to Excel.

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Congratulations to Apogee founder, Dr. Bruce Bugbee, for being named a Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy (ASA), the professional society of crop and soil scientists, educators, and practitioners who work to discover and apply agronomic solutions to feed and sustain the world.

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Bruce Bugbee, President of Apogee Instruments and professor of Crop Physiology at Utah State University, recently gave a talk at the Campbell Scientific Partner's Coverence covering some of the best practices of ag weather measurement. In the video, Bruce talks about the advantages of various temperature sensors, the value of fan-aspiration, radiation frost, and answered various questions from the audience.

If you can't access the video via Youtube, click here

An interview with Dr. Bruce Bugbee of Utah State University and Apogee Instruments. MIGRO asks Bruce what the new developments are in grow lighting and discusses the effects of different light colors and intensity on plant growth and development.

Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS) is using Apogees' MQ-510 underwater full-spectrum quantum meter to help study coral acidification. Here is a description Sara Swaminathan provided about their work:

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Apogees’ customers find the coolest ways to use our sensors. This recent blog post from Voltaic shows how our popular SQ-520 USB full-spectrum quantum sensor can be connected to their 5V "always-on" battery pack for remote logging up to thirty days without interruption. This "always-on" feature is important because all of our USB sensors have such a low power draw that some USB batteries and power adapters shut down thinking nothing is plugged in. By using the Voltaic battery and enabling the on-board logging memory in our sensor, our USB sensors can be used almost anywhere!

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A common question among many new home owners is: where should we put the vegetable garden?  Schuyler Smith, an employee at Apogee Instruments, ran into this very problem this past spring. Using an Apogee SQ-520 powered with a Voltaic V44 battery, Schuyler conducted an experiment to see what spot in his yard would be the best place for a garden.

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All PAR sensors will have some accuracy variance when measuring light sources other than the type used for factory calibration. At Apogee, we have developed a web app that quickly corrects for these spectral errors based on your light source. Watch the video or click the link below to learn more.

Quantum (PAR) sensor spectral error correction tool

Oxygen sensors can be very tricky to calibrate. In this video, John Huber covers some of the frequently asked questions for the operation and calibration of our oxygen sensors.

Apogee Oxygen Sensor Readings Calculator

Apogee Instruments, Campbell Scientific, and the Department of Plants and Soils and Climate at Utah State University are pleased to announce the dedication of a state-of-the-art educational weather observatory on the Logan, Utah library plaza. The dedication even was held on June 7th as the kickoff event for the summer reading program.

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The Apogee Instruments-Campbell Scientific Lecture series at Utah state University was honored to host Marc van Iersel for the PSC seminar on Monday, 26 March, 2018. He discussed recent studies on the synergistic effects of light quality on photosynthetic efficiency. Marc van Iersel is currently the Dooley Professor of Horticulture at the University of Georgia. He has made innovative use of photosynthetic gas exchange techniques with both single leaves and whole-plant canopies. His recent work has focused on quantifying the value of far-red photons in photosynthesis.

Apogee Instruments’ Full-Spectrum Quantum Sensor is now available in two new amplified voltage outputs and a digital SDI-12 output for easy integration into systems that are not designed for millivolt signals. The sensors have been designed to have all the circuitry inside the head, the same as our un-amplified sensor (SQ-500), allowing them to remain rugged and waterproof. The amplified models include the SQ-512 with a 0-2.5 V output and the SQ-515 with a 0-5 V output. The SQ-521 is a digital sensor that uses SDI-12 communication protocol.

 

Determining the best position for your grow light isn't always a simple task. Each light distributes light differently on the grow area making it difficult to know where to position the light for maximum yield. To help growers determine the right position, lighting manufacturers will provide a recommended hanging height for the light, the area the light will cover at the recommended height, and a photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) value for the light. Although this information can be a great starting point, it down's tell growers the amount, or distribution, of usable light throughout the grow space. To give growers a better understanding of usable light in grow space, MIGRO, a developer of advanced grow lights, purchased an Apogee Instruments Full-spectrum Quantum Sensor.

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Watch Apogee's latest how-to video to learn everything you need to know to start taking chlorophyll measurements with your MC-100 Chlorophyll Concentration Meter. In this video, Schuyler Smith, of Apogee Instruments, will teach you how to take measurements using the MC-100 in SPAD, CCI and µmol of chlorophyll per square meter of plant leaf area units, and will how you how to download your data onto your computer for analysis.

During the Great American Solar Eclipse of 2017, Dr. Bruce Bugbee, president of Apogee Instruments and a professor at Utah State University, deployed a suite of sensors in the path of totality in Rexburg, Idaho to measure various environmental parameters during the eclipse. In this video, Bruce discusses his findings. The Apogee sensors he used included spectroradiometers, a net radiometer, pyranometers, full-spectrum quantum sensors, infrared radiometers, and a precision theristor inside an aspirated radiation shield.

Download the slides from the video >

Apogee Spectroradiometer Shows Eclipse Glasses Filtration vs. Typical Sunglasses >

In June, key representatives from Apogee paid a long-overdue visit to a few of our partners in China, South Korea, and Japan. Apogee has a long history of selling sensors in Asia, and we were excited to visit our representatives for the first time in their homeland. Dr. Bruce Bugbee, Mark Blonquist, and Devin Overly soon discovered that we should've visited a long time ago, as our partners gave great insights and showed wonderful hospitality.

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Not sure which oxygen sensor you need for your application? In this video, Schuyler Smith of Apogee Instruments, covers the different oxygen sensor models we offer, applications they are best suited for, and which accessories are needed for those applications.

Dr. Bruce Bugbee, founder of Apogee Instruments, was selected as one of the scientists that will help NASA develop new technology to help humans live on Mars. Bugbee, a professor in USU's Department of Plants, Soils and Climate has collaborated with NASA for more than 30 years to study regenerative systems and the effects of microgravity on plants. He will now be front and center with USU’s Lance Seefeldt in the $15 million, five year project by NASA to initiate the new Space Technology Research Institute, "Center for the Utilization of Biological Engineering in Space" or CUBES.

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Mark Blonquist of Apogee Instruments gives an overview of the SP-510 Thermopile Pyranometer and compares it to Apogee's well-known silicon-cell pyranometers.

Are you modeling net radiation? In this video Dr. Bruce Bugbee, president of Apogee Instruments, discusses the evolution of net radiometers and why it is better to measure net radiation than model it. The video also talks about how the designs of older net radiometers influenced the design of the new Apogee Instruments SN-500 Net Radiometer, a research-grade, four component net radiometer that is highly accurate and moderately priced. The SN-500 features tiny internal heaters to keep the optics clear of any dew and frost, and measures and displays all-four components of net radiation, outputting the information in SDI-12 format to preserve data-logger channels.

Dr. Bruce Bugbee, President of Apogee Instruments, introduces Apogee's new four-component net radiometer. Dr. Bugbee begins the video by briefly introducing the research that preceded the net radiometer's development and influenced many of its design characteristics. The remainder of the video is spent discussing the unique design of Apogee's net radiometer including: small size and weight to reduce footprint on weather stations, separate measurements of the four components of net radiation for best accuracy, SDI-12 output to reduce data logger channel occupancy, and heated sensors with low power requirements. Apogee's new net radiometer is comparable in accuracy to other four component net radiometers such as the Kipp and Zonen CNR 4 and Hukseflux NR01, which can be seen in the video as well.

Apogee Instruments is excited to introduce our Principles of Energy Balance in Environmental Systems free webinar lecture series. These videos are designed to give Apogee customers and distributors an introduction to energy balance principles and their application to plant growth, water use, and climate science.

The seven-part series is taught by Dr. Bruce Bugbee, a world-renowned professor of crop physiology at Utah State University and President of Apogee Instruments. Dr. Bugbee discusses principles based on the first law of thermodynamics including:

• The seven components of the energy balance equation
• The efficiency of photosynthesis
• Shortwave, longwave, and net radiation
• Radiation balance on Earth
• Transpiration
• Conduction and convection

Apogee recently held an open house to celebrate our 20th anniversary and the completion of our expansion project that tripled the size of our headquarters. Joining us on May 10th, 2016 were many great university colleagues, customers, partners, neighbors, construction workers, and family members. After a brief speech by company president, Dr. Bruce Bugbee, the staff provided tours of the new facility including our expanded ESD-protected production area, an improved loading and shipping area, a machine-shop, a climate-controlled calibration lab, a photo/video studio, several engineering offices, a beautiful employee break room, a state-of-the-art classroom, and a museum of antique weather instruments.

The new facility features a highly-efficient design with large windows to utilize natural light, enhanced insulation, radiant floor heat, and louvered architectural awnings that are precisely angled at 22° to provide shade in the summer and allow the sun to pass through in winter. Along the front of the building, 17 new solar PV panels were added in a continuous arc to blend with the style of the facade. To monitor the many new building control systems, several Apogee sensors were installed, including infrared radiometers, thermistors, and pyranometers.

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Congratulations to Apogee founder, Dr. Bruce Bugbee, for earning Utah State University’s top research award: “For his continued demonstration of creative achievement and excellence in research, the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences researcher is the 2016 D. Wynne Thorne Career Research Award recipient, the most prestigious research accolade given at USU.”

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Loved Bruce's blog in the Huffington Post? Then check out other great articles with information on The Martian featuring Dr. Bruce Bugbee here.

Apogee's founder Dr. Bruce Bugbee has been featured in a number of articles and interviews regarding the new movie The Martian. You can read his blog post on The Martian featured in the Huffington Post here.

Apogee is proud to announce the expansion of our headquarters. Apogee has come a long way since 1996, when Dr. Bruce Bugbee began creating and manufacturing his own instruments out of his garage. We are excited to see our new two-story, 10,000 ft. expansion take shape, which is expected to be complete in early 2016. The new section will include a greatly expanded production area, a new R&D lab, a state-of-the art training area, a marketing communications studio, and more.

An article by Apogee's Mark Blonquist and Dr. Bruce Bugbee was published in the August 2014 issue of Meteorological Technology International. The article, "Active or Passive: The challenge of accurately measuring air temperature," describes the pros and cons of different air temperature measurement methods and the important gap filled in the market by Apogee's new TS-100 low-power aspirated radiation shield. Also included are data from Apogee's extensive field testing, and information on how the TS-100 is being used for different applications like the GAMUT network and in measuring record-setting cold temperatures at Peter Sinks, Utah. Click to read the article at Meteorological Technology International, or download a PDF copy here.

We are proud to announce the launch of Apogee's new company logo as part of the ongoing evolution of our brand. Apogee has flourished since 1996 and we felt it was time for another change to reflect who we are today and symbolize our dynamic future. This wasn't a decision made lightly. We are proud of our rich history. That's why our new logo has retained some of the core elements while we added a modern touch. Here is an image of the changes we've made over the years.

In the upcoming months we will update all of our marketing collaterals, literature, manuals, product images, stationary, web site etc. with the new logo. This is a huge process that will take some time. If you are an Apogee distributor, we recommend using any existing Apogee branded materials until your stock runs out and then making the change. If you are a customer, please know that even though our logo has changed, we have not changed. We still have the same commitment to quality and service that has made us a leader in the industry. Be sure to check back on our site often as we have many other improvements in the works.

R&D and marketing teams from Apogee have returned from a productive trip to Decagon Devices in Pullman, Washington. It's nice to have friends in the industry who share our values. As lifelong researchers and educators, both company founders, Dr. Gaylon Campbell and Dr. Bruce Bugbee, know the good that comes from making high-quality instruments more accessible to scientists around the world. When companies make the advancement of science the top priority, great things can happen.

The Cache County Chamber of Commerce awarded Dr. Bruce Bugbee the 2014 Entrepreneur of the Year award for his leadership of Apogee Instruments, Inc. The award was presented at the chamber's annual awards banquet and featured a keynote address by Utah's lieutenant governor, Spencer J.Cox.

Dr. Bruce Bugbee, Apogee's president, current USU professor, and world-class crop physiologist, spoke at the TEDxUSU "Survive" event, on November 5, 2013. His talk was entitled "Turning Water into Food" which presented an analysis on the enormous water requirement for food production, reviewed the crisis in world water supply, and showed how small changes in diet can have a major impact on our global food-print.

Apogee is continually improving the durability and reliability of our sensors. This ongoing process has reduced product failure to negligible levels. As a result, Apogee Instruments is proud to announce that, as of August 1, 2013, all products we manufacture now carry an industry leading 4 year warranty. Visit our warranty page for details.

Apogee proudly sponsors the Utah State University Algae Biofuel Dragster

Many first time customers visit Apogee's website wondering if our sensors will fit their application. Answering this question is complex because Apogee has many sensors and multiple options for each sensor. One of Apogee Instruments' employees, Schuyler Smith, has compiled a list of things to consider in order to help customers narrow down their search when shopping for a sensor

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