CICEET Progress Report for the period 9/15/04 Through 3/15/05
Project Title: Enhancement and Demonstration of Satellite Telemetry System for Real Time Water Monitoring Throughout the NERRs Network
Principal Investigator(s): M. Blake Henke
Additional Investigator(s): Stan Mantel
Project Start Date: We started the project on September 1, 2004, even though funding was not provided until late November.
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Objectives
1. Re-design electronics board to operate at lower power and to reduce electronics costs.
2. Build 12 demo units for application at the 6 demo sites (2 per site).
3. Market the system to possible users, and see input from them.
4. Enhance www data delivery portal to allow 2 water quality parameters to be displayed on the same graph at the same time.
5. Make plans to install the 12 demo units at the selected 6 demo sites.
Tasks to meet objectives
N/A. The tasks stated above are explicit enough.
Progress on Tasks
The electronics board we are using has been redesigned to utilize a smaller and less expensive microprocessor. The 12 demo units have been built and are in the packaging phase at this writing. [Please see Remote Access Sensor Link (RASL) Figures #1-3. These show what the hardware will look like.] The electronics board will reside inside a small NEMA housing, which itself will be housed inside a fiberglass NEMA 4 housing, along with the rechargeable NiMH battery. See photos #2-3 for close-up views of the RASL packaging and battery configuration. Each RASL unit will also feature a 10W solar panel to provide a trickle charge to the battery. This configuration will provide reliable power for extended autonomous deployments.
North Star personnel attended a “Restore America’s Estuaries” conference in Seattle in September to market our system to potential users. We were an exhibitor. While there, North Star personnel met with representatives of the Padilla Bay NERR site to introduce our system and to seek advice. A representative of the Padilla NERR site suggested that we configure our www data delivery portal so that 2 water quality parameters could be potted on the same graph at the same time. We have done that. [See Figure 4. This shows in the top graph temperature and dissolved O2 depicted on the same graph, with temperature in blue and DO in green.] A user can select any of the water quality parameters to be graphed. The water quality parameters are listed in a “bar” across the top of each graph on the www site. Above that is another bar that allows the user to select the time period over which he/she would like to view their data, from 1-10 days.
We also conversed with Steve Rumrill about the possibility of his NERR site in Oregon joining the demonstration project. No determination has been made on that, as of this writing.
We are planning to install the first 2 demo units at the Gloucester Point Virginia NERR site on April 8, 2005, and we are making plans to visit with the other 5 demo sites in short order after that.
In other developments that are not directly related to the CICEET grant, we have adapted our RASL system to operate with 2 additional sensors, and are about to add a third. At the request of Endeco/YSI, we have adapted our system to operate with a water volume/velocity sensor made by a company called SonTek (SonTek is owned by Endeco/YSI). We have also adapted our system to operate with a water level sensor made by a company in North Carolina called Remote Data Systems (RDS). The RDS sensors are specifically adapted for measuring water level in a wetland environment.
Endeco/YSI has also just sent us a nutrient sensor to adapt the RASL system to operate with. And we will be getting underway what that development effort in the coming weeks.
Difficulties
None encountered thus far.
Project Objectives for Next Reporting Period
1. Get all 12 demo units installed and operational, and monitor progress while paying for the airtime fees for the next 2 year per unit per site.
2. Adapt our RASL system to operate with wind sensors, and eventually entire weather stations.
3. Complete integration of the YSI nutrient sensor.
4. Add additional ports on our hardware to allow users to hook up multiple sondes to a single RASL device.
Objectives
Deliver and install 2 RASL demonstration units to Gloucester Point NERR site on April 8, 2005. Provide any assistance necessary.
Deliver and install all 12 demo units.
Tasks to Meet Objectives
Not applicable.
Work Plan for Next Reporting Period
Deliver and Install all 12 RASL units by the end of June 2005.
Add additional data ports to the RASL hardware so that multiple sondes can operate through a single RASL unit.
Integrate the RASL system with weather sensors.
Anticipated Success in Meeting Project Objectives
100%.
Overall Project Timeline Update
No changes.
Preliminary Data
None to report. There will be some in the next progress report.
Dissemination
Publications: None
Workshops: None
Conferences: Restore America’s Estuaries, Seattle, WA (exhibitor)
Manuals, Protocols: None
Outreach Activities: None
Contact with End Users: Visit with Padilla Bay NERR site personnel, October 2005. Continued contact with Dr. Willy Reay of the Gloucester Point NERR site.
Patent, Copyright, Invention Disclosure Activity: None
Expenditures
Project expenditures are on track and have not deviated from the project plan.
End User Feedback
Name: William Reay
Organization: Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary
Location: Gloucester Point, VA
Phone number: 804-684-7119
E-mail: wreay@vims.edu
1) At this stage, what are the potential applications for this research?
We anticipate the real value of this system will be delivery of water quality and weather data from remote locations that are not conducive to alternative telemetry technologies. From a research perspective, data from these locations will allow us to target field activities to coincide with relatively short-term events (eg., algal blooms, low DO events etc). The ease of installations and the compactness of this technology is an asset for short-term deployments.
2) Please discuss how you and others could potentially use the technology.
See above with respect to research activities. Regarding monitoring programs, we anticipate that this technology will allow us to deliver real-time data from remote sites during extreme “bad” weather conditions.
3) What, if anything, has changed about this project’s potential applicability since the last reporting period (not applicable for the first Progress Report).
Nothing has changed.
4) Do you see key challenges that the researchers may want to address or keep in mind?
None yet.
5) Does this report offer you enough information to adequately address the above questions?
Yes. In addition, the PI has remained in constant contact with me throughout this project.