CICEET Progress Report for the period 3/16/06 Through 9/15/06

Project Title: Enhancement and Demonstration of Satellite Telemetry System for Real Time Water Monitoring Throughout the NERRs Network
Principal Investigator(s): M. Blake Henke, North Star Science and Technology, LLC
Additional Investigator(s): Stan Mantel, Applied Micro Design, Inc.
Project Start Date: We started the project on September 1, 2004.

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Tasks to meet objectives
N/A.

Progress on Tasks
11 of the 12 demo units have been deployed at one time or another. The only one that has not been deployed at all is the second VA unit.

At this writing, 6 of the 12 units are operational and working perfectly (1 VA unit, 2 SC units, 1 MD unit, 1 DE unit, and 1 FL unit).

Of the remaining 5 deployed units, 4 of them have been on the air until just recently, and (to my knowledge) 3 of the 5 were deliberately turned off within the last 30-50 days. One of the demo units (DE) was reportedly vandalized and will not be repaired.

Dissemination activities during this reporting period
Publications: CICEET Product Brief
Conferences: Restore America’s Estuaries, Seattle, WA (exhibitor), planning to attend Restore America’s Estuaries again in New Orleans in December, 2006
Contact with End Users: Visit with Padilla Bay NERR site personnel, October 2004. Continued contact with Dr. Willy Reay of the Gloucester Point NERR site. Field visits with each of the 6 Demo sites.

Difficulties
There does not seem to be ANY market interest in this product, despite our seemingly excellent demo results and a marketing agreement with YSI. YSI cannot sell these devices, and we have not heard even a glimmer of interest from the NERR community. I am planning to call each of the NERR sites before the end of the calendar year, and I will make sure they are aware of our product. But beyond that, we fear that this might be a product ahead of its time in the sense that (perhaps) the desire to have real time water quality data is more of a curiosity than a real requirement.

Data Generated to date
None to report here. However, if anyone wants to see the data being transmitted through our RASSL system, please go to www.sensorlink.biz. On the home page, enter “ciceet” as the user name and “demo” as the password (all lower case letters), and that will get you into the system. Once there, click on the “check box” to the left of the unit that you want to view, and wait for the screen to refresh. When it does, that line of the table will be highlighted in blue. Once you see that, click on the “Messages/Data” button on the tool bar up above, and you will then see the data for that particular site.

Project Objectives for Next Reporting Period

Objectives
Make sure that all 12 demo units are installed and operational.

Work plan to Meet Objectives
Contact each NERR site to make sure they are aware of our project and product.

Anticipated Success in Meeting Project Objectives
100%.

Expenditures
We are planning to provide airtime for all of the demo sites through the end of this calendar year.

End User Advisor 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 or by users that do not have access to alternative government managed systems.

2) What, if anything, has changed about this project’s potential applicability since the last reporting period (not applicable for the first Progress Report). No changes since last reporting period.

3) Do you see key challenges that the researchers may want to address or keep in mind? None yet.

4) Does this report offer you enough information to adequately address the above questions? Yes. I would like to reiterate that the PI has remained in constant contact with me throughout this project and has made good efforts to improve both the product and grant delivery.

5) Other feedback? I would like to applaud the PI’s of this project for their routine project updates and for creating a climate that allows for free communication between the PI’s and the local reserves. I would also like to mention the level of professionalism that has been demonstrated throughout this project and the willingness on part of the PI’s to work with the reserves regarding product development and equipment deployment.