A low-cost Lagrangian drifter based on open-source hardware and software platform

Cadena, A.; Vera, S.; Moreira, Mayra

doi:10.1109/iccar.2018.8384673

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…They are very helpful for calibration and validation of particle-tracking models [ 34 , 42 ], and they can be crucial for understanding the different effect of wind, waves, and currents on the floating objects with respect to their characteristics and shapes, resulting in different buoyancy ratios and response to wind drag [ 42 , 118 ] and current advection, thus ultimately influencing their dispersion [ 119 ], distribution, and residence time in the seawater or beaching and reflow events [ 120 ]. Other previous studies highlight how the use of low-cost, mobile phone-based drifters, easily implemented and adapted to different environmental conditions, can be a good solution for experiments in coastal areas ([ 104 , 121 , 122 , 123 , 124 ] among many others). For the time being, though, we have not found among them any type of drifter equipped with all the features that our MLTs present: customized tracking system with data logging, adaptability to different types of media, and autonomous charging system, all integrated.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Marine Litter Tracking System: A Case Study with Open-Source Technology and a Citizen Science-Based Approach

Merlino

Locritani

Guarnieri

et al. 2023

Sensors

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It is well established that most of the plastic pollution found in the oceans is transported via rivers. Unfortunately, the main processes contributing to plastic and debris displacement through riparian systems is still poorly understood. The Marine Litter Drifter project from the Arno River aims at using modern consumer software and hardware technologies to track the movements of real anthropogenic marine debris (AMD) from rivers. The innovative “Marine Litter Trackers” (MLT) were utilized as they are reliable, robust, self-powered and they present almost no maintenance costs. Furthermore, they can be built not only by those trained in the field but also by those with no specific expertise, including high school students, simply by following the instructions. Five dispersion experiments were successfully conducted from April 2021 to December 2021, using different types of trackers in different seasons and weather conditions. The maximum distance tracked was 2845 km for a period of 94 days. The activity at sea was integrated by use of Lagrangian numerical models that also assisted in planning the deployments and the recovery of drifters. The observed tracking data in turn were used for calibration and validation, recursively improving their quality. The dynamics of marine litter (ML) dispersion in the Tyrrhenian Sea is also discussed, along with the potential for open-source approaches including the “citizen science” perspective for both improving big data collection and educating/awareness-raising on AMD issues.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Marine Litter Tracking System: A Case Study with Open-Source Technology and a Citizen Science-Based Approach

Merlino

Locritani

Guarnieri

et al. 2023

Sensors

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“…These factors and many studies (e.g. Gasser et al, 2001;Austin & Atkinson, 2004;Cadena et al, 2018;Agade & Bean, 2023) suggest that oceanographic designs are over-engineered for measuring currents in small to medium-sized lakes, and thus needlessly expensive. Although drifters for smaller waterbodies have been described (Mullarney & Henderson, 2013;MacDonald & Mullarney, 2015;Fuentes-Pérez et al, 2022 Here, we demonstrate how a novel Lagrangian drifter design can provide reliable empirical insights to deep currents in freshwater inland lake settings.…”

Section: )mentioning

confidence: 99%

An Economical Open-Source Lagrangian Drifter Design to Measure Deep Currents in Lakes

McCaffrey,

Koeberle

2024

Preprint

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The objective was to construct and test an economical, accurate, and open-source Lagrangian drifter design suitable for lakes <200 km2. Lagrangian drifters are used to trace water currents in marine and freshwater settings and comprise of a low-friction surface float containing instrumentation for location and environmental measurement, tethered to a high-friction drogue at the depth of interest. Oceanic drifters are robust but expensive, and this design tailored to inland lake waterbodies fills a durability and cost gap for lake environments. Water-following characteristics were tested using theoretical drag coefficient calculations, practical drag measurements, and comparison of wind and drifter vectors while deployed on two deep inland lakes (maximum area 175 km2) in the Finger Lakes region of New York, USA. The ratio of drag between float and drogue met or exceeded the minimum value of 40 recommended in the literature, and the vectors of wind and drifter during deployment were independent of one another, meaning the device accurately traced the movement of water currents at depth without undue influence of wind and waves. Each device cost USD $265 in 2021 and was built from materials readily available at hardware and sporting goods stores, allowing their use by research institutions and communities with smaller budgets. This design reliably measured lake currents at sampling depths that ranged from to 30 m. We anticipate that this design will have application to a wide range of hydrodynamic and ecological research where empirical insights to physical processes like lake currents are sought by scientists and managers.

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“…In general, drifters consist of a location device (often GPS), a logger to store the data, and/or a communication unit. Recent developments, most notably the rise of the "maker movement" (Chris, 2012) and its ecosystem based on Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and other open-hardware development boards (Banzi and Shiloh, 2014;Foundation, 2018), have made the individual components of a GPS drifter commercially available as plug-and-play components for hobbyists and developers. This has led scientists to build GPS loggers geared to their own research need at lower costs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…R. Hut et al: Low-power off-the-shelf GPS drifters Relating to using open hardware to track GPS positions, Cain and Cross (2018) made a low-power GPS logger to track eastern box turtles. Their device stores the data in the local memory of the Arduino microcontroller, requiring retrieval after the experiment and providing no real-time view on where the turtles are.…”

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confidence: 99%

Easy to build low-power GPS drifters with local storage and a cellular modem made from off-the-shelf components

Hut

Win

Bogaard

2020

Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst.

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Abstract. Drifters that track their position are important tools in studying the hydrodynamic behavior of rivers. Drifters that can be tracked in real time have so far been rather expensive. Recently, due to the rise of the open-hardware revolution and the associated Arduino ecosystem, both GPS receivers and cellular modems have become available at lower prices to “tinkering scientists”, i.e., scientists that like to build their own measurement devices as much as is possible. This article serves two goals. Firstly, we provide detailed instructions on how to build a low-power GPS drifter with local storage and cellular model that we tested in a fieldwork on the confluence of the Chindwin and Ayeyarwady rivers in Myanmar. The device was designed from easily connected off-the-shelf components, allowing construction without a background in electrical engineering. The instructions allow fellow geoscientists to recreate the device. Secondly, we set the following question: has the open-hardware revolution progressed to the point that a low-power GPS drifter that wirelessly transmits its position can be made from open-hardware components by most geoscientists?. We feel this question is relevant and timely as more low-cost open-hardware devices are promoted, but in practice applicability is often restricted to the “tinkering engineer”. We argue that because of the plug-and-play nature of the components geoscientists should be able to construct these type of devices. However, to get such devices to operate at low power levels that fieldwork often demands requires detailed (micro)electrical expertise.

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A low-cost Lagrangian drifter based on open-source hardware and software platform

Cited by 3 publications

References 9 publications

Marine Litter Tracking System: A Case Study with Open-Source Technology and a Citizen Science-Based Approach

Marine Litter Tracking System: A Case Study with Open-Source Technology and a Citizen Science-Based Approach

An Economical Open-Source Lagrangian Drifter Design to Measure Deep Currents in Lakes

Easy to build low-power GPS drifters with local storage and a cellular modem made from off-the-shelf components

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