Operational monitoring of water quality with a Do-It-Yourself modular instrument

Abstract

We analyze the efficacy of using a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) modular instrument to estimate the diffuse attenuation coefficient (Kd) of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), which can be used for operational oceanography in turbid shallow waters. This parameter evaluates the water transparency, as it summarizes several water components providing an indicator for water quality. Historically, water transparency has been measured with a simple and inexpensive tool: the Secchi disk. Although it contributes a valuable index of visual water clarity, the quality of its measurements is user-dependent, and it does not enable the automatic monitoring of the water quality. For this reason, we need electronic devices to get accurate measures and facilitate long-term evaluations for water quality monitoring. This paper has two main objectives: First, to present the KduPRO, a low-cost and DIY moored instrument. The KduPRO is an evolution of the KdUINO buoy, that provides an estimation of the water transparency in coastal areas and continental waters, with an automatic quality control parameter that makes this sensor suitable for operational observing systems; and second, to provide a replicability analysis associated to the uncertainty of its Kd estimations. This instrument is based on a modular system of light sensors, independent of each other, measuring the irradiance at different depths. This study analyses the performance of the KduPRO with other reference commercial instruments, the performance between different modules of the same system and finally, a case study of measuring the water quality in Loch Leven (a lake in Scotland). The affordable cost, ease of use and measurement repeatability make this instrument a potentially valuable tool for anyone interested in monitoring water quality.

Multi-domain, Autonomous Measurement Buoy as an Element of the Water Quality Monitoring and Early Warning System in Rivers and Water Reservoirs

“…However, the accuracy of the sensors may be affected by fouling, drift, or calibration issues, which need to be addressed to ensure the reliability of the data. The data can also help identify patterns and correlations that can inform management decisions based on the location of threats (Rodero et al 2022, Sim et al 2020.…”

Lab on a Secchi disk: A prototype open‐source profiling package for low‐cost monitoring in aquatic environments

“…Sometimes documented in "do-ityourself" (DIY) projects, and using open-source tools, these developments promote a more inclusive and participative approach to aquatic monitoring, and they can be more accessible to those who struggle to afford commercial equipment. Sometimes benefiting from use in connection with mobile phones (e.g., wireless data transfer or use of mobile phone cameras as sensors), examples of low-cost optical sensing packages include those that focus on diffuse attenuation (Bardaji et al 2016;Rodero et al 2022), fluorometry (Leeuw et al 2013;Friedrichs et al 2017;Hixson and Ward 2022), remote-sensing reflectance (Hommersom et al 2012;Leeuw and Boss 2018;Burggraaff et al 2019Burggraaff et al , 2022, turbidity (Parra et al 2018;Wang et al 2018;Gillett and Marchiori 2019;Droujko and Molnar 2022;Rocher et al 2023), and backscattering (Eidam et al 2022, also https://iorodeo.com/). The miniaturization and adaptability of the technology also means there is potential to deploy such packages on a wider variety of platforms, from to marine vertebrates to watersports equipment (Brewin et al 2017;Harcourt et al 2019;Griffiths et al 2021;Bresnahan et al 2022), expanding the range of environments amenable to in situ data collection.…”

Citizen sciences technologies for operational monitoring of aquatic ecosystems

“…7. Regarding the quality control described in Rodero et al, 2022, this study highlights the need to adjust the criterion depending on the number of modules and types of waters. The threshold defined, 0.995, is too restrictive.…”

“…Another example would be the low-cost and Do-It-Yourself (DIY) moored system KdUINO (Bardaji et al, 2016), which estimates the diffuse attenuation coefficient K d . Recently, the KdUINO buoy has evolved into different instrumentation, such as the KduPRO, a DIY moored instrument developed by the Institute of Marine Sciences -CSIC, under the framework of the European H2020 MONOCLE project (Rodero et al, 2022).…”

“…This open-source monitoring system is equipped with low-cost sensors to obtain irradiance measurements at different depths and, as a result, estimate the K d (see Figure 5.3). Its evolution, called KduPRO, was developed in the framework of the European project H2020 MONO-CLE (Multiscale Observation Networks for Optical monitoring of Coastal waters, Lakes and Estuaries) (Rodero et al, 2022).…”