Tracking of a Fluorescent Dye in a Freshwater Lake with an Unmanned Surface Vehicle and an Unmanned Aircraft System

Abstract

Recent catastrophic events in our oceans, including the spill of toxic oil from the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig and the rapid dispersion of radioactive particulates from the meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, underscore the need for new tools and technologies to rapidly respond to hazardous agents. Our understanding of the movement and aerosolization of hazardous agents from natural aquatic systems can be expanded upon and used in prevention and tracking. New technologies with coordinated unmanned robotic systems could lead to faster identification and mitigation of hazardous agents in lakes, rivers, and oceans. In this study, we released a fluorescent dye (fluorescein) into a freshwater lake from an anchored floating platform. A fluorometer (fluorescence sensor) was mounted underneath an unmanned surface vehicle (USV, unmanned boat) and was used to detect and track the released dye in situ in real-time. An unmanned aircraft system (UAS) was used to visualize the dye and direct the USV to sample different areas of the dye plume. Image processing tools were used to map concentration profiles of the dye plume from aerial images acquired from the UAS, and these were associated with concentration measurements collected from the sensors onboard the USV. The results of this project have the potential to transform monitoring strategies for hazardous agents, enabling timely and accurate exposure assessment and response in affected areas. Fast response is essential in reacting to the introduction of hazardous agents, in order to quickly predict and contain their spread.

An Experimental Evaluation of the Feasibility of Inferring Concentrations of a Visible Tracer Dye from Remotely Sensed Data in Turbid Rivers

“…These results suggest that reliable inference of dye concentrations from remotely sensed data might be contingent upon the background optical characteristics of the water body. Powers et al [9] also showed that image data acquired from a small unoccupied aircraft system (sUAS) could be used to map another type of visible dye, called fluorescin, following its injection into a small reservoir.…”

Diversity and Ice Nucleation Activity of Microorganisms Collected With a Small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) in France and the United States

“…Aerosolized droplets may be produced in several ways, including bubble-bursting and fragmentation from breaking waves (Wu, 1981 ). Fluorescent dyes have been released as surrogate pathogenic microorganisms, and tracked with teams of unmanned systems in the water and in the air (Powers et al, 2018a ).…”

Remote sensing of river corridors: A review of current trends and future directions

“…Alternatively, UAV and USV platforms can both collect imagery in addition to acoustics to improve estuarine mapping when compared with UAV imagery alone (Mancini, Frontoni, Zingaretti, & Longhi, ), although both methods are limited by vegetation shadowing. Powers, Hanlon, and Schmale () performed USV tracking of a tracer dye “pollutant” from UAV imagery, demonstrating the power of real‐time combined datasets, which may improve sampling and data acquisition, especially in unknown or difficult to observe environments.…”

“…USV deployment in fluvial environments ranges from topographic to biophysical data collection (Casper, Steimle, Hall, & Dixon, ; Mancini et al, ; Suhari & Gunawan, ; Wei & Zhang, ; Young et al, ). The majority of these systems focus on bathymetric data collection from echo sounders, yet there are examples of both camera and water quality sensors being used (Casper et al, ; Mancini et al, ), as well as sensors for tracking and analysing simulated pollutants in freshwater environments (Powers et al, ). Not only do USVs provide the potential for collating bathymetry and water properties but also the surrounding terrestrial environment such as bank morphology and vegetation.…”