A demonstration of wireless sensing for long-term monitoring of water quality

At a time when technological advances are providing new sensor capabilities, novel network capabilities, long-range communications technologies and data interpreting and delivery formats via the World Wide Web, we never before had such opportunities to sense and analyse the environment around us. However, the challenges exist. While measurement and detection of environmental pollutants can be successful under laboratory-controlled conditions, continuous in-situ monitoring remains one of the most challenging aspects of environmental sensing. This paper describes the development and test of a multi-sensor heterogeneous real-time water monitoring system. A multi-sensor system was deployed in the River Lee, County Cork, Ireland to monitor water quality parameters such as pH, temperature, conductivity, turbidity and dissolved oxygen. The R. Lee comprises of a tidal water system that provides an interesting test site to monitor. The multi-sensor system set-up is described and results of the sensor deployment and the various challenges are discussed

A smart city-smart bay project - establishing an integrated water monitoring system for decision support in Dublin Bay

Environmental and water quality monitoring is key to measuring and understanding the chemical and biological quality of water and for taking reactive remedial action. Over the coming years, monitoring of water bodies will increase within Europe, in order to comply with the requirements of the Water Framework Directive (WFD, Council Directive 2000/60/EC), and globally owing to pressure from climate change. The establishment of high quality long-term monitoring programmes is regarded as essential if the implementation of the WFD is to be effective. However, the traditional spot/grab sampling using conventional sampling and laboratory based techniques can introduce a significant financial burden, and is unlikely to provide a reasonable estimate of the true maximum and/or mean concentration for a particular physico-chemical variable in a water body with marked temporal variability. When persistent fluctuations occur, it is likely only to be detected through continuous measurements, which have the capability of detecting sporadic peaks of concentration. The aim of this work is to demonstrate the potential for continuous monitoring data in decision support as part of a smart city project. The multi-modal data system shows potential for low-cost sensing in complex aquatic environments around the city. Continuous monitoring data from both visual and water quality sensors is collected and data from grab samples collected support the observations of trends in water quality

Experiences and recommendations in deploying a real-time, water quality monitoring system

Monitoring of water quality at a river basin level to meet the requirements of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) using conventional sampling and laboratory-based techniques poses a significant financial burden. Wireless sensing systems offer the potential to reduce these costs considerably, as well as provide more useful, continuous monitoring capabilities by giving an accurate idea of the changing environmental and water quality in real time. It is unlikely that the traditional spot/grab sampling will provide a reasonable estimate of the true maximum and/or mean concentration for a particular physicochemical variable in a water body with marked temporal variability. When persistent fluctuations occur, it is likely only to be detected through continuous measurements, which have the capability of detecting sporadic peaks of concentration. Thus, in situ sensors capable of continuous sampling of parameters required under the WFD would therefore provide more up-to-date information, cut monitoring costs and provide better coverage representing long-term trends in fluctuations of pollutant concentrations. DEPLOY is a technology demonstration project, which began planning and station selection and design in August 2008 aiming to show how state-of-the-art technology could be implemented for cost-effective, continuous and real-time monitoring of a river catchment. The DEPLOY project is seen as an important building block in the realization of a wide area autonomous network of sensors capable of monitoring the spatial and temporal distribution of important water quality and environmental target parameters. The demonstration sites chosen are based in the River Lee, which flows through Ireland's second largest city, Cork, and were designed to include monitoring stations in five zones considered typical of significant river systems-these monitor water quality parameters such as pH, temperature, depth, conductivity, turbidity and dissolved oxygen. Over one million data points have been collected since the multi-sensor system was deployed in May 2009. Extreme meteorological events have occurred during the period of deployment and the collection of real-time water quality data as well as the knowledge, experience and recommendations for future deployments are discussed

Wireless Sensor Node for Surface Seawater Density Measurements

An electronic meter to measure surface seawater density is presented. It is based on the measurement of the difference in displacements of a surface level probe and a weighted float, which according to Archimedes’ law depends on the density of the water. The displacements are simultaneously measured using a high-accuracy magnetostrictive sensor, to which a custom electronic board provides a wireless connection and power supply so that it can become part of a wireless sensor network. The electronics are designed so that different kinds of wireless networks can be used, by simply changing the wireless module and the relevant firmware of the microcontroller. Lastly, laboratory and at-sea tests are presented and discussed in order to highlight the functionality and the performance of a prototype of the wireless density meter node in a Bluetooth radio network. The experimental results show a good agreement of the values of the calculated density compared to reference hydrometer readings

3D Multi-Objective Deployment of an Industrial Wireless Sensor Network for Maritime Applications Utilizing a Distributed Parallel Algorithm

Effective monitoring marine environment has become a vital problem in the marine applications. Traditionally, marine application mostly utilizes oceanographic research vessel methods to monitor the environment and human parameters. But these methods are usually expensive and time-consuming, also limited resolution in time and space. Due to easy deployment and cost-effective, WSNs have recently been considered as a promising alternative for next generation IMGs. This paper focuses on solving the issue of 3D WSN deployment in a 3D engine room space of a very large crude-oil carrier (VLCC), in which many power devices are also considered. To address this 3D WSN deployment problem for maritime applications, a 3D uncertain coverage model is proposed with a new 3D sensing model and an uncertain fusion operator, is presented. The deployment problem is converted into a multi-objective problems (MOP) in which three objectives are simultaneously considered: Coverage, Lifetime and Reliability. Our aim is to achieve extensive Coverage, long Lifetime and high Reliability. We also propose a distributed parallel cooperative co-evolutionary multi-objective large-scale evolutionary algorithm (DPCCMOLSEA) for maritime applications. In the simulation experiments, the effectiveness of this algorithm is verified in comparing with five state-of-the-art algorithms. The numerical outputs demonstrate that the proposed method performs the best with respect to both optimization performance and computation time

Wireless Sensor Networks for Oceanographic Monitoring: A Systematic Review

Monitoring of the marine environment has come to be a field of scientific interest in the last ten years. The instruments used in this work have ranged from small-scale sensor networks to complex observation systems. Among small-scale networks, Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are a highly attractive solution in that they are easy to deploy, operate and dismantle and are relatively inexpensive. The aim of this paper is to identify, appraise, select and synthesize all high quality research evidence relevant to the use of WSNs in oceanographic monitoring. The literature is systematically reviewed to offer an overview of the present state of this field of study and identify the principal resources that have been used to implement networks of this kind. Finally, this article details the challenges and difficulties that have to be overcome if these networks are to be successfully deployed

Influence of a cattle access point on temporal changes in stream turbidity

Unrestricted cattle access can have negative impacts on aquatic systems, including increases in stream water turbidity and suspended sediment levels. Many agri-environmental policies require the exclusion of livestock from waterbodies; however, data that quantify these impacts are scarce. This study used sensors measuring turbidity, a proxy for suspended sediment, together with motion-detecting cameras, to examine the influence of cattle in-stream activity on water quality in north-east Ireland. Two nephelometers, which automatically measured and logged turbidity, were placed upstream and downstream of a cattle access point in July 2017, while cameras were used to record cattle behaviour. A second deployment was made during February 2018 when cattle were absent. During low flows, frequent short-lived increases in turbidity were recorded at the downstream nephelometer only. These coincided with cattle accessing the water. There was a significant positive relationship between the longitudinal differences (downstream − upstream) in turbidity and the total number of cattle accessing the stream. There was no relationship between turbidity and stream discharge in July (when cattle were present), although that period was dominated by lower flow levels, with only 2 days in which discharge increased above baseflow. In contrast, there were no similar short-lived increases in turbidity in February 2018 when cattle were absent from the field, but there was a strong significant positive relationship between stream discharge and turbidity. These results highlight the consequences of cattle access for water column turbidity levels, particularly during periods of low streamflow, and therefore inform future agri-environmental policy in Ireland

Smart environmental monitoring and assessment technologies (SEMAT)- a new paradigm for low-cost, remote aquatic environmental monitoring

Expense and the logistical difficulties with deploying scientific monitoring equipment are the biggest limitations to undertaking large scale monitoring of aquatic environments. The Smart Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Technologies (SEMAT) project is aimed at addressing this problem by creating an open standard for low-cost, near real-time, remote aquatic environmental monitoring systems. This paper presents the latest refinement of the SEMAT system in-line with the evolution of existing technologies, inexpensive sensors and environmental monitoring expectations. We provide a systems analysis and design of the SEMAT remote monitoring units and the back-end data management system. The system's value is augmented through a unique e-waste recycling and repurposing model which engages/educates the community in the production of the SEMAT units using social enterprise. SEMAT serves as an open standard for the community to innovate around to further the state of play with low-cost environmental monitoring. The latest SEMAT units have been trialled in a peri-urban lake setting and the results demonstrate the system's capabilities to provide ongoing data in near real-time to validate an environmental model of the study site

Rede de sensores móveis

Estágio realizado no INESC e orientado pelo Prof. Doutor Ireneu Dias e Prof. Doutor Sérgio MendonçaTese de mestrado integrado. Engenharia Electrotécnica e de Computadores - Major Automação. Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto. 200