Real - Time Hypoxia Monitoring Platform : Final Technical Report

The persistent environmental problem of bottom water oxygen depletion (hypolimnetic hypoxia) in Lake Erie requires efficient monitoring and abatement programs, which are presently hindered by the lack of affordable instruments that can match the scale of this phenomenon. Using support provided by the Lake Erie Protection Fund and our respective universities, we designed, constructed, and field-tested a low-cost water quality monitoring platform, the Oxybuoy 2. The platform consists of a surface buoy equipped with data logging and communication electronics and an optical dissolved oxygen sensor. The instrument is capable of measuring oxygen concentrations (and, optionally, other water column parameters) and transmitting the obtained data to the shore based facility in real-time. The use of commercial off-the-shelf components allowed us to assemble this fully functional prototype at a fraction of the cost of other existing monitoring platforms. Because of its relatively simple design, low cost, and reliability, the Oxybuoy 2 may form the backbone of a future hypoxia monitoring network in Lake Erie.