Remote Environmental Monitoring Through Open Source Technology
Sean Keane1*, Hans Huth*2, Ron Tiller3
1 Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Keane.sean@azdeq.gov
2 Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Huth.Hans@azdeq.gov
3 Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Tiller.Ron@azdeq.gov
This presentation will cover the Riparian Restoration Conference topics, monitoring and technology. Remote sites requiring non-point source pollution assessment require substantial staff and volunteer time during travel and hiking for sample collection. Most streams, particularly in the semi-arid southwest, flow for short periods of time; therefore, successful sampling requires an abundance of preparation and good fortune. Collected samples may have time sensitive holding requirements making quick response times essential. Sampling success may be improved if samplers are able to remotely assess environmental conditions in real-time through alerts received from cell phone or satellite-enabled networks. Environmental sensor-communication networks can help save resources by avoiding long trips to remote ephemeral sites that may or may not be flowing or losing collected samples, due to holding time considerations. To address this need, commercial cellular or satellite modems may be coupled with environmental sensors and auto-samplers for remote monitoring. These commercial methods can be relatively expensive to deploy. High costs are further compounded by vandalism. In response, ADEQ’s Office of Border Environmental Protection (OBEP) has developed, installed, and tested its own open-source telecommunications prototype with sensors and web-posting capabilities. OBEP's prototype has successfully posted over 40,000 records to the Cloud from a remote location in the Upper San Pedro River Basin at low cost to the agency2. OBEP has also successfully tested a prototype satellite telecommunications-water level/stage detector at a flood detention-groundwater recharge basin. This system has posted over 700 records of environmental conditions. Another variation of this system interfaces with automatic water samplers to alert staff that samples have been collected to improve staff response times and meet holding time restrictions1. Low cost, open source telecommunication systems have improved resource utilization and sampling success at remote sampling sites.