Project Overview
Carleton College, Department of Geology will enhance classroom learning and student/faculty research with real-time water quality data. A National Science Foundation Grant was used to set up a water quality buoy on Upper Lyman Lake. The new buoy logs temperature data at four depths every 15 minutes. Once per hour, the data transmits by radio frequency to the geology lab in Mudd Hall. The temperature profile data is posted to a website for student and professor access.
System Description
NexSens Technology configured a data logging and radio telemetry buoy system to continuously record and transmit lake temperature profiles. The NexSens MB-300 is a rugged 300-lb. buoyancy monitoring buoy designed for a wide range of environmental monitoring applications. The field-hardened buoy provides a secure platform for a wide range of open water deployments. Real-time data options include cellular and radio telemetry. An onboard solar panel kit charges the data logger battery for continuous, unattended monitoring applications.
A NexSens 4100-iSIC radio data logger transmits data from the lake site into the Geology Laboratory at hourly intervals. iChart software processes the data and posts it to a web-based data center (WQData.com), where both historic and real-time data can be viewed using a standard web browser. The NexSens system enables Carleton Geology students and professors to monitor Upper Lyman Lake continuously and easily share this information online.