Automated Monitoring for Environmental Research Applications

Carlos Primo C. David

National Institute of Geological Sciences
UP Diliman

Abstract

Continuous and long term datasets are essential in most environmental research. This is in order to observe minute changes in physical and chemical properties, differentiate natural and anthropogenic factors, and deduce trends.

Conventional monitoring is often unsustainable due to high cost and logistical problems. Through collaborations with the UP Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, the development of software and instrumentation for automated monitoring is well underway. Among those in the development stage include instruments for monitoring: weather, water quality, water level, salinity, and temperature. All instruments include sensors for each parameter, a power supply module, datalogging and data transfer features. In the case of weather monitoring, a software for automatic downloading and management of satellite imagery from the web accompanies the weather station which in turn can text weather updates to any recipient.

For our saltwater intrusion study, a series of conductivity meters with a built in datalogger will be deployed to monitor saltwater-freshwater interface. A portable and low-cost turbidity meter will soon be available for mass production.

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