Device and procedure for measuring the extinction of light in water
Description
Characteristics
Images
Description
The Environmental Impact Assessment Group together with the Hybrid Microelectronics Group from de UPV has developed a probe capable of measuring the extinction of light along the water column at various wavelengths of the visible spectrum including ultraviolet and infrared light.
Due to its capabilities, it intends to replace the measures performed currently with the Secchi disk, with much more precision. In aquatic ecosystems the extinction of light determines a great extent the depth distribution of the phytoplankton community. The biomass, its abundance and composition. It´s also highly related to the environmental quality of the system. All of this shows the need to have a device that can take in situ measurements of the extinction of light at different depths and thus estimate the phytoplankton biomass.
In addition, the group is currently working to go a step further and try to correlate the measures of extinction of light with the composition of the phytoplankton community. All of this makes it a very useful tool for the characterization and environmental management of aquatic systems.
Characteristics
The elements that configure the device are, mainly, a measurement probe which contains sensor photodiodes and signal adaptation systems (amplifiers and filters). A microcontroller is responsible for taking measurements constantly and sending them through the RS-485 communication protocol to the monitoring system. In addition, a temperature gauge and a pressure sensor are included. The system is enclosed in a hermetic box with a transparent glass window to allow light to enter.
The monitoring equipment consists of a display screen as a user interface, a power system (composed of a rechargeable battery), a charging terminal and external power supply through a power supply and an RS232 output for PC connection and a start-stop switch.
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