Title: Beyond Sondes: Using Autonomous Vehicles to Survey and Study HABs and Chemical Waste
Speaker: Tom Goucher, Product Manager, Integrated Systems & Services
Adam Willingham, Sales Representative, Integrated Systems & Services
Dr. Stephanie A. Smith, Product Segment Manager, Integrated Systems & Services
The Integrated Systems & Services (ISS) Team from YSI brings you two compelling case studies that demonstrate the value and accessibility of remote and autonomous vehicles for two unique applications. The first example hearkens from Brayton Point Bay, the former site of the largest coal-fired power plant in New England. The port is leased today by a scrap metal recycling company whose activities are under scrutiny by local organizations such as Save Our Bay over concerns about water quality impacts. Recently a large scrap hauling ship that was docked in the bay leaked hydrocarbons. Both the rQPOD remote surface vehicle and the i3XO autonomous underwater vehicle were deployed carrying YSI’s EXO fDOM and pH/ORP sensors. These sensors revealed the extent of the plume, an exciting demonstration of the feasibility of using not only the vehicles but also these specific sensors for this application. In the second case the i3XO was used to measure temperature, pH, DO, chlorophyll and phycocyanin in Clear Lake, California, one of the most HAB-plagued lakes in the Western U.S. The extraordinary spatial coverage enabled co-location (in time and space) of sensed parameters with biological measurements made from discrete water samples. Such correlations aid interpretation of biological data, and identify targets for future study.