Green River Water Quality & Level NetworkProject Overview
Spread out over 671 acres of land in Hart County, Kentucky, the Upper Green River Biological Preserve is a diverse habitat consisting of bottomlands, uplands, barrens, caves, limestone glades, and the Green River itself. The Preserve was acquired through the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund and formally established by Western Kentucky University (WKU) in early 2004.
According to WKU's Upper Green River Biological Preserve website, their mission is "to foster knowledge and protection of this diverse region and our natural heritage through research, education, and conservation." Consistent with the mission statement, WKU recently began a project to design and implement a real-time water quality and level monitoring network throughout the Preserve. University researchers chose NexSens real-time data logging systems to execute project monitoring objectives.
System Description
The first step for WKU researchers was to seek out and plane suitable location(s) for each field site. The initial field site was determined to be deployed along the Green River to monitor both water level and water quality parameters. A YSI 600OMS (Optical Monitoring System) V2 sonde is deployed within a 2" PVC deployment pipe into the Green River. This instrument is setup to periodically take temperature, conductivity, turbidity, and water level readings in the river. This combination of parameters creates a very low-maintenance, high accuracy monitoring system.
Since cellular coverage was not available at this field site, a NexSens 4100-iSIC data logger with spread spectrum radio telemetry was installed on-site. The 4100-iSIC systematically transmits data via license free radio waves to a nearby 3200-iSIC radio-to-cellular system where cellular coverage is adequate. This 3200-iSIC retrieves the radio frequency data and transmits it back out via cellular telemetry to the project coordinator's office at WKU's Bowling Green campus.
iChart 6 software is installed on the project coordinators office PC for direct communication to the remote systems. iChart offers a unique feature that allows the user access the YSI sonde terminal remotely. This give project members the opportunity to change parameter reporting, check calibration constants, and adjust sonde settings, all without visiting the site.
iChart software is setup to automatically post retrieved data to WQData 3, an online web datacenter service offered by NexSens Technology. The datacenter will eventually be setup for open access to the monitoring network, allowing both researchers and students to view real-time project data virtually anywhere.
As additional site locations are identified and setup, Western Kentucky University and other interested parties can use this real-time information to better understand and help protect this unique Biological Preserve. | NexSens 1001 | iChart software | NexSens WQData-6 | Annual data hosting package for up to 6 field sites, additional site expansion available | NexSens 3200-iSIC | iSIC data logger with radio-to-cellular telemetry | NexSens A55 | Pole/wall mounting kit | NexSens A38 | Ground kit | NexSens A22 | Solar power kit, 20-watt | NexSens A44 | High gain antenna, radio frequency, 3 dB | NexSens A36 | RF cable, micro-loss, 6' | NexSens A49 | High gain antenna, cellular frequency, tri-mode, 2 dBd | NexSens A36 | RF cable, micro-loss, 6' | NexSens 4100-iSIC | iSIC data logger with spread spectrum radio telemetry | NexSens A55 | Pole/wall mounting kit | NexSens A38 | Ground kit | NexSens A22 | Solar power kit, 20-watt | NexSens A46 | Yagi antenna, radio frequency, 866-960 MHz | NexSens A31 | RF cable, low-loss, 10' | YSI 600-01 | YSI 600OMS V2 Sonde with temperature/conductivity sensor | YSI 6136 | Turbidity sensor with self-cleaning wiper | YSI 6091 | Field cable, 25 ft. |
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