Development of a Novel Uncrewed Aircraft-Based Water Sampler for Harmful Algal Blooms on Lake Okeechobee
Keywords
harmful algal bloom, drones, spatiotemporal resolution, Lake Okeechobee, sampling
Presenter Abstract
Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are abundant in many regions of South Florida and produce toxins that pose significant health concerns for wildlife and surrounding human communities. Often blooming in warmer months due to a variety of environmental and anthropogenic factors, HABs can have detrimental effects on wildlife ecosystems, tourism and aquaculture infrastructure, and numerous other socioeconomic factors. Current monitoring techniques of HABs are limited in both safety and utility: satellite remote sensing lacks sufficiently high spatiotemporal resolution to be useful for HAB prediction and modeling, and crewed boat sampling is inefficient, disturbs HABs by introducing confounding mixing effects, and presents dangerous respiratory conditions for boating crewmembers. Uncrewed aircraft (UA)-based sampling of HABs presents an opportunity to simultaneously and more efficiently achieve high spatiotemporal resolution and limit the exposure of HABs to sampling personnel.
This presentation will describe the development of a novel UA-based surface and discrete depth water sampler. The device will be used to improve the spatiotemporal resolution of HAB monitoring on Lake Okeechobee to provide timely and precise information on water quality and HAB predictors. The engineering design process of the sampler is presented, including initial testing and validation results of the techniques on an experimental body of water in Volusia County, FL. Finally, results from the first of four field campaigns at Lake Okeechobee are discussed.
Presentations
Presented in Session 5: Sensors I
Development of a Novel Uncrewed Aircraft-Based Water Sampler for Harmful Algal Blooms on Lake Okeechobee
Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are abundant in many regions of South Florida and produce toxins that pose significant health concerns for wildlife and surrounding human communities. Often blooming in warmer months due to a variety of environmental and anthropogenic factors, HABs can have detrimental effects on wildlife ecosystems, tourism and aquaculture infrastructure, and numerous other socioeconomic factors. Current monitoring techniques of HABs are limited in both safety and utility: satellite remote sensing lacks sufficiently high spatiotemporal resolution to be useful for HAB prediction and modeling, and crewed boat sampling is inefficient, disturbs HABs by introducing confounding mixing effects, and presents dangerous respiratory conditions for boating crewmembers. Uncrewed aircraft (UA)-based sampling of HABs presents an opportunity to simultaneously and more efficiently achieve high spatiotemporal resolution and limit the exposure of HABs to sampling personnel.
This presentation will describe the development of a novel UA-based surface and discrete depth water sampler. The device will be used to improve the spatiotemporal resolution of HAB monitoring on Lake Okeechobee to provide timely and precise information on water quality and HAB predictors. The engineering design process of the sampler is presented, including initial testing and validation results of the techniques on an experimental body of water in Volusia County, FL. Finally, results from the first of four field campaigns at Lake Okeechobee are discussed.