PILS: Low-Cost Water-Level Monitoring

Abstract

The estuarine environment is important both to global ecology and to human economy. Estuaries are the place where freshwater meets saltwater, and so they typically contain a bounty of marine species, and are essential to the life cycle of many marine organisms. For similar reasons, they often contain sea ports and carry commerce of great value. In order to study estuaries in more detail, we have developed two sets of low-cost sensors using off-the-shelf technology combined with innovative new low-cost circuits. The first, nicknamed “Jag Ski”, is a highly mobile water craft for navigating estuarine and littoral areas and providing real-time data. The second, named “PILS”, is a network of stationary sensors for making long-term water-level measurements. This paper describes the construction of both, along with actual measurements.