Proposal for Low-Cost Optical Sensor for Measuring Flow Velocities in Aquatic Environments

Abstract

The ocean, with its intricate processes, plays a pivotal role in shaping marine life, habitats, and the Earth’s climate. This study addresses issues such as beach erosion, the survival of propagules from species like Posidonia oceanica, and nutrient distribution. To tackle these challenges, we propose an innovative sensor that quantifies hydrodynamic velocity by measuring the output voltage derived from detecting changes in light absorption and scattering using LEDs and LDRs. Our results not only demonstrate the effectiveness of the sensor but also the accuracy of the processing algorithm. Notably, the blue LED exhibited the lowest mean relative error of 7.59% in freshwater, while the yellow LED was most precise in chlorophyll-containing water, with a mean relative error of 6.80%. In a runoff simulation, we observed similar velocities with the blue, green, and white LEDs, 6.89 cm/s, 6.99 cm/s, and 7.05 cm/s, respectively, for nearly identical time intervals. It is important to highlight that our proposed sensor is not only effective but also highly cost-efficient, representing less than 0.43% of the cost of a Nortek Vector 6 MHz and 0.18% of the Teledyne Workhorse II 300 kHz Marine. This makes it a key tool for managing marine ecosystems sustainably.