Abstract
Environmental monitoring of aquatic systems is an important tool to support policy makers and environmental managers’ decisions. Long-term, continuous collection of environmental data is fundamental to the understanding of an aquatic system. This paper aims to present the integrated system for environmental monitoring (SIMA), a long-term temporal series system with a web-based archive for limnological and meteorological data. The following environmental parameters are measured by SIMA: chlorophyll-a ( ), water surface temperature (oC), water column temperature by a thermistor string (oC), turbidity (NTU), pH, dissolved oxygen concentration (mg L -1 ), electric conductivity (µS cm -1 ), wind speed (ms -1 ) and direction (o), relative humidity (%), shortwave radiation (Wm -2 ) and barometric pressure (hPa). The data were collected in a preprogrammed time interval (1 hour) and were transmitted by satellite in quasi-real time for any user within 2500 km of the acquisition point. So far, 11 hydroelectric reservoirs are being monitored with the SIMA buoy. Basic statistics (mean and standard deviation) and an example of the temporal series of some parameters were displayed at a database with web access. However, sensor and satellite problems occurred due to the high data acquisition frequency. Sensors problems occurred due to the environmental characteristics of each aquatic system. Water quality sensors rapidly degrade in acidic waters, rendering the collected data invalid. Data is also rendered invalid when sensors become infested with periphyton. Problems occur with the satellites’ reception of system data when satellites pass over the buoy antenna. However, the data transfer at some inland locations was not completed due to the satellite constellation position. Nevertheless, the integrated system of water quality and meteorological parameters is an important tool in understanding the aquatic system dynamic. It can also be used to create hydrodynamics models of the aquatic system to allow for the study of meteorological implications to the water body. 1 − gL μ
Highlights
Reservoirs, or man-made lakes, are usually built to store water for later use, water supply, flood control or power generation (Casamitjana et al, 2003)
Tundisi et al (2012) pointed that the search for ecological indicators is a relevant task for environmental managers
The goal of this paper is to present a system for long-term time series collection of environmental data as well as a data-based data storage system with web access
Summary
Reservoirs, or man-made lakes, are usually built to store water for later use, water supply, flood control or power generation (Casamitjana et al, 2003). The hydroelectric sector is responsible for 97% of energy generation in the country and is considered the largest hydroelectric system in the world (Kelman et al, 2002). The damming of these waters, causes great environmental, social and economic impacts (Tundisi, 1994). Studies of water quality in most of the aquatic environments have been based primarily on datasets obtained at different sites or along track lines in cruises (Jerosch et al, 2006) This approach does not consider the different scales of temporal variability of biological and environmental parameters, which is a requirement for any basic ecological study. Sampling efforts must be carefully considered since misleading conclusions may arise from less intensive data collection, while large sampling programs considerably increase the costs of data acquisition
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