Abstract
Core Ideas An innovative low‐cost open‐source Arduino‐based datalogger was developed. The datalogger was deployed for hydrologic monitoring in tropical watersheds. Arduino datalogger performance was robust after overcoming initial challenges. The system has great potential for automated continuous environmental monitoring. Continuous hydrologic monitoring is limited in many regions of the world, creating serious knowledge gaps for water resources managers and scientists. Recent advances in open‐source software and hardware technologies, such as the Arduino project, show potential for the development of low‐cost (∼$100) automated dataloggers required for continuous data collection. We developed an Arduino‐based datalogger (the Ecohydro Logger) coupled with water sensors providing digital output to establish a hydrologic monitoring network in the data‐scarce wet‐dry tropics of Guanacaste, Costa Rica. While we experienced some challenges with a first iteration of our Arduino‐based datalogger, an improved version was robust and able to capture long periods of high‐frequency stream discharge data. Integration of the monitoring program into the local community was also key to successful deployment, allowing exchange of local knowledge and support. The accessible and low‐cost nature of Arduino‐based dataloggers can provide a means to extend continuous environmental monitoring into data‐scarce regions.
Highlights
Continuous hydrologic monitoring is limited in many regions of the world, creating serious knowledge gaps for water resources managers and scientists
We present our advances in the development of a low-cost Arduino-based datalogger toward establishing a hydrologic monitoring network in a data-scarce region of the tropics, and share the challenges faced and successes obtained with this new technology over a monitoring period of nearly 2 yr
There were several reasons for discontinuities in this time series (Fig. 2), including those typical for installations in remote locations, and those related to the ongoing development of the Arduino-based data acquisition system
Summary
Continuous hydrologic monitoring is limited in many regions of the world, creating serious knowledge gaps for water resources managers and scientists. Recent advances in open-source software and hardware technologies, such as the Arduino project, show potential for the development of low-cost (~$100) automated dataloggers required for continuous data collection. The accessible and low-cost nature of Arduino-based dataloggers can provide a means to extend continuous environmental monitoring into data-scarce regions. Recent advances in open-source software and hardware technologies show potential for the development of low-cost logging systems that can be deployed with high spatiotemporal coverage. We present our advances in the development of a low-cost Arduino-based datalogger toward establishing a hydrologic monitoring network in a data-scarce region of the tropics, and share the challenges faced and successes obtained with this new technology over a monitoring period of nearly 2 yr
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