Plain English Summary

The Christina River Basin CZO is currently operating dozens of homemade dataloggers that are connected to different types of environmental sensors, and all the loggers were built using Arduino-based microprocessor boards. We have also created a variety of helpful devices to perform functions that would have been too expensive or impossible to implement with standard methods and commercial hardware. The ability to design and build custom electronic devices specifically suited to a unique task has gotten easier and cheaper, thanks to the recent popularity of open source electronics platforms like Arduino. 

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Abstract

Poster H11I-1285 presented in the session H11I: Transformative Measurements to Understand the Geosphere: Zip-Ties, Arduinos, Novel Sensors, and Twitter Posters.

The ability to build custom electronic devices specifically suited to a unique task has gotten easier and cheaper, thanks to the recent popularity of open source electronics platforms like Arduino. Using Arduino-based processor boards, we have been creating a variety of helpful devices to perform functions that would have been too expensive to implement with standard methods and commercial hardware. The Christina River Basin CZO is currently operating dozens of homemade dataloggers that are connected to different types of environmental sensors. Most of these Arduino loggers have been deployed for over a year, so our experiences with them and their sensors have taught us a lot about the reliability and accuracy of both the loggers and the sensors. Some loggers also have the capability for wireless radio or ethernet data transmission for reporting live data to web sites for instant graphing or archiving. Other Arduino devices have the ability to be controlled remotely through web sites or telephones, making it easy to remotely trigger sample pumps or valves. The open-source nature of Arduino means collaboration is easy because the circuit schematics and source code for programming the boards can be shared between users. And because Arduino devices are easy to use and program, we developed an interface board that allows educators to easily connect a variety of inexpensive environmental sensors to an Arduino board. Then the students can write and upload simple programs to interact with the sensors, making it a very effective tool for teaching electronics and environmental science at the same time. The flexibility and capability of electronics prototyping platforms like Arduino mean these simple boards can cheaply and effectively perform a countless number of tasks for projects in environmental science and education.

Citation

Hicks, S., Aufdenkampe, A., and Montgomery, D. (2012): Creative Uses of Custom Electronics for Environmental Monitoring at the Christina River Basin CZO. American Geophysical Union Annual Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA, December 3-7, 2012.

This Paper/Book acknowledges NSF CZO grant support.