Eco-Physiometer an Open Source Approach to Environmental Monitoring

MARCONI, G.; BUNDSCHUH, M.; AMÉ, MARÍA VALERIA

Congreso; SETAC Latin America 14th Biennial Meeting; 2021

SETAC-LA

Information is key to achieve the UN goal 6, ?clean water and sanitation?. Whether this is attempted through regulation, or the application of efficient resource management, all strategies require at least a basic level of understanding of the system. Traditionally, this information is obtained through monitoring programs during which the parameters are usually assessed in the laboratory.Those monitoring programs present advantages because of their extent (number of sampling sites and parameters), however, limited by elevated costs and effort. An alternative to these laboratory based measurements for at least for a restricted number of environmental variables is the use of in suite approaches, i.e. deploying sensors directly on the system. Custom built sensors are an interesting option to develop cheaper and more target oriented monitoring programs. Still, the need for technical knowledge outside the field of expertise of research usually restricts the use of such sensors to its creator and collaborators. With the aim to develop a cost effective sensor that allows for customized applications, while keeping the required technical knowledge at minimum, we developed a spectrofluorometer from 3d printed and commercially available off-the-shelf parts, to be used in a plug-and-use manner at field applications. This spectroscopic technique was chosen because of its flexibility for developing analytical methods. This means that the same sensor can be used for measuring multiple variables. In support of this assumption, we are currently developing analytical methods to determine chlorophyll, cell counts and turbidity. In the mindset of open science, this sensor is also planned to be open source with all relevant documentation for the parts required, its assembly, calibration and operation. Also, to encourage collaboration and reproducibility, experimental designs and software developed to implement the methods will be made public at the project webpage, where people can also upload their contributions.