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The Central New York's Near-Real-Time Surface Water Quality Network is deploying several remote monitoring technologies to measure water quality. These technologies include: Profiling robotic buoys, fixed depth autonomous probes packages, and creekside robotic monitoring huts.
The Onondaga Lake/Seneca River EMPACT Project and the New York Lake Access projects exclusively used robotic profiling buoys manufactured by Apprise Technologies of Duluth, Minnesota. These buoys are called RUSS (for Remote Underwater Sample Station) units. Two different RUSS buoy designs are being utilized by the project. The “Big” RUSS, consisting of three floating rectangular modules connecting to a center hub and a “Baby” RUSS which look similar to a common navigational or research buoy – consisting of a cone atop a cylinder. Beginning in 2004, the project acquired two profiling buoys from YSI. Unlike fixed depth buoys, the RUSS and YSI buoys can make nearly continuous measurements throughout the water column. Data are typically stored every meter of depth. Data collected at numerous depths throughout the water column create what limnologist’s call a profile. Each time the sensor package moves through the water column, profiles are being created for several water quality parameters. There are number of differences between the two manufactures buoys that are described on the following pages
RUSS description
YSI profiler description
Measurements from Onondaga Creek utilize a computer, and probes housed a hut located alongside the creek. A description of this system can be found on the following page
Hut based robot description
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