YSI EcoMapper Autonomously Generates High-Resolution Maps Of Water Quality And Bathymetry

Yellow Springs, OH — Water monitoring programs can improve and increase environmental data collection at a relatively low cost with a new environmental monitoring platform.

YSI's reliable and robust multiparameter water quality sensor technology has been coupled with side-scan sonar and integrated into an AUV (autonomous underwater vehicle) to offer a system capable of mapping the water quality and bathymetry of large areas, such as lakes, estuaries or coastal zones, with very high resolution and minimal effort.

Features of the EcoMapper AUV include:

• Standard sensors include conductivity, temperature, and depth as well as 5 additional sensor ports (for optical dissolved oxygen, turbidity, pH, chlorophyll, blue-green algae, and Rhodamine WT dye) and a depth sounder;
• Side-scan sonar is optional, providing detailed maps of bathymetry;
• 42-pound (19-kilogram) vehicle requires only one person to deploy and operate from shore;
• Portable, battery-operated Wi-Fi access point for surface communication between a PC or handheld device and the vehicle;
• Rechargeable lithium-ion Smart Battery provides mission duration of 8+ hours at 2-4 knots on a single charge.
• Point-and-click mission planning software that accepts most geo-referenced map or image files.
• Automated undulation through the water column provides data in both the horizontal and vertical planes.

The EcoMapper data provides extremely detailed maps of water quality and bathymetry without the need of a boat. Water quality monitoring programs can use the vehicle (and only one technician's time) to sample difficult-to-reach or shallow areas, expand monitoring frequency and resolution, and fill in the gaps of fixed-point monitoring systems.

Local and federal agencies will find the vehicle well-suited for rapid response applications, monitoring sensitive locations, as well as mapping events such as low-oxygen zones and algal blooms.

The EcoMapper AUV will execute a variety of missions in freshwater and near-coastal environments (down to 180 feet) including baseline monitoring, algal bloom mapping, point and non-point source pollution monitoring, stratification studies, dissolved oxygen mapping, and more.

Several field demonstrations of the vehicle are underway and the EcoMapper is available for purchase in the United States in June 2008.