Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2017MN384B

Open-Source Turbidity Sensor to Monitor Suspended and Dissolved Matter in Surface Water

Institute: Minnesota
Year Established: 2017 Start Date: 2017-03-01 End Date: 2019-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $29,187 Total Non-Federal Funds: $57,271

Principal Investigators: Andrew Wickert, Diana Karwan, Chad Sandell

Project Summary: Turbidity is the single most prevalent form of water pollution in Minnesota, but measurements of it are sparse in either space or time. We propose to develop a low-cost turbidity sensor that can differentiate dissolved and suspended load, help to quantify and mitigate land-use practices that lead to soil loss, and be easily deployed across Minnesota and beyond. Laboratory and field testing and deployment of this new sensor will guide its development, improve monitoring of post-logging erosion, and produce immediate data on water quality in agricultural southern Minnesota with unprecedented temporal resolution.