EnvironmentalMONITOR A quarterly newsletter with emphasis on environmental products and applications. Summer 2010 AQUATIC CLASSROOM Students Learn the Future of Their Field on Acton Lake Located just minutes from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, the tranquil and accessible Acton Lake is the perfect training grounds for undergraduate and graduate students studying limnology. Not only is the site close to campus, it also has a large watershed that makes it responsive to environmental disturbances and has a long-term data set for reference. The university even has access to a boat in the lake, allowing students to take classes out on the water and learn about lake ecology firsthand. The reservoir serves as the emergency drinking water supply for the city of Oxford, is a productive fisheries site, and has been the site for ongoing research for decades. Because the watershed around Acton Lake predominantly consists of agriculture, the streams and rivers that flow into the lake can bring in large concentrations of sediments and nutrients during storms, stimulating harmful algal blooms, hurting fisheries, and reducing the lake’s water quality. “With runoff, you get a lot of different effects,” said Kevin Rose, a PhD candidate in Miami University’s Department of Zoology. Continued on Page 2 EnvironmentalMONITOR Summer 2010 AQUATIC CLASSROOM: Continued “When there’s a plume, you can physically see the brown water moving through the lake,” Rose said. “The rain sensor gives us a heads up, and we can then measure turbidity and nutrient levels in and around the plume.” The weather data, particularly wind speed, also helps researchers understand gas fluxes and carbon cycling in the water. Boaters can use the information, too, to see current conditions on the lake. The buoy and weather station data loggers transmit information back to the university, allowing scientists and students to observe changes in water quality and weather parameters in real time. This real-time data access means researchers can now conduct adaptive sampling. For example, when a recent toxic algal bloom occurred, the phycocyanin sensor detected it. Then, based on pre-determined settings, NexSens iChart software automatically text messaged researchers as the bloom grew. Thanks to this real-time notification, scientists were able to visit the lake to conduct more intensive research on what was occurring underwater. Prior to installing the real-time system, the students collected data every two weeks from a sonde in the lake that logged Kevin Rose and Jeremy Mack, PhD candidates from Miami sensor readings internally. The old setup made it almost University, prepare to deploy a YSI multi-parameter sonde. impossible to get samples from such an algal bloom event, “Agricultural runoff includes suspended solids from the tilling Rose said. of the fields as well as a lot of fertilizer,” he said. “In addition to the algal blooms that can be caused by the fertilizer, the “The algal bloom toxin levels spike and drop rapidly. It’s increase in suspended solids will change the colors of the lake. difficult to hit that peak,” he said. “Unless you see that bloom Over time, it will also fill in the reservoir, making it necessary in real time, you might not know it’s even there.” to dredge.” The streaming data has even been made publicly available This spring, a research and monitoring buoy was purchased via the Internet, allowing people interested in visiting the lake with a grant to Miami University and Kent State University to and anyone else to see information about water temperature, help students in the field, including Rose, study lake ecology weather, and water quality. Rose said this public access has as well as understand how landscape level processes and land fostered a greater public understanding about the lake. use affect water quality. The system will also contribute to a long-term monitoring program. The grant was funded by the “It facilitates a better form of outreach to the community National Science Foundation, using stimulus money from the about what happens around the lake and what that does to it,” American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Rose said. “The data generated by the buoy provides people with a unique insight into what is happening underwater, and The platform delivers streaming real-time data, providing this better connects the science with the community.” researchers and students with insight into the lake’s physics, chemistry, and biology and how they interact. The ongoing research and monitoring has stimulated new avenues of research for scientists and provided students with A NexSens MB-300 buoy was selected for the application. an invaluable learning tool. Fondriest technicians accompanied Rose and two other graduate students this spring to deploy the buoy, which was Rose said working with the real-time monitoring system will placed at the deepest point in the lake (25 feet) near the dam also give him and the other graduate students the big picture and anchored with a two-point mooring system. on the future of their profession. The experience, he said, will teach them to utilize cyber infrastructure, effectively manage The buoy’s center housing contains a NexSens SDL500 data large data sets, and work with the sensors and technology that logger with cellular telemetry. Sensors include a T-Node temperature string and a YSI 6600 V2-4 multi-parameter have become vital for field research. sonde with pH/ORP, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, optical chlorophyll, phycocyanin, and turbidity sensors. “The whole field of ecology is moving to more sensor driven, more high frequency, more large scale network based science,” The students also installed a meteorology station on shore near Rose said. “This sort of training and research provides the the buoy. The weather station allows researchers to respond opportunity to learn in an atmosphere that represents the to rain events that cause plumes of turbidity in the lake. future for ecology.” 2 EnvironmentalMONITOR Summer 2010 Hach Releases 2100Q Portable Turbidimeter The new Hach 2100Q Portable Turbidimeter is easy to use, accurate, and conforms to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Method 180.1 for turbidity measurements. It also offers a number of features that streamline the measurement process, such as assisted calibration and simplified data transfer. Easy Calibration and Verification — On-screen assisted calibration and verification helps ensure measurements are right every time. The easy-to-follow interface helps save time in the field by eliminating the need to reference complicated manuals in order to perform routine calibrations. Hach’s single-standard “RapidCal” calibration offers a simplified solution for low-level measurements. Simple Data Transfer — Data transfer with the 2100Q is simple, flexible, and doesn’t involve additional software. This feature requires the USB + Power module. All data can be transferred to the module and easily downloaded to a computer with a USB connection, providing superior data integrity and availability. With two different module options, it’s possible to customize connectivity and power to meet a project’s specific needs. FEATURES Accuracy for Rapidly Settling Samples — The Hach 2100Q incorporates an innovative Rapidly Settling • Meets EPA Method 180.1 Turbidity (RST) mode to provide accurate, repeatable measurements for difficult-to-measure, rapidly settling • Range: 0-1,000 NTU samples. An exclusive algorithm that calculates turbidity based on a series of automatic readings eliminates • Resolution: 0.01 on lowest range redundant measurements and estimating. • Two-detector optical system Convenient Data Logging — As many as 500 • On-screen, assisted operation measurements are automatically stored in the instrument for easy access and backup. Stored information includes: • Verify calibration function date and time, operator ID, reading mode, sample ID, • “RapidCal” single standard calibration sample number, units, calibration time, calibration status, error messages, and the result. • Rapidly Setting Turbidity mode 3 EnvironmentalMONITOR Summer 2010 Ohio Division of Wildlife Studies Lake Erie Walleye Hatch Lake Erie is described by many as the “walleye capital of the algal blooms, and an increasing amount of it is inedible toxic world,” but populations of the fish might be dwindling in the blue-green algae. area. The ODNR’s Division of Wildlife Sandusky Fish Research Unit That’s a big deal for Great Lakes fishermen, who are a part is exploring another angle — how walleye spawns are affected of the region’s multibillion-dollar commercial and recreational by lake currents. Aiding in the study is a newly deployed fishing industry that relies heavily on the walleye. current-tracking data buoy, positioned proximate to the lake’s reefs where walleye breed. The last major walleye hatch in Lake Erie occurred in 2003. Hatch sizes since then have been, at best, below average. It’s The investigation, part of a multiagency project, will further unprecedented for a six-year period of substandard spawning; examine findings from research by Michael Jones at Michigan worse yet, many worry that walleye population in the lake has State University’s Department of Fisheries and Wildlife. been on the decline since long before 2003. Jones’ research, which uses wind velocities over the lake to There’s little doubt the issue stems from this inconsistent approximate lake currents, indicates that the success of a recruitment, which is the number of walleye added to the hatch seems to correspond