Low-Cost, Minimal-Power Marine Vertical Profilers for Lakes and Coastal Shallows

In this paper we present a new model for a lightweight and compact marine vertical profiler designed to enable agile, low-cost water column-profiling missions. The profiler is untethered, built from a cylindrical acrylic capsule, an onboard AVR microcontroller, and a configurable set of underwater sensors. Our portable profiler can be deployed and easily redeployed at multiple locations, enabling an individual researcher to quickly and efficiently sample water column parameters across a body of water. The profiler is light enough to be lowered by hand into a lake or reservoir and is also capable of multiple dives without retrieval. A researcher can configure a depth and a duration of time that the profiler will descend for. Additionally, researchers can take advantage of a new capability of the profiler our group calls Adaptive Sampling: at the conclusion of its descent, the profiler analyzes the water column parameters it observed, pinpoints a depth of interest according to some criteria, and hovers there for additional data collection. Without the need of a large ship with a crane, researchers will have more opportunities for data collection. We have experimentally verified our design in deployments in Monterey Bay and at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) and have more test deployments planned.