Development and deployment of an estuarine microbuoy

Collecting geophysical data from water environments in remote or inaccessible locations is usually a logistically taxing and costly task. Small and instrumented buoys can provide a relatively low-cost tool for acquiring measurements either from remote locations in the open ocean or in continental environments such as lakes at high altitudes, ponds in salt marshes and mud flat in estuarine regions. These microbouys can carry a small sensing suite (including GPS and Wi-Fi), a low-power microcontroller, and a battery pack. Here, is presented a new microbuoy concept for salt marshes environments. The microbouy system is described, along with all operational deployment and data-recovering concepts using an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS). The proof-of-concept presented follows a multi-system operational strategy yielding promising results.