MHL - Project: Alliance for Coastal Technologies (ACT)

Current Projects

Alliance for Coastal Technologies (ACT)

In partnership with the University of Michigan's Cooperative Institute of Limnology and Ecosystems Research (CILER) the MHL forms the Great Lakes Chapter of The Alliance for Coastal Technologies (ACT). ACT is a NOAA-funded partnership of research institutions, resource managers, and private sector companies dedicated to fostering the development and adoption of effective and reliable sensors and platforms for coastal ocean and Great Lakes research and resource management.

ACT is committed to providing the information required to select the most appropriate tools for studying and monitoring coastal environments. To aid in the achievement of this goal, the MHL has been involved in performance of a series of sensor verifications as well as the host to a series of sensor technology workshops.

Sensor Verifications are performed in order to document technology performance, providing sensor users with the valuable information needed for the deployment of reliable and cost effective sensors. Workshops are held to maintain a dialogue among technology users, developers and providers.

Dissolved Oxygen Sensor Verification

In 2004 ACT verified Dissolved Oxygen Sensors, testing them both in the laboratory and the field. The sensors were deployed for 26 days in the field at each of the seven ACT partner sites under varied environmental conditions. Two sensors from each participating manufacturer were deployed one with biofouling prevention and one without. The sensors were also verified in a controlled laboratory setting by the Great Lakes Chapter. Performance characteristics were determined employing the Winkler titration as the standard of reference. Performance Verification Statements for each participating manufacturer can be downloaded from Alliance for Coastal Technologies (ACT) website.

Fluorometer Verification

Fluorometers are used by resource managers and researchers to measure chlorophyll in order to estimate phytoplankton abundance and distribution, chlorophyll measurements can also be used as a tool in assessing eutrophication status. Chlorophyll measurements are also used for numerous industrial applications as well, including water quality management, water treatment, ecosystem health studies and aquaculture. The fluorometers were deployed at each of the seven ACT partner sites for a period of 4 weeks as well as evaluated for in-situ profiling performance by the Great Lakes Chapter and the GoMOOS/University of Maine. The sensors were also tested for response linearity, precision, detection range and light and turbidity sensitivity in a controlled laboratory at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories. Performance Verification Statements for each participating manufacturer can be downloaded from Alliance for Coastal Technologies (ACT) website

Turbidity Meters

Turbidity is a property commonly used to describe water clarity in both marine and freshwater environments. ACT�s Turbidity Verification took place in 2006, with field deployments at all seven ACT partnerships and laboratory tests of accuracy, response linearity, precision, range and reliability conducted at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories. The instruments were field deployed for four week, six week and eight week periods. Performance Verification Statements for each participating manufacturere can be downloaded from Alliance for Coastal Technologies (ACT) website.

ACT Workshops

The MHL in partnership with CILER has hosted a number of technology specific workshops to review the current state of sensors and their platforms. The workshops are designed to facilitate communications between users such as researchers and resource managers and manufacturers and developers. The MHL has hosted workshops on Developing Technologies for Environmental Micro-Chemical Sensors, Applications of Mini-ROV Systems for Coastal and Estuarine Monitoring, Applications of Drifting Buoy Technologies for Coastal Watershed and Ecosystem Modeling, Monitoring for Organic Contaminant Loading.