Design, Installation, and Verification of Remote Monitoring Systems

This technical note describes methods for monitoring water quality at hydroprojects. A water quality manager can apply the techniques described herein to design a site-specific water quality monitoring system that provides information for water quality problem-solving. Background Remote monitoring systems are important tools for lake managers, hydropower operators, and others concerned with hydroproject-influenced water quality. Remote, automated water quality monitors provide temporal data sets that are used for determining water quality trends under various operational and seasonal conditions. Data collected via remote monitors can be used to identify areas of management concern and are valuable for developing and calibrating predictive models. The usefulness of data collected by remote monitors depends on how effectively the sampled water represents the parameters of concern for the area. Many variables affect the representativeness of monitoring locations, including lateral, longitudinal, and vertical heterogeneities in the water; equilibration times of the water quality instruments; and hydrological, biological, and physicochemical processes within the sample areas. This technical note describes the processes involved in designing and deploying automated, remote monitoring systems and analyzing the data they generate. It is not intended as an exhaustive review of the subject, but highlights the more critical steps in developing monitoring systems. Where appropriate, case studies are cited. Although the primary purpose of this technical note is to describe the installation and maintenance of automated remote monitoring systems, the ideas presented have application to manual sampling programs as well. The ultimate goal of any monitoring program should be to collect pertinent, representative data. The flow diagram presented as Figure 1 is a generi