Water Drone Utilized by Sea Grant Researcher

The BlueBoat water drone in action testing water quality.

Louisiana Sea Grant water quality specialist, M.P. Hayes and his team have designed and begun to use a water drone for water quality testing. Utilizing a BlueBoat equipped with YSI EXO2 sensors able to monitor ammonia levels, dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH, turbidity and other factors, it will allow the team to collect multiple water samples across larger bodies of water. The Blueboat is also equipped with a GoPro and GPS data logger. Eventually, they would also like to add sonar for depth profiles.

“I think there are great opportunities to utilize the boat for education and workforce development. The GoPro camera will have footage from many different waterways and can be easily converted into teaching tools.” Hayes said. “Additionally, we are working to develop a network for student training on BlueBoats to enhance future water quality-based survey projects.”

Hayes and team are in the process of securing another Blueboat and sensors to have multiple drones available for water monitoring and wastewater treatment testing. The team plans to utilize the vessel and sensors for a project that would look at improving consistency within wastewater treatment ponds to enhance water quality.