The Open Digital Environmental Lab
Open-source, Low-cost Sensors for Quantifying Environmental Processes
Collecting high-resolution spatiotemporal data requires sensor grids that are often costly and not necessarily modular enough to fit a specific experimental objective. These are limiting factors that can be solved using open-source hardware. The use of novel open-source sensors, defined as hardware whose design is made publicly available, lowers the cost dramatically compared to commercial solutions and allows implementing higher spatiotemporal resolution sensor grids that are imperative for modeling and mechanistic understandings.
In our Open Digital Environmental Lab, we develop and integrate into our research complex sensor arrays that simultaneously measure multiple parameters, such as water content, as well as CO and O concentrations. Each project requires careful planning, for which we rely on integrating IoT (Internet of Things) concepts and aim to meet not only our current research goals, but also to enable new capabilities at a fraction of traditional sensor costs but with similar accuracy. Our vision is that open-source sensors will:
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“Democratize science” by reducing cost limitations to allow scientists in low- as well as high- income countries to advance in environmental research.
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Be game-changers for measuring environmental parameters with the ability to capture process-related heterogeneity.
Open-source sensors are a new and emerging field of interest in environmental studies. We are excited to collaborate, so please feel free to reach out.
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Our collaborators:
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The Openly Published Environmental Sensing Lab, Oregon State University, USA
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The Agrotech lab, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel — Rehovot Campus
Below are a few recent examples, the complete list of projects with DIY guides are listed in our lab’s GitHub page.
Portable low-cost photoreactor–spectrophotometer for water treatment applications
Collaborators:
Prof. Thomas T. Cadenbach (Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador)
Pollution due to modern industrial activities, population growth and long-term droughts have caused a shortage in clean water sources. Degradation of dangerous organic pollutants by oxidative photocatalytic processes (OPP) using photoreactors has been studied in recent years using different photocatalytic materials and light sources. However, research and application of OPP are limited due to: (1) the high cost of photoreactors, and (2) investigating the degradation processes is done manually using analytical devices, such as a spectrophotometer. Developing a low-cost photoreactor with in-situ measurements of the pollution concentrations during degradation can resolve these limitations to allow scientists in low- as well as high- income countries to advance research on water treatment using OPP. This study aims to develop an affordable portable photoreactor–spectrophotometer for water treatment applications with a target price of $1,500 per system. A successful achievement of this new study will provide an easy-to-use tool that will allow new research capabilities for in-situ rapid testing of different pollutants degradation under OPP. In addition, this affordable system falls under the philosophy of “democratizing science”, which has received growing interest and funding in the last few years.
Funding:
The BGU-USFQ MSc student program in Water Sciences
Working prototypes of the photoreactor (a), and the portable spectrophotometer for real-time pollutants measurement (b)
Related publications:
New generation precision aquaculture: real-time, low-cost water quality monitoring and control to enhance productivity and reduce environmental impact
Collaborators:
Prof. Amit Gross (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel)
Prof. Dina Zilberg (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel)
The share of inland recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) in global fish production is continuously growing and is expected to account for nearly half of the production within a decade. Management practices conducted in aquaculture are not always science-based, and their accuracy and precision are often questionable due to lack of accurate information/data. The current study aims to develop and combine a novel precision aquaculture approach to provide science-based management practices for feed application, water conservation, resource reuse, waste reduction, enhanced fish production, and consequently, cost reduction and smaller environmental footprint. We will focus on developing a robust low-cost water quality monitoring network for the Internet of Things (IoT) based precision aquaculture. The development and validation of the combined system will be conducted at the RAS aquaculture facility in the Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Sde-Boker, Israel. The outcome of utilizing real-time water quality data from this network will be data-driven control and optimization of RAS systems.
Funding:
The Goldinger Trust
A scheme of the inland recirculating aquaculture systems precision aquaculture (A), and one functional node (B)
Portable, open-source, low-cost incubation chamber for real-time characterization of soil respiration and microbial activity
Monitoring CO or O concentrations within a closed, volume-defined chamber is widely used to quantify soil respiration during laboratory soil incubation experiments. The standard method of using periodic manual gas sampling is costly, labor-intensive, and frequently fails to capture the aerobic respiration process. Thus, tools that allow continuous, real-time tracking of CO and O concentration changes are needed for soil respiration research. This study presents a new, portable, low-cost (~700 USD), open-source sensor system to measure CO and O concentrations in four closed chambers. We provide non-engineering end-users with step-by-step instructions on how to build the system, enabling replication and customization. The tested performance of the system highlights its capabilities for soil respiration research and the potential for further adoption in real-time gas monitoring applications.
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Experimental setting. The complete system (a), zoom in on the core unit (b), and zoom in on one CO2/O2 sensing unit (c).
Related publications:
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GitHub - The complete design and DIY guide
An open-source, low-cost system for continuous nitrate monitoring in soil and open water
Collaborators:
Sahiti Bulusu (Basis Independent Fremont Upper School, Fremont, CA, USA)
M.Sc. Cristina Prieto García (University of California, Davis, USA)
Prof. Helen E. Dahlke (University of California, Davis, USA)
Nitrate (NO ), mainly leaching through the soil pore water fraction, is globally the primary nonpoint source pollutant of groundwater. Obtaining real-time information on nitrate levels in soils would allow gaining a better understanding of the sources and transport dynamics of nitrate. However, conventional nitrate detection techniques (e.g. soil sample analysis) necessitate costly, laboratory-grade equipment for analysis, along with human resources, resulting in a laborious and time-intensive procedure. These drawbacks raise the need to develop cost-effective and automated systems for in-situ nitrate measurements in field conditions. This study presents the development of a low-cost, portable, automated system for field measurements of nitrate in soil pore water and open water bodies. The system is based on the spectrophotometric determination of nitrate using a single reagent. The system design and processing software are openly accessible, including a building guide, to allow duplicating or changing the system according to user-specific needs. Data derived from such a system allow tracking of the temporal variation in soil nitrate, thus opening new possibilities for diverse soil and nutrient management studies. We are proud that this academic-level project was led by Sahiti Bulusu, a brilliant high school student as part of her science fair project.
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Experimental setting. The complete system during soil testing (a) and zoom in on the main box (b).
Related publications:
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The low-cost spectrophotometer is based on the design by Laganovska et al. (2020): Portable low-cost open-source wireless spectrophotometer for fast and reliable measurements. HardwareX 7, e00108, 2020, Vol 7.
Coming Soon…
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Sensing the water: a novel, affordable, real-time CO2/O2 flux monitoring for aquatic research
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Open-source system for measuring real-time CO2 and CH4 fluxes from terrestrial and aquatic settings
Past Projects
eGreenhouse: Robotically positioned, low-cost, open-source CO2 analyzer and sensor device for greenhouse applications
Collaborators:
Prof. John S. Selker (Oregon State University, USA)
Dr. Chester J. Udell, (Oregon State University, USA)
Advances in gas sensors and open-source hardware are enabling new options for low-cost and light-weight gas sampling devices that are also robust and easy to use and construct. Although the number of studies investigating these sensors has been increasing in the last few years, they are still scarce with respect to agricultural applications. Here, we present a complete system for high-accuracy measurements of temperature, relative humidity, luminosity, and CO concentrations. The sensors suite is integrated on the previously developed HyperRail device (Lopez Alcala et al., 2019) – a reliable, accurate, and affordable linear motion control system. All measurements are logged with a location and time-stamp. The system was assembled from only off-the-shelf or 3D printable products. We deployed the system in an agricultural greenhouse to demonstrate the system capabilities.
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Funding:
United States – Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund (BARD)
Experimental setting of the final configuration mounted on the HyperRail within a greenhouse (from Levintal et al., 2021)
Related publications:
An underground, wireless, open-source, low-cost system for monitoring oxygen, temperature, and soil moisture
Collaborators:
Prof. Helen E. Dahlke (University of California, Davis, USA)
Do-it-yourself hardware is a new approach for improving measurement resolution in research. Here, we present a new low-cost, wireless underground sensor network for soil monitoring. All data logging, power, and communication component cost is USD 150, much cheaper than other available commercial solutions. We provide the complete building guide to reduce any technical barriers, which we hope will allow easier reproducibility and open new environmental monitoring applications.
Funding:
United States – Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund (BARD)
