Upstate Freshwater Institute

Description

The Upstate Freshwater Institute has been advancing the technology of remotely controlled water quality monitoring systems. These systems ("robots") consist of an onboard computer and water quality sensors. Presently, UFI maintains two robotic networks, one located within Central New York State (CNY) and the other on the New York City Watershed. The project's web site: ( http://www.ourlake.org ) Central New York Network The Central New York's Near-Real-Time Surface Water Quality Network was created in 2000 from an USEPA EMPACT Metro Grant. The network originally involved three robotic buoys on Onondaga Lake and the Seneca River. In 2002, the network was extended with an USEPA EMPACT Technology Transfer Grant adding robotic buoys on Otisco and Skaneateles Lakes. The New York STAR Grant Program and the Syracuse Center of Excellence (CoE) in Environmental and Energy Systems provided for an additional buoy on the Seneca River. The Onondaga Lake Partnership provided a sustaining grant for the operation of the Onondaga Lake and two of the Seneca River buoys from 2002-2004. A USEPA grant has provided for continued coverage of these systems. UFI maintains a buoy on Owasco Lake under a contract with the Institute for the Application of Geospatial Technology at Cayuga Community College (IAGT). UFI maintains a robotic monitoring hut on Onondaga Creek through a grant from the US EPA American Indian Environmental Office, to the Onondaga Nation and the Onondaga Lake Cleanup Corporation (OLCC). The project goals are

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