The challenge

Water is the vital resource for all the life forms on earth live on, and environmental water quality matters for the aqua ecosystem and the urban environment. This project will enable the production of high resolution water quality distribution maps to survey the water quality for the entire Floating Harbour in Bristol. Previous measurements of water quality have only been possible at fixed points. 

The water system is an essential component in a smart city for its sustainability and resilience. The Floating Harbour is the core area of Bristol. The harmful chemical substances and high populations of certain microorganisms in the water are potential threats to human activities (e.g., the Bristol annual triathlon event) and the harbour aqua ecosystems, etc.

What we're doing

We have already built a smart water quality monitoring system using wireless sensor network technology, but only for the fixed spots along the harbour banks. In this project we carried out a thorough survey of the water quality for the entire Floating Harbour area in Bristol and produced high resolution water quality distribution maps. It is equipped with real-time water quality sensors and a hyperspectral camera to collect in-situ water quality data and hyperspectral images in the Bristol Floating Harbour. A mathematical model will be built between the data collected by the water quality sensors and hyperspectral camera to explore the usage of hyperspectral imagery in water quality monitoring.

How it helps

This floating platform can be transported and used in other water bodies as well and so is an excellent research facility for the whole UKCRIC community.

Investigators

• Dawei Han (Civil Engineering)
• Yiheng Chen (Civil Engineering)
• Miguel Rico-Ramirez (Civil Engineering)
• Theo Tryfonas (Civil Engineering)
• John Day (Physics)
• Roddy Allan (Mechanical Engineering)