An in-situ optical fibre sensor for the monitoring of water quality using wireless motes.

The development of a novel in-situ continuous monitoring system capable of detecting increases in toxin levels or chemical impurities in a marine environment is described. A real-time early warning system that incorporates the use of an optical absorption based sensing platform which can be used for the detection of substances that are causing harm to the monitored marine environment will also be presented. The spectral discriminating technique capitalises on the absorption properties of specific wavelengths of light in water has been designed, built and tested. The work being presented involved the incorporation of a multi-use disposable optical fibre sensor head for deployment in the marine environment which efficiently and remotely measures the resulting absorption readings from the sensor to identify substances of interest to the tuned system. These waveguides are then comparatively discriminated against a pre-calibrated configuration by using electronic circuitry in a predefined logical configuration that is used to discern the presence of the chemical/substance of interest in the marine environment being monitored. It will be demonstrated that a platform of this type has many potential uses and finally the sensor design will also be critiqued to highlight its potential as a low-cost water quality sensor.