Saves Money & Minimizes Risk

The In-Situ^® Aquaculture Buoy is a wireless, solar-powered oxygen monitoring buoy that consists of two main components:

• The easy-to-maintain RDO^® PRO Probe for continuous dissolved oxygen (DO) monitoring
• A tranceiver for transmitting data to a radio modem that is connected to a host PC or laptop
  
  

The rugged, reliable RDO PRO Probe features optical measurement technology. The In-Situ Aquaculture Buoy ships with a pre-installed RDO PRO Probe and is ready for immediate deployment.

Automates Oxygen Monitoring

Farmers can significantly reduce spot-checking rounds and reduce energy and labor costs. With the buoy, farmers:

• Improve risk management
• Eliminate calibrations for an entire season
• Automate aerator control
• Minimize manual DO checks
• Obtain accurate DO and temperature data
  
  

Provides Real-Time Status & Control

The buoy's transceiver consists of:

• A microprocessor that is programmed to take sensor readings at given intervals
• A radio modem that receives the data from the buoy and sends it the host PC
  
  

After the data is transmitted to the host PC, the operator can view the real-time status of oxygen levels in each pond. If oxygen falls below the set point, the radio modem can turn on any number of aerators per pond. Farmers also can turn aerators on and off from a remote site via Internet access.

In between the readings, the radio module operates in sleep mode, which furthers reductions in energy costs.

Grants & Credits Reduce Project Costs

Learn more about the grant application process. See the technical note: Fish Farmers Reduce Project Costs by Qualifying for USDA Grants and Solar Tax Credits (pdf).

The USDA offers grants for making Energy Efficiency Improvements to your fish farm. Additionally, solar tax credits can lower the cost for investing in an automated aquaculture management system.