Article
Multi-parameter probe for water quality monitoring in the Lake Chad Basin
Lake Chad is characterised by waters that can be very turbid, with high reflectivity and varying very rapidly under the effect of the wind. In addition, the particular atmospheric conditions with notably a high presence of desert dust and aerosols can constitute limitations to atmospheric correction algorithms, which limits water monitoring from satellite images. Faced with all these climatic and technical challenges, UNESCO, through the BIOPALT project, is providing the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) with a multi-parameter HYDROLAB HL7 probe to monitor water quality in the basin through in-situ analysis.
The HYDROLAB HL7 multi-parameter probe provides a versatile, durable and practical solution to the day-to-day needs of monitoring programmes for simple and complex deployments. Featuring a wide range of sensors, it is capable of adapting to demanding environmental conditions for continuous and long-term profile monitoring. Thanks to this probe, the data collected on the ground will be calibrated with those generated over the same period by satellite with the support of the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) of France. All data will be made available on an online portal, open to all. This monitoring work will eventually help in decision-making on water quality in the Lake Chad basin.
The probe has a temperature sensor and maximises deployment life, minimises maintenance and offers unrivalled ease of use by producing comprehensive and valuable data sets supported by metadata. This allows LCBC experts to properly record data autonomously and facilitates integration into real-time telemetry systems.
