The prototype of the smart buoy Spectromarine developed by researchers at the Institute of Solid State Physics of the University of Latvia (ISSP UL) is equipped with a microspectrometer that provides high-quality online measurements promptly informs about potential water pollution. One potential application for such a device is monitoring water quality in fish farms.
When assessing water quality, water samples are taken to a laboratory. This process is expensive and time-consuming. Results are delayed. Given that the water is constantly changing, by the time the data is collected, the situation may already be different. “The time when the sample is taken is very important. Water changes every day. For example, if the sun is shining, it changes by the hour. Given how expensive the process is now, water samples are rarely analysed, maybe even only a few times a year, because nobody has the money to do laboratory testing every day,” says Aleksejs Zolotarjovs, senior researcher and head of the Optical Materials Laboratory at the ISSP UL.
