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Quick Facts: REON Sensor Platform Deployment

Tremendous human impact occurs in the regions where rivers and estuaries meet the ‘coastal margin’ – coastal wetlands, bays and shoreline. In the United States, this region is home to 70% of the population and 20 of its 25 largest cities. It is also where most industry and ports are found.

On August 16, 2007, Beacon Institute and IBM announced the creation of the River and Estuary Observatory Network (REON), the first technology-based monitoring and forecasting network for rivers and estuaries. This joint effort between Beacon Institute, IBM and now Clarkson University will allow for minute-to-minute monitoring of physical, chemical and biological data from New York's Hudson and St. Lawrence Rivers via an integrated network of sensors, robotics and computational technology distributed throughout both rivers.

Beacon Institute deployed the first REON Sensor Platform -- the first sensor array for the REON system -- in the Hudson River from Beacon Harbor on August 20, 2008. It is moored in the Hudson River off of Denning’s Point in Beacon with a four point tension mooring system that includes four 300 lb mushroom anchors. The shackles and chains of mooring adjust tension on the platform based on water and wind conditions, much like the way shock absorbers smooth the ride of an automobile.

PV panels provide solar power to batteries on deck, which power everything on the sensor platform including the wireless communications.  The computer-controlled autonomous robotic profiler enables an array of multiple sensors to move up and down in the water for measurements (see below for description of sensors). 

An on-board computer receives information from the instruments and serves as a data logger, and relays commands to profilers.  Remote programming allows for autonomous and cyber control of the sensor array.

Sensor platform development is being led by James S. Bonner, Ph.D., P.E., a nationally recognized expert in real-time water monitoring technologies. Bonner is Beacon Institute’s REON Director of Research and Director of the Center for the Environment at Clarkson University. He holds an M.S. in civil engineering and a Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering from Clarkson University, as well as a B.A. in biology from SUNY Plattsburgh. In the early 1990s, he spearheaded an effort with colleagues from Texas A&M University to pursue a long-term research project to improve understanding of modern oil spill remediation and countermeasure technologies.

Bonner also established the Shoreline Environmental Research Facility in Corpus Christi, TX, where he developed and implemented technologies that use high-frequency radar to map surface water along the Texas coastline. He has developed new technologies that provide real-time continuous monitoring with in-situ sensing ("sensing in place") to measure important water parameters. With funding from the National Science Foundation, he has undertaken a national effort to create a cyber infrastructure, enabling collection and circulation of real-time data and data analysis in the study of oxygen depletion in water.

The REON Sensor Platform is has been updated and modified over the last four months for the Hudson River and the REON system.  Sensors include:

Meteorological tower that measures wind direction, flow and speed, as well as air temperature and barometric pressure.


Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) to measure the direction and flow rate of water —fundamental information to set a baseline for other hydrologic parameters.

Computer controlled autonomous robotic profiler with multiple sensors to take a series of measurements of the river at several depths and/or locations:



• Conductivity (salinity), Temperature and Depth (CTD): These basic hydrologic parameters that are important alone, but when coupled with others, provide scientists with important information about the water in the river.
• Laser In-Situ Scattering and Transmissometery (LISST): A narrow red laser beam shone into the water can measure the amount of particles in the water and their size range.
• Optical Oxygen Sensor: This new kind of sensor uses optical fluorescence technology to detect the amount of oxygen in the water.  Oxygen is another important indicator of ecological health.
• Three-Channel Fluorimeter (FL3): A unique instrument that provides biological, physical and chemical data. 
  • Chlorophyll A (biological) measures the presence of algae, which can be a food source at certain levels, but overabundance can be detrimental to ecosystem. 
  • Fluorescein (physical) is a harmless green dye that, when placed in the water, can be used to track water movement in the river.  This can be useful for modeling and predicting where pollutants can flow. 
  • Color Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM) (chemical) is of interest as a natural water mass tracer. Dissolved organic matter can affect how organic contaminants and metals distribute themselves in the environment.