This is the SALAMANDER open-source environmental sensor project at the University of Louisville.  In collaboration with the VOEIS project, we are developing online uploading, translation, sharing and visualization capabilities. For the next three summers, we have a collaboration with the University of Kentucky to get student researchers building and testing sensors in streams! Much of the content on these pages is provided by these students.

Students are building sensors to track the flow of sediment through the landscape. Sediment consists of solids that are stirred up by stream flow, and it comes from both natural and human activity. We need to know how fast the sediment is moving, how much sediment is in each liter of water, and what the sediment is made of. For sediment tracking, the most important sensors are flow velocity sensors, density detectors (whether detecting mass or cloudiness) and chemical sensors that can identify the composition of the sediment.

SALAMANDER stands for Serial Amphibious Linear Arrays of Micro And Nano Devices for Environmental Research. The “Salamanders” are wireless aquatic sensors that sample conditions at different depths in a body of water. Sensors include flow rate sensors, pressure sensors, temperature sensors, optical turbidity sensors and mineral sample collectors. Learn to build, modify and run your own wireless water sensors from this site!

Contact us at salamandersensors@gmail.com