URI
professors to use drones and robots to research harmful algae
The project, led by a Dartmouth
professor, will be funded by a $3M NSF grant
Neil Nachbar
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Paolo
Stegagno, URI assistant professor of electrical engineering, operates a drone
at the opening of the University’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. URI
photo by Nora Lewis.
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Freshwater lakes and ponds provide
many ecological benefits, such as drinking water and food, but they are
increasingly being threatened by harmful algae.
The cyanobacteria blooms, also known
as blue-green algae, affect water quality and pose a risk to human health
through toxins that can damage multiple organ systems. In addition, the
deaths of numerous dogs caused by exposure to blue-green algae were reported
this past summer.
URI Assistant Professor Paolo
Stegagno is collaborating with a team of scientists from other colleges to
develop and deploy high-tech tools to understand where, when, and how
cyanobacterial blooms form.
Stegagno, whose expertise is in
robotics and drones, will work with researchers from Bates College, Colby
College, Dartmouth College, the University of New Hampshire and the University
of South Carolina. Complementing Stegagno’s skills, many of those
professors are known for their research in freshwater ecology, computer science
and geospatial science.
“It’s rare to have researchers from so many different specialties converge to study a problem like this,” said Alberto Quattrini Li, an assistant professor of computer science at Dartmouth and the project lead.
“By working together, we can increase the amount of data that is collected and increase prediction capabilities.”
Changes in land-use and the
climate are considered the main causes of cyanobacteria, but much is still
unknown about what influences the timing and location of blooms in individual
lakes.
Quattrini Li met Stegagno while
visiting URI in April 2018. The two natives of Italy hit it off and stayed in
touch, but this will be their first time working together.
“Paolo’s expertise with aerial
drones and his work on multi-spectral sensors will be a great benefit on this
project,” said Quattrini Li.
Stegagno will develop the drone
and remote sensing technology to perform aerial surveys of Barber Pond and
Yawgoo Pond near URI. Using surface robots, URI ocean engineering professors
Stephen Licht and Christopher Roman will survey the ponds from sea level.
“The surface vehicles and
drones will be connected to better pinpoint the location of cyanobacterial
blooms,” said Stegagno.
“The surface vehicles will collect data such as oxygen and chlorophyll concentrations in the water, while the drones will collect imagery to visually identify blooms. The robots will communicate with each other and direct each other to areas that are suspected to have blooms to obtain confirmation.”
“The surface vehicles will collect data such as oxygen and chlorophyll concentrations in the water, while the drones will collect imagery to visually identify blooms. The robots will communicate with each other and direct each other to areas that are suspected to have blooms to obtain confirmation.”
Undergraduate and graduate students
in Stegagno’s robotics lab will also play important roles in the research.
“They will develop the drone
hardware, software and sensors to detect and monitor cyanobacterial blooms,”
said Stegagno. “They will also program and operate the autonomous surface
vehicles and participate in the data collection campaigns.”
Since cyanobacterial blooms are
most prevalent in the summer, Stegagno doesn’t expect the URI team to
conduct their field work until at least April 2020.
This project is funded by a $3
million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The multi-year
grant is part of the NSF’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive
Research (EPSCoR), designed to promote scientific progress nationwide.
If the timing and location of the
cyanobacterial blooms can be predicted, action can then be taken to protect
public health in recreational lakes and ponds.
