Environmental Monitoring and Control Applications

Fastwave provides a variety of technical and telemetry solutions for monitoring any environment.

 

We design these systems to monitor a variety of real-time data, remote sensors, or environmental applications including water & air quality, and ground based environmental/pollution sensing. Our remote monitoring and telemetry hardware will support analog, digital, RS-232, RS-422, RS-485, CANBUS, and SDI-12 sensor interfaces.

All of these systems can be combined with meteorological sensors and systems to produce a complete snapshot of local conditions and historical trend analysis.

Products

Case Study

Remote Monitoring and Control

The advantages of being able to remotely monitor and control equipment, processes and sensors are significant. Manual data retrieval from remote data logging sites or sensors can be time consuming, logistically complex, costly and hazardous. Remote monitoring can eliminate or significantly reduce these issues, as well as deliver enhanced predictive, modelling and analytical capability by enabling access to real-time data.

Fastwave Communications specializes in developing custom solutions to remotely monitor and control fixed and mobile equipment in any location, even underwater. Our satellite telemetry expertise, especially with the Iridium Short Burst Data (SBD) system, enables us to offer remote monitoring and control systems that are ideal for organizations with equipment in widely dispersed and remote parts of the world. We deliver end-to-end solutions by integrating the application field hardware with satellite or wireless telemetry systems and web enabled data delivery systems.

Environmental Monitoring and Control Applications

Fastwave provides a variety of technical and telemetry solutions for monitoring any environment. We design these systems to monitor a variety of real-time data, remote sensors, or environmental applications including water & air quality, and ground based environmental/pollution sensing. Our remote monitoring and telemetry hardware will support analog, digital, RS-232, RS-422, RS-485, CANBUS, and SDI-12 sensor interfaces.

All of these systems can be combined with meteorological sensors and systems to produce a complete snapshot of local conditions and historical trend analysis.

 

Marine Environmental Monitoring

Fastwave can supply real time data systems for monitoring marine environmental sensors and instruments in any offshore location, both fixed and drifting.

Typical applications include outfall plume monitoring, dredge plume monitoring, oil spill monitoring and tracking, aquaculture monitoring and coral reef monitoring.

These salt-water systems can be configured to accommodate a variety of sensors such as conductivity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, chlorophyll, currents, tides, waves etc. We can integrate the telemetry system with a variety of sensor types and platforms, such as buoys or sub-sea housings.

Also see the OceanStar System  →

Meteorological and Oceanographic Monitoring

The Iridium Short Burst Data telemetry system, combined with Fastwave's system integration expertise makes an ideal combination for developing innovative solutions for global climate monitoring, meteorological and oceanographic data gathering and assimilation.

Fastwave has delivered customized, near real time, mobile and autonomous weather and ocean monitoring systems for clients such as the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO), University of Western Australia, Country Fire Services of Victoria and South Australia, Department of Environment and Conservation and Vaisala Australia.

Applications include mobile automatic weather stations for fire control activities, oceanographic drifter buoys for marine research, telemetry systems for AUV's and profiling buoys, integrated remote offshore warning systems, current meter data monitoring, sea level monitoring etc.

The products below are capable of or already carry on-board meteorological stations:

Turbidity Monitoring

Australia's largest offshore gas producer, Woodside Energy, required a real time system to continuously monitor turbidity levels in ten remote sites surrounding sensitive coral reefs located near a major sub-sea pipeline dredging project.

Because the area is prone to cyclones, a specific requirement for the system was that the instrumentation, telemetry and battery packs had to be installed in pressure housings on the sea floor, rather than buoy mounted. Special waterproof coaxial cables connect the underwater modules to small surface relay buoys equipped with Iridium antennas. Due to this configuration, solar power was not available, so the battery packs were designed to provide a minimum of 3 months continuous operation before being recovered for re-charging.

The turbidity monitoring system samples turbidity levels at each site every 10 minutes, and transmits three readings every 30 minutes. It has proven remarkably robust and reliable, surviving two cyclones since deployment in late 2007. The system has significantly enhanced the ability of Woodside to ensure dredging activities do not produce turbidity levels exceeding threshold levels, as well as reducing the cost, safety issues and logistical complexity involved with manual data sampling.

 

Turbidity Monitoring Case Study

Australia's largest offshore gas producer, Woodside Energy, required a real time system to continuously monitor turbidity levels in ten remote sites surrounding sensitive coral reefs located near a major sub-sea pipeline dredging project. Read more at the link below.

Woodside Newsletter  →

IMAGE - Fastwave subsea satellite telemetry and data logging unit

IMAGE - Fastwave subsea satellite telemetry and data logging unit

Underwater Noise Monitoring

Fastwave's underwater noise monitoring systems provide a reliable way to record, measure and analyse the underwater acoustic environment. Innovative hydrophone devices and analytical tools enable Scientists, Operators and Regulators alike to conduct essential noise assessments.

Anthropogenic noise can impact on marine fauna species such as whales, dolphins, dugongs and more. These potentially harmful noise levels are commonly associated with man-made sources such as:

  • Drilling
  • Pile driving
  • Blasting
  • Dredging
  • Underwater construction
  • Transport & shipping
  • Various vessel activities

Fastwave’s innovative marine acoustic solutions enable underwater noises to be measured, quantified, analysed and continuously monitored over long periods of time. We can provide you with technologies as well as fully integrated systems including:

  • Smart Hydrophones
  • In-situ Signal Processing
  • Automated Mammal Detection
  • Automated Event Detection - exceedances, etc
  • Real-time Reporting
  • Acoustic Monitoring Buoys – with and without telemetry
  • Autonomous Vehicles – unmanned systems, long-endurance, multi-site monitoring
  • Seabed Acoustic Loggers
  • CTD and SVP profiling
  • Acoustic projectors

Integrated monitoring of Conductivity, Temperature, Depth (CTD) and Sound Velocity Profile (SVP) within our systems enable more accurate modelling and characterisation of underwater noise environments when considering noise propagation, range and Sound Exposure Level (SEL).

IMAGE - Underwater noise monitoring with Telemetry Buoys

IMAGE - Underwater noise monitoring with Telemetry Buoys

IMAGE - Underwater noise monitoring with Autonomous Vehicles

IMAGE - Underwater noise monitoring with Autonomous Vehicles

Bushfire Monitoring

Fastwave offers portable, mobile automatic weather stations for transmitting real-time meteorological data in bushfire fighting campaigns. The mobile weather stations are mounted on a folding tripod and fit into a rugged box which also contains a folding solar panel to charge the batteries. The solar panel enables the unit to operate on a stand-alone basis indefinitely. The unit fits easily into the back of a vehicle and can be hand-carried to a remote location and set up in minutes by non-technical personnel, sending real-time wind, temperature and barometric information to the fire control center. These units are used extensively across Australia during the bushfire season, and have proven to be an invaluable aid for monitoring and predicting the rapid movement of bush fire fronts.

The two-way capability of the Iridium short-burst data (SBD) service enables the reporting interval to be changed as the severity of the fire changes.

 

Bushfire Monitoring Case Study

Mobile weather stations are an essential emergency management resource, capable of providing a consistent set of weather observations, which are used in operational decision making to improve safety and effectiveness of fire fighting activities. During the recent wildfires over southeastern Australia, which burnt 1 million hectares over a 2 month period, several mobile weather stations were deployed. These stations provided weather observations at 10-minute intervals in short burst data format over the Iridium satellite network, providing a reliable and cost-effective means of receiving weather information from the fire ground.

Kevin Parkyn, Senior Meteorologist - Severe Weather Section at Australian Bureau of Meteorology

Enquire

Do you have a question or would you like to make a booking? Please contact us and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

We respect your privacy.


Contact information from this contact form is used to respond queries for our prospective and current customers only. All information provided remains confidential and will not be sold or transferred to other entities.