Monitoring Environmental Concerns in Lake Victoria
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Monitoring Environmental Concerns in Lake Victoria

UK-based OSIL recently completed the installation of two data buoys along Lake Victoria in Kenya to help manage the local environment. The buoys will be used to monitor various environmental concerns including hyacinth menace and contamination of the lake water.

In addition to monitoring atmospheric components of the lake, such as moisture, oxygen levels and temperature, the sensors on the data buoys will also measure wind direction and levels of potentially harmful chemicals in the lake. By better understanding the environment, one benefit is that fishermen will be provided with real-time information on wind patterns, thus helping them to avoid being trapped by regions of floating hyacinth which is blown across the lake.

The 5m tall data buoys measuring 2.6m in diameter were designed and built to be robust and protected from the local wildlife to ensure the security of the data collected. This real-time data will be relayed to base stations at 15 to 30-minute intervals where the data will then be analysed and studied, to indicate any changes in the lake's environment.

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