YSI has recently launched two world-leading technologies for bathymetric surveys - the SonTek M9 RiverSurveyor and the EcoMapper.

The European Water Framework Directive (WFD) dictates a monitoring requirement for surface and ground water quantity, quality and ecological status and takes into consideration the likely impacts of climate change.

Marine water monitoring is required for a number of purposes: the detection of diffuse pollution; to ensure the compliance of construction projects (especially if dredging is involved); for Environmental Impact Assessments and for general marine biology investigations/research.

Environmental permits are required for a wide range of industries that discharge to the environment. Such permits specify the parameters that must be monitored and the frequency of testing.

Diffuse pollution can be difficult to detect unless water quality data is collected over a long time frame. With built-in datalogging capability, YSI water quality monitors can be used for long-term monitoring or spot sampling at intervals over a long period.

With seemingly ever changing climatic conditions, from flood to drought, accurate and reliable flow measurements are critical to water management decisions. Now you can enjoy the benefits of high-precision and accuracy flow measurements in less time than ever, while keeping it affordable.

Many construction projects that require dredging in river, estuarine or marine waters now stipulate that water quality should be monitored in real-time before, during and after the dredging work.

Population growth causes a rise in demand for industrial and domestic water, and climate change is reducing water availability in many of the earth's water stressed regions. However, much of the world's agriculture depends on irrigation, so water resources are placed under even greater pressure as the world struggles to feed itself.

YSI and SonTek manufacture portable, buoy-mounted and fixed instrumentation to enable the monitoring of marine water level, tidal flow and changing water quality. Typically on platforms or buoys, these robust systems send near real-time data to base stations. YSI can design and integrate a monitoring system that fits your specific application and delivers the required data through a variety of communication technologies.

Flooding represents a major risk to life and property and climate change is increasing the risk of floods through raised water levels and greater frequency of severe weather events. It is therefore essential to monitor river and sea levels in order to operate effective flood forecasting models.

Groundwater monitoring is important for three main reasons. Firstly, to ensure that the supply of fresh water is not depleted by excessive abstraction or as a result of global warming; secondly to check that water quality is not adversely affected by pollution or saltwater incursion and thirdly to monitor rising groundwater levels that could cause flooding or flush sources of pollution.

Sites for potential power generation are chosen with the lowest socio-economic, environmental and infrastructure development costs coupled with the maximum level of potential power generation. A great deal of environmental impact assessment work is therefore necessary in the planning process.

Irrigated land now accounts for about 20 percent of the world’s farmed area and 40 percent of global food production. Furthermore, water use in agriculture consumes more than 75 percent of water in the developing world. Clearly, irrigation water will need to be managed more efficiently and experience has shown that this is best achieved when a value is attached to groundwater and surface water and flow rates are monitored.

The Environment Agency is moving to a risk-based approach to monitoring including Operator Self Monitoring (OSM). As its name implies, this will move the responsibility for monitoring to the operator, who will also be responsible for demonstrating that the quality of the data meets the required standards, such as the Agency's monitoring certification scheme MCERTS.

Pollution investigations can be undertaken with robust portable YSI instrumentation featuring on-board memory. However, other YSI instruments offer the ability to leave monitors in the field to record continuous data. Internal dataloggers, robust design, a low power requirement and resistance to fouling, all combine to provide the ability to install pollution monitoring systems that can be left unattended for long periods.

Harbour Masters manage the waterways within ports and are responsible for ensuring that harbours are safe for shipping. To achieve this, several types of monitoring data are required - tide level, current speed and direction, underwater surfaces, hydrographic surveys, water quality etc.

A wide variety of water quality parameters are monitored in order to help manage industrial processes. These measurements are often made continuously or portable instruments can be employed for occasional tests.

The monitoring of raw water helps to inform the treatment process at a drinking water treatment plant. It can also raise alarms to prevent polluted water from entering the treatment process. Monitoring water quality in rivers, groundwater, reservoirs and lakes before the raw water enters the plant for treatment can save time and money.

Heavy rain and/or snowmelt can create high volumes of water that exceed the capacity of the drainage system and soil infiltration. As a result, storm water (often carrying a high pollutant load) is passed directly into water resources such as rivers. This can cause flooding in addition to water quality issues.

Wastewater treatment plants and industrial processes have to apply for a discharge consent which specifies maximum permissible levels for water quality and flow. Flow monitoring is usually continuous and water quality is usually measured by sampling and accredited laboratory analysis.