Portable Non-optical Measurement of Phosphorous in Marine Environments to Inform Management and Conservation at the Watershed Scale

Phosphorous (P) is one of the primary nutrients that plants require but it can disrupt aquatic systems when its concentrations are too high. Excess P can cause eutrophication resulting in fish kills toxic algae and degraded drinking water quality especially in rural agricultural areas. Careful monitoring of P levels is required to effectively manage human interactions with water sources and to manage P runoff. Currently measuring P in water sources requires sample send out to a lab. The results turn around (3-4 weeks) is much longer than the timescale of P cycling in the ecosystem. Information to guide management related to fast occurring events (like storms) that can release more P from high runoff areas (like farms) is often missing. There is an immediate need for lab-quality data to be generated at the water source at higher temporal resolution (i.e. faster times) to drive effective water management decisions and inform agricultural best management practices. TDA proposes a novel method to monitor phosphorous (P) concentrations in surface waters such as lakes and rivers that is fast inexpensive and remotely deployable. This is in direct response to Topic 8.4: Conservation of Natural Resources specifically the "water quality and quantity" research priority. This proposal also has a connection to "agriculturally related technology" a broader USDA SBIR program priority. USDA Strategic Objective 2.3 is to foster agricultural innovation. Monitoring is crucial for making data-informed decisions regarding farm-level practices to manage phosphorus and continuous remote monitoring is a major innovation.