Lindorm Delivers Automatic Measurement Station to IAEA Project in Lake Yojoa, Honduras

Miami, FL, 2008-06-01 - Lago de Yojoa is Honduras' only real lake, and the water source for the country's most cost-effective hydropower plant. To increase the understanding of the water budget an hydrologic study is now underway, sponsored by IAEA and administered locally by UNDP. The new station will be used to gather data on the water and heat balance of the lake, but also on sedimentation.

The measurement station, which will be operated by the national electric utility company ENEE, consists of eight LogDator™ loggers interconnected in an RS-485 network. The loggers can operate in stand-alone mode with distributed memory, or in real-time mode, controlled by a computer that optionally can make the data immediately available on the Internet.

At the central connection point for the network on the shore, two LogDators are used to measure relative humidity, air temperature, evaporation, and precipitation. Six LogDators are used to measure the vertical temperature profile in the ca 25 m deep lake. The lowermost LogDator also monitors a SediMeter™ sensor inserted into the bottom. The SediMeter—which has been shown capable of detecting changes in bottom level of only 0.1 mm—is intended for monitoring sediment dynamics, i.e., the accumulation and re-suspension of organic detritus.

"Lake Yojoa was apparently created some 11,000 years ago by a volcanic eruption that dammed the drainage area at the end of the Sula Valley, a tectonic so-called graben", says Dr. Ulf Erlingsson, the earth scientist who founded Lindorm. The lake is now regulated between 632 m and 637.5 m above sea level. In its virgin state the lake's level also varied in about the same range, which suggests that it was quite sensitive to climatic variations. The natural sedimentation rate and eutrophication level are both low, which Dr. Erlingsson attributes to the small drainage area.

The past decade, commercial fish farming has increased the nutrient load by a factor 20, according to recent reports. During a part of the 20th century a mine polluted the lake severely, why some of the sediments are now contaminated. "The main reason for studying the sediment dynamics in this lake is thus environmental concerns, not fear of siltation, which otherwise is typical for tropical hydropower projects" according to Erlingsson, who studied for the late prof. Åke Sundborg, one of the foremost experts on reservoir sedimentation.

Since Lake Yojoa is outside the area of influence of Maya farming, it is attracting interest from scientists trying to understand the past ecology and climate of Meso-America. Paleo-ecological studies have already shown that the lake has been surrounded by a similar ecosystem as the present, with low human impact levels, for thousands of years. The natural beauty also makes it a first class tourist attraction.

The LogDator is a low-power measurement computer that can fit inside a 1-1/2" pipe. The units in the lake will be placed up to 500 m from the central on land, and data will be downloaded using an RS-485 network. This creates a single access point for the entire, distributed, station, and a single point for providing power to it. Although the equipment cost is higher than if using individual battery-powered loggers, the budgeted operating cost is much lower since there is no need for a boat or diver.

About Lindorm, Inc. - Lindorm is a private Florida company that in 2007 took over the R&D from Erlingsson Sub-Aquatic Surveys (Sweden), established 1989. Lindorm designs, builds, and sells the SediMeter and LogDator. This order from the United Nations, which includes installation and training, is the biggest to date for the Miami company.

Distributed version on PRavenue

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