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We are developing a low-cost profiler for coastal shallow waters capable of measuring temperature, pressure, particle backscattering, chlorophyll fluorescence and solar irradiance. The low-cost profiler is partially developed by engineering students as part of the requirements of their "capstone" project, and partially developed by Engineering alumni, who continue to work on the project after they graduated. The project is a collaboration between departments of Oceanography and Engineering; brokered and partially funded by the Institute for Ocean Research Enterprise.

Rationale: Coastal waters are characterized by strong temporal and spatial gradients of physical and biogeochemical variables. Therefore "less-accurate" instruments may suffice to adequately assess and monitor these environments. In addition, coastal water are shallow, thus less-expensive materials can be used in the construction of the housing to further decrease its cost.

Objective: To produce the least-expensive instrument still capable of measuring useful and meaningful changes in physical and biogeochemical variables in coastal systems.