Guillermo & García-Climent - Ardulake temperature profiler: an open-source, low-cost, automated monitoring system for unraveling the mixing behavior of lakes. (submitted to HardwareX)

The thermal classification of lakes according to their mixing regime is a piece of classical limnology. The topic seemed to be scientifically settled, but new knowledge is emerging about differences in mixing regimes still for ponds and shallow lakes. The present article presents the technological development of an original, simple, and autonomous high-frequency temperature monitoring system at various depths applied to research of thermal behavior of intermediate depth lakes. The proposal, named Ardulake temperature profiler, was based on Arduino technology and utilized telemetry via GPRS. Not only the development of the equipment but also installation criteria and performance evaluation after more than two years are analyzed. The monitoring system was useful for real-time high frequency monitoring of environmental temperature as well as storing the data on an online platform for further analysis or visualization. The generated data is being used to numerically model the thermic behavior of a subtropical urban lake. The main strengths of the system are low production and maintenance costs, replicability, and customization possibilities. Advice for the development of projects with similar characteristics is given. Possibilities of adapting to other objectives, main identified cautions, and perspectives for improvement are also addressed.依据混合节律对湖泊进行热学分类，是湖沼学中的经典研究议题。该课题曾被认为在学术上已形成定论，但针对池塘与浅湖的混合节律差异，新的研究发现正不断涌现。本文介绍了一款原创、简易且可自主运行的多深度高频温度监测系统的技术研发过程，该系统被应用于中深度湖泊的热行为研究。该方案被命名为Ardulake温度剖面仪（Ardulake temperature profiler），基于Arduino技术开发，并通过通用分组无线服务（General Packet Radio Service, GPRS）实现遥测功能。本文不仅分析了该设备的研发过程，还阐述了其安装规范以及两年多以来的性能评估结果。该监测系统可实现水体温度的实时高频监测，同时将数据存储于在线平台，以供后续分析或可视化展示。所采集得到的数据已被用于构建亚热带城市湖泊热行为的数值模型。该系统的主要优势在于制造成本与维护成本低廉、可复制性强，且支持个性化定制。本文还为同类特性的项目研发提供了参考建议。此外，本文还探讨了该系统适配其他研究目标的可能性、已明确的主要注意事项以及未来的改进方向。