Abstract:
A mobile electric field monitor with a floatable housing, an electric field probe, and a computer processor to measure the electric field generated by an electrofisher while the electrofisher is being used in a body of water, this mobile electric field monitor is coupled to computing system to generate a three dimensional map of electric field.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/349,144 filed May 27, 2010, the contents herein incorporated into this application by reference. 
     BACKGROUND 
     The present inventive subject matter relates to the systems and methods for mobile electrofishing electric field analysis and protection. 
     The protection and preservation of natural resources includes the management of fish and game. Fish move about lakes, rivers, streams and reservoirs for a variety of reasons, including migration, spawning, and searching for food. Water intakes divert water for drinking, irrigation, and industrial uses. The introduction of fish into intakes is generally regarded as an unwanted event, and, in some cases, is expressly prohibited by federal government mandates such as the “Endangered Species Act” and the EPA “Clean Water Act.” As the need for governing the movement and migration of fish has been recognized, means for achieving this goal have also been developed. 
     Furthermore, techniques of electrofishing have also been used freshwater lakes and streams and are the subject of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,445,111; 5,327,854; 4,672,967; 4,713,315; 5,111,379; 5,233,782; 5,270,912; 5,305,711; 5,311,694; 5,327,668; 5,341,764; 5,551,377; and 6,978,734 which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     The maximum transfer of energy from water to a fish occurs when the fish&#39;s electrical conductivity matches the electrical conductivity of the surrounding water. In most circumstances, a fish&#39;s body is normally more conductive than fresh water. As a result, the fish&#39;s body acts as a “voltage divider” when swimming through fresh water, and the gradient of an electrical field in the body of a fish will typically be less than the voltage gradient in the same space filled by fresh water. That is, the voltage gradient is altered in a region proximate a fish in the zone of an electric fish barrier. Nevertheless, all other factors remaining equal, the voltage gradient in the body of a fish will be roughly proportional to the voltage gradient in the same region of fresh water when no fish are present. Accordingly, if the voltage gradient in a region of water is doubled, the voltage gradient across the fish (and the electrical current through the fish) will also double. The effectiveness of an electric fish barrier on a particular fish, therefore, depends on the voltage field gradient produced by the electric fish barrier. 
     The voltage gradients in the region of water may be adjusted to cause a physiological reaction in the fish. If a voltage gradient in a region of water is too weak, the fish will not feel appreciable discomfort, and will travel undaunted by the electric fish barrier. An “annoying region” will cause a fish to turn around and travel the preferred route. Conversely, early experiments have demonstrated that if a moderately annoying region of the electric barrier is too narrow to allow a fish to turn around, then the rapidly swimming fish passes quickly through the “annoying” region and then into the “painful region”. The rapid transition from the annoying to the painful may induce large fish to react so violently in their attempt to change direction that they have actually snapped their own spine. As a result of these observations, an ideal fish barrier will normally have a wide region with a moderately annoying voltage gradient, increasing at a rate that causes increasing discomfort to fish of various sizes and species, but allowing ample room for a fish experiencing discomfort to turn around before passing completely through the annoying region and into a painful or lethal region. The awareness of the field gradient should, therefore, not be a sudden discovery, but a gradually growing annoyance. Whether a fish barrier is effective, ineffective or harmful is thus a function of the shape of the boundary, the thickness and the intensity of a voltage gradient produced by an electric fish barrier. 
     The current passing through a fish depends on a variety of factors such as the conductivity of the water at both ends of the fish, the total resistance in a conductive path of water, and the size and species of a fish being repelled, etc. Typically, higher gradients are necessary to control the travel and migration of smaller fish, and lower gradients are effective for larger fish. The effectiveness of a particular strength gradient also depends on the species of fish, and whether the motion of the water reliably flows in a direction to orient the fish along the axis of the strongest gradient, which is perpendicular to the equipotential voltage plane. However, a voltage gradient of one hundred volts per meter has been observed to establish a good base-line voltage gradient for effectively and yet safely deterring average size fish from entering a prohibited area. It is understood that higher and lower voltage gradients may be appropriate according to a variety of factors. First, the electric field is generated fixed barrier that typically runs along the bottom of a riverbed (see prior art  FIG. 1 ) 
     During electrofishing with pulsed DC electric current, a fish will have several reactions, depending upon the field strength or density in which it finds itself and upon the frequency, shape and width of the pulses. The first reaction is that of frightening the fish. A second reaction is electrotaxis, the involuntary exercise of swimming muscles to draw the fish toward the source of electric current. The third reaction is narcosis when the muscles go limp and the fish rolls on its side; this permits netting and acquisition of the fish. The fourth reaction is tetanus which is an involuntary contraction of the muscles without interleaved relaxation and can result in death. A fifth reaction can occur if the white muscles of the fish are stimulated to the point of an epileptic seizure, thereby causing morphological trauma. 
     Since the inception of electrofishing for scientific purposes, there have been reports of injuries to fish due to exposure to electric stimuli. The injuries include compression of the spinal column, torn supportive tissues around various organs and broken blood vessels (hematomas). In general, these injuries have been thought to be the result of high current densities which may be encountered by the fish near an electrode. 
     In normal electrofishing practice, direct current or pulsed direct current is used because aquatic animals will move, in general, to the anode electrode. In the case of fish, this movement, electrotaxis, involves a pseudo swimming reaction. As a fish approaches the anode electrode, it encounters an exponentially increasing field strength. At some critical value of field strength, depending upon many physical factors, such as the water conductivity, the fish may cease electrotaxis action, enter a state of narcosis and then tetanus, a few feet from the anode electrode or very near it. Often, the critical state occurs a few feet from the anode electrode or very near it. In either case, the fish almost always drifts near to or may actually touch the anode electrode. The field strength within this zone causing tetanus is very high and a significant flow of electric current through the fish occurs. This electric current is generally believed to stimulate and then overwhelm the neuromuscular system of the fish. It is believed that the overwhelmed neuromuscular system causes the above referenced trauma. 
     As some aquatic species are protected or may be protected under the endangered species act, it may be necessary to minimize the electric field applied to an aquatic endangered species during electrofishing. This minimization can be accomplished by placing remote electric field monitors in a body of water proximate to the electrofishing apparatus. These remote electric field monitors can operate by storing “time stamp” electric field data into an internal memory to be retrieved at a later date. Alternately, the electric field data can be relayed to a central data collecting point by wireless technology. Furthermore, the electric field data can be correlated with the GPS location of the remote electric field monitor. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present inventive subject matter overcomes problems in the prior art by providing for systems and methods for a mobile electric field monitor having a floatable housing, an electric field probe, the electric field probe adjustable downwards from the floatable housing, a computer processor, the computer processor connected to the electric field probe, such that the electric field probe measures the electric field generated by an electrofisher while floating on a body of water. The mobile electric field monitor having a computer processor that has a time stamp associated with the reading of the electric field. The mobile electric field monitor further with a location stamp associated with the reading of the electric field. The mobile electric field monitor having a power source capable of moving the mobile electric field monitor; and a rudder capable of steering the mobile electric field monitor; where that the mobile electric field monitor may be relocated within a body of water. The mobile efield monitor having an internal programming system that designates certain waypoints over a body of water. 
     The present inventive subject matter also provides for a mobile electrofisher electric field monitoring system having a multiplicity of mobile electrofisher monitors, the mobile eletrofisher monitors operably able to monitor an electric field, then connect to a base station, and then transmit a multiplicity of electric field measurements from the mobile electrofisher monitor to the base station. 
     The process of using multiple electric field monitors for electrofishing, the process having the steps of: (1) measuring an electric field in an area proximate to an electrofisher; (2) measuring a geographic location coincident with the measured electric field; (3) transmitting the electric field measurements and to a system operable to store the electric field measurements and the geographic location; (4) mapping the electric field measurement based on the geographic location to provide a map of the electric field proximate to an electrofisher. 
     The foregoing is not intended to be an exhaustive list of embodiments and features of the present inventive subject matter. Persons skilled in the art are capable of appreciating other embodiments and features from the following detailed description in conjunction with the drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a prior art diagram of electrofishing in a body of water. 
         FIG. 2  is a representative diagram of the preferred embodiment of the mobile electrofishing monitor. 
         FIG. 3  is block diagram of the preferred embodiment of the mobile electrofishing monitor. 
         FIG. 4  is representative diagram of the preferred embodiment of multiple electrofishing monitors integrated with a monitoring computer. 
         FIG. 5  is a flowchart of the operational program of the electrofishing monitors. 
         FIG. 6  is a representative diagram of the preferred embodiment with a remote positioning device. 
         FIG. 7  is an alternate embodiment of  FIG. 4  with use of an electrofishing boat. 
     
    
    
     REFERENCE CHARACTERS 
     
         
           110  Operator 
           120  Mobile Electrofisher 
           130  Anode Pole 
           140  Rat-Tail Cathode 
           150  Induced Electric Field 
           160  Aquatic Species 
           200  Mobile efield monitor 
           210  Water 
           220  Body 
           230  Electric Field Probe 
           310  Electric field probe 
           320  Central processing unit 
           330 , 340  Wireless communication unit 
           420  Base station 
           410  Base station wireless connection 
           510  Electric field 
           530  Sampled 
           540  Electric field map 
           610  Power Source 
           620  Rudder 
           710  Electrofishing Boat 
       
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Representative embodiments according to the inventive subject matter are shown in  FIGS. 1-7  wherein similar features share common reference numerals. 
     Now referring to  FIG. 1  which depicts the prior art configuration of the use of a mobile electrofisher  100 . The mobile electrofisher  100  includes an operator  110 , a backpack-type pulse generator  120 , an anode pole  130 , a rat-tail cathode  140 , an induced electric field  150 , and an aquatic species  160 . As the operator  110  sweeps the anode pole  130  through the water, the electric field  150  is induced between the anode pole  130  and the rat-tail cathode  140  which affects the nearby aquatic species  160 , controlling the swimming direction, orientation, and assemblage of the aquatic species  160 , or even the biological state (e.g., electrotaxis, stun, etc. . . . ) of the aquatic species  160 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , an example of a mobile and floatable electric field monitor is illustrated. The mobile electric field or efield monitor  200  floats on the water  210 . The body  220  of the mobile efield monitor  200  floats on the water  210  with an electric field probe  230 , which includes a detector portion  230 ′, extending downwards, below the surface of the water. The electric field probe  230 ,  230 ′ can be adjusted to any depth, but will typically be set at a depth where aquatic species will be most present. Although one electric field probe  230 ,  230 ′ is shown here, the electric field monitor  200  may have an array (not shown) of electric field probes that can measure the electric field at multiple depths. 
     Now referring to  FIG. 3  which depicts a system block diagram of the inventive subject matter. The electric field probe  310  is connected to a central processing unit  320  which programmatically gathers data from the electric field probe. Also included in this data may be a “time-stamp” indicating the time and date of a particular data point, a “location-stamp” indicating a location of the mobile e-field monitor (this location being determined by local determination or by GPS). Further connected to the central processing unit is a wireless communication unit  330 , 340 . The wireless communication unit  330 , 340  being able to communicate with a remote base station and/or other mobile electric field monitoring units. 
     Now referring to  FIG. 4  which illustrates the use of the mobile electrofisher in the field. The operator  110  with the mobile electrofisher  120  has an anode pole  130  and a rat-tail cathode  140  which generates an electric field in the water. The mobile electrofisher monitors  200 A,  200 B,  200 C,  200 D are wirelessly  240 A,  240 B,  240 C,  240 D connected to the base station  420  which has a base station wireless connection  410 . The mobile electrofisher monitors can also transmit electric field information from the electric field monitors to a electrofisher wireless  430  monitor. 
     It is understood by those well versed in the art of computer programming and software development that the data produced by each of the mobile electric field monitors  200 A,  200 B,  200 C,  200 D can be seemlessly connected to the base station  420 . The base station  420  can then process the data to generate electric field maps that display the electric fields in a real time and/or graphical basis. 
     Now referring to  FIG. 5  which depicts a flowchart of the operational use of the mobile electric field monitors in creating a field map. Each electric field is measured  510  in a sequential fashion  520 . Once all of the electric field monitors have sampled  530  an electric field map is created. 
     Now referring to  FIG. 6  which depicts an alternate embodiment of the mobile efield monitor  200 . The mobile efield monitor  200  may be remotely positioned by a power source  610  and a rudder  620 . The mobile efield monitor could also move via an internally programming system that designates certain waypoints and/or covers an area of a body of water. 
     Now referring to  FIG. 7  which depicts an alternate embodiment of the mobile efield monitor&#39;s  200  use in a body of water. An electrofishing boat  710  is located on the body of water proximate to a number mobile efield monitors with wireless connections  240 A,  240 B,  240 C,  240 D, and  240 E. 
     Alternate embodiments include the use of mobile efield monitors proximate to electric field barriers. The use of the mobile efield monitors could be used to map the field strength of the electric field barriers. Alternately, the mobile electric field monitors can be used to interactively modify, in a closed loop fashion, the field strength of a barrier. This interactive modification could be used to reduce the amount of (and hence cost) of electricity consumed by the barrier. Also, the mobile electric field monitors can be used to determine if the barrier becomes inoperable. 
     Persons skilled in the art will recognize that many modifications and variations are possible in the details, materials, and arrangements of the parts and actions which have been described and illustrated in order to explain the nature of this inventive concept and that such modifications and variations do not depart from the spirit and scope of the teachings and claims contained therein. 
     All patent and non-patent literature cited herein is hereby incorporated by references in its entirety for all purposes.