Patent ID: 8412469

Claim:
A method of monitoring an environment for growth or transformation of algae, the method comprising: providing at least one alga, immersed in, or adjacent to a surface of, a liquid; providing a mobile system that floats on and is submersible in the liquid to a controllable depth, the mobile mechanism comprising at least first and second environmental sensors that sense distinct first and second environmental parameter values, pv(t; 1 ) and pv(t; 2 ), respectively, where at least one of the first and second environmental sensors senses at least one of liquid temperature at a selected depth within the liquid, temperature of gas adjacent to and above the liquid, liquid pH, liquid salinity, liquid turbidity, O 2 dissolved in the liquid, CO 2 concentration in the liquid, oxidization and reduction potential of the liquid, nitrate concentration in the liquid, ammonium concentration in the liquid, bicarbonate concentration in the liquid, phosphate concentration in the liquid, light intensity where light enters the liquid, electrical conductivity of the liquid, and an alga parameter that is a measure of growth stage of the alga, and another of the at least two environmental sensors senses light intensity at a selected depth in the liquid; sensing the first environmental parameter value pv(t; 1 ) at spaced apart first and third sensing times, t=t 1 and t=t 3 ; sensing the second environmental parameter value pv(t; 2 ) at a second sensing time, t=t 2 , that is intermediate between the first and third sensing times; and transmitting the environmental parameter values, pv(t=t 1 ; 1 ) and pv(t=t 3 ; 1 ), sensed at the first and third sensing times, and the environmental parameter value pv(t=t 2 ; 2 ), sensed at the second sensing time, to a data receiver.