EmerSense: A low-cost multiparameter logger to monitor occurrence and duration of emersion events within intertidal zones

The intertidal zone is a harsh environment for marine life as conditions are often both extreme and variable. A wide range of sessile organisms are partially or fully emersed (exposed above the water line) during low tide. In the tropics, when corals are emersed, high light and temperature can be detrimental to their survival. To date, there is no commercially-available logger that can detect periods of emersion, information that is useful for marine research and for coastal resource management. Here, we present a low-cost Arduino-based multi-parameter logger called ‘EmerSense’ which can detect instances of emersion while simultaneously recording light and temperature profiles. We describe the different steps involved in fabricating EmerSense, including hardware construction and software design, and discuss the results of our field testing at an intertidal coral reef in Singapore.