Design Concept of an Automated Irrigation System for Simulating Saltwater Intrusion in a Mesocosm Experiment

Coastal wetlands make up about one third of the overall wetland area in the conterminous United Stated based on the Environmental Protection Agency 2016 [1]. Sea-level rise is expected to elevate water salinity and effect carbon sequestration, nitrogen removal, further alter plant communities and shift ecosystem function. To promote understanding of the influence of seawater intrusion into tidal freshwater wetlands, we designed a mesocosm experiment with automated irrigation system at Spring Hill, Storrs, CT, USA (41.8°N, 72.3°W). To simulate marine water intrusion, we designed an automated irrigation to work for an on-going mesocosm experiment, which is composed of 64 tanks with 4 wetland species: Carexstricta, Spartinapectinata, Typhalatifolia, Phragmitesaustralis. During low tide, solenoid valves quantify water based on the instruction of system core controller (Arduino) and water is distributed to assigned tank [2] [3]. During high tide, water is pumped up into assigned tank, salinity is varied with plant species, Carexstricta and Spartinapectinata are fresh water species, Typhalatifolia, Phragmitesaustralis are brackish water species. The manipulation core of system is an open-source microcontroller platform. The irrigation system was designed daily twice change from low tide water level to high tide water level, and same water tank should keep at constant salinity within 30 days. Staff just needs monthly visit to add sea salts, the raw material of artificial seawater. Ecosystem CO₂ and CH₄ gas exchanges were measured monthly from May to September 2015 using large transparent chambers that enclosed emergent plants and the soil surface; field sampling and analysis procedures followed [4]. The simulated saltwater intrusion results are expected to alter plant growth, emission of carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases, and effect interaction with coastal marsh ecosystem.