Mini Secchi: a field method made accessible

The research challenge

Water colour and transparency are valuable observations, but field measurements must follow a comprehensible and repeatable procedure. Mini Secchi combines a physical disk with an application that guides the participant, records context and connects observations to a wider data service.

What Pocket Science contributed

The team developed the participant-facing mobile technology and supporting data services in the context of Horizon 2020 MONOCLE, working with research and field partners on low-cost water observation. The system is available across mobile and web environments.

From object to method

The physical disk alone is not the product, and the app alone is not the method. The participant must use the disk at the water, interpret visibility and colour under field conditions, and record the result consistently. Guidance, terminology, contextual fields and synchronisation all influence the usefulness of the observation.

Research context

Why we cared

Water colour is something almost everyone can see, yet learning to observe it carefully opens a door to optics, ecology and planetary-scale monitoring. Mini Secchi appealed to us because a humble physical disk, a thoughtful mobile workflow and a worldwide community can make field science approachable without making it simplistic.

The transferable capability

Mini Secchi demonstrates how Pocket Science connects a physical field object, guided participant workflow, environmental context and global data service. That pattern is relevant to community water monitoring, education and distributed environmental observation.

What this demonstrates

This project is part of the evidence behind Pocket Science’s custom development work. If your research requires a participant-facing method, scientific sensing, classification or production data infrastructure, tell us what you are trying to make possible.