Mini Secchi
A participatory workflow using a physical disk to record water colour and clarity. Mobile and web apps guide the method and preserve its observation context.
Mini Secchi app and supportWater quality citizen science apps and smartphone sensors
Pocket Science develops guided water-observation apps, connected sensing methods and complete self-hosted observatories for research teams.
A phone is useful when the method is honest
A smartphone can guide a field protocol, capture images, record location and context, connect to an optical attachment, perform processing and return structured data. It cannot by itself test whether water is safe or detect every pollutant. The research question, sensing method, calibration and validation determine what a result means.
Two proven Pocket Science lineages
iSPEX2
Prof Stefan Simis and Dr Tom Jordan at Plymouth Marine Laboratory successfully derived remote-sensing reflectance (Rrs) with iSPEX2 during multiple professional validation campaigns in 2025.
The iSPEX validation storyA tailor-made method
We can develop a guided app, integrate an existing instrument, or build the participant, data and support environment around a new sensing protocol.
Scientific measurement appsWhat Pocket Science can deliver
- Field apps
Guided procedures, offline work, multilingual interfaces, metadata and quality checks. - Instrument integration
Phone cameras, optical attachments or connected sensors where the method requires them. - Dashboards and exports
Researcher access, validation workflows, documented data extracts and APIs. - Self-hosted infrastructure
Managed backends, security, privacy, backups and monitoring without an external public cloud. - Participation and support
Outreach, onboarding, documentation and end-user help for the agreed deployment period.
Open validation, not a black box
The public OSF project contains the registered study, Mobley-based measurement protocol, app guide, reference-radiometry requirements, raw campaign data and processing archive. It also shows ongoing 2025 and 2026 research deployments. The aquatic phase was preregistered before data creation.
iSPEX2 availability
iSPEX2 is an active research line, but it is not yet consumer-ready. Its 2025 batch was fully distributed to research groups and no units remain to order. Pocket Science is seeking the next funded research, investment and production opportunity. Read the current iSPEX status.
Build the method before promising the result
Tell us which water property matters, who will collect observations, which reference method exists, what environments must be covered and how long the service must run. We will help distinguish what a phone can guide, what a sensor must measure and what must be validated before deployment.