Niskin3D: the open-source water sampler

Niskin3D is low-cost, open-source water sampler made from 3D-printed parts and controlled by a waterproof servo.

The Niskin bottle, a seemingly simple tube designed to take water samples at discrete depths, is one of the most important tools of oceanography. Coupled with a CTD, an array of Niskin bottles fit into a rosette provides everything an oceanographer needs to profile the ocean. Niskin bottles are neither cheap nor particularly easy to use. A commercial rosette requires a winch to launch and recover, requiring both a vessel and a crew to deploy. For informal, unaffiliated, or unfunded researchers, as well as citizen scientists or any researcher working on a tight budget, getting high-quality, discrete water samples is an ongoing challenge.

The Niskin3D lowers the cost of discrete-depth water sampling and makes this common tool of oceanographic research available to anyone.

Read the full build instructions, access the bill of materials, and download additional source code in the Niskin3D Github Repository.

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