ItsasLANDER

Context

The seabed supports a wide diversity of habitats and species and plays an essential role in the functioning of marine ecosystems. However, it remains one of the most challenging environments to observe continuously due to depth, environmental conditions, and the complexity and cost involved in deploying oceanographic equipment.

Conventional observation methods provide information on specific parameters during surveys or defined monitoring periods, but their limited temporal resolution makes it difficult to analyse processes that evolve over time. Oceanographic landers help overcome some of these limitations. These autonomous platforms are deployed directly on the seabed and can integrate different sensors to record physical and biological variables over extended periods, including temperature, salinity, pressure, currents, imagery and acoustic signals.

AZTI has extensive experience in oceanographic observation in the Bay of Biscay and along the Basque coast, as well as in the use of platforms, equipment and sensor technologies for monitoring the marine environment. The ItsasLANDER project aims to extend these capabilities to seabed observation through the development of an oceanographic lander prototype and advanced tools for processing the data collected. This will support progress towards more continuous and integrated observation of seabed ecosystems and complement existing marine monitoring networks.

Objectives

The main objective of ItsasLANDER is to design an oceanographic lander for environmental monitoring of the seabed, capable of integrating different observation systems and generating physical and biological information at high temporal resolution.

To achieve this, the project will review the state of the art in these technologies; develop and deploy at sea an initial prototype to build expertise in the integration of sensors and systems; and develop algorithms for the automated processing of data collected by underwater cameras and acoustic sensors.

The knowledge generated throughout these stages will provide the basis for defining the design of a new lander tailored to the requirements of seabed observation and monitoring.

Expected results and impact

ItsasLANDER will deliver an initial prototype and proof of concept for an oceanographic lander, while also advancing the design of a system capable of strengthening and complementing existing marine observation networks.

The project will also develop new processes for the acquisition, storage and automated processing of large volumes of data, particularly images, video and acoustic signals. The algorithms developed will be designed to detect and classify target species, reducing the need for manual analysis and enabling high-frequency monitoring. The resulting data will also make it possible to investigate relationships between the presence and abundance of species and the oceanographic variables recorded.

These capabilities could provide valuable information for areas such as habitat and biodiversity conservation and restoration, climate change, fisheries management, aquaculture, offshore renewable energy and subsea infrastructure. They will also contribute to generating scientific information to support the assessment and management of the marine environment and the implementation of policies such as the Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

Funding