The main objective of this project is to consolidate and expand the development of advanced tools for the environmental monitoring of aquaculture farms in Gran Canaria, as well as to facilitate their transfer and dissemination among the agents involved: the productive sector, the Administration, the scientific community and society.
Specific objectives:
OE1. Improve an automatic system for the monitoring and operational identification of potential harmful marine events – of natural or man-made origin – in the environment of offshore aquaculture farms, using satellite images of the Sentinel constellation (radar and optics). This system will incorporate automated processing, spatial segmentation and artificial intelligence models (deep learning) to detect and characterize phenomena such as algal blooms , discharges or anomalous turbidity, generating alerts and data ready to be integrated into the hydrodynamic model.
OE2. To strengthen the observation of the marine environment through oceanographic campaigns and the deployment of autonomous platforms (buoys and surface vehicles), allowing the validation of numerical models and the obtaining of key data on the environmental conditions that affect or result from aquaculture activity.
OE3. Improve and apply high-resolution hydrodynamic models in the environment of aquaculture farms in Gran Canaria, integrating in situ and remote observation data. It seeks to generate predictions on the impact of harmful marine events on aquaculture farms and issue intelligent and immediate alerts. The advances will also make it possible to trace the ocean footprint of aquaculture activity in the environment.
OE4. Disseminate the results of the project to different target audiences (aquaculture sector, scientific community, administrations and civil society) through a multichannel communication strategy. It seeks to promote knowledge, technology transfer and awareness of the risks and opportunities of offshore aquaculture, through actions such as newsletters, conferences, publications, presence in congresses and webinars.
OE5. Ensure effective, transparent and coordinated management of the project, which includes compliance with technical, administrative and financial requirements, as well as rigorous scientific monitoring of the activities and fluid communication between partners and with the Biodiversity Foundation.
SIRENA 2. Comprehensive Remote System with new tools for the Monitoring, Detection and Prediction of Risks of Potentially Harmful Marine Events of Natural or Anthropic Origin in Off-Shore Areas Intended for Aquaculture.