This pilot (ID 03) addresses challenges in environmental monitoring such as water quality, pollution and biodiversity.

The challenges - The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) requires EU Member States to take measures and setup monitoring programs to collect data needed to achieve, assess, and maintain good environmental status in the marine environment. It includes variety of water quality characteristics, as well as the introduction of innovative pollutants such as the presence of micro-litter (including microplastics).

• Water quality is essential for many ocean industries such as aquaculture, offshore energy, fisheries or tourism.
• Pollution is a problem that threatens ocean health, the health of marine biota, food safety and quality, human health, coastal tourism, while also contributing to climate change.
• Every year, at least 14 million tons of plastic end up as litter in the ocean. Furthermore, paint, car tires and laundry have been identified by recent academic studies as a major source of microplastic pollution with paint being the most important one.

A solution – Multi-sensor, multi-platform systems (surface, benthic, and mobile) are used to acquire real-time data on water quality, environmental characteristics, and ecosystem conditions. This data is combined with modeled high-resolution metocean data from available sources and particle transport models to analyze the fate of various particles in the water, as well as different types of pollution around offshore structures and onshore/offshore discharge points. Furthermore, feasibility of the new in-situ microplastic sensor developed by partner LEITAT was tested within the pilot.

The Monitoring Twin (button at the top right) displays real-time data and a live camera stream from the site, along with three monitoring panels.

• The two upper panels visualize the fate of particles detected and classified by the SilCam particle imaging system at the pilot buoy (if available) or through simulations. The transport and settling of these particles over the past 24 hours are simulated using OpenDrift, based on the NorKyst800 model (thredds.met.no), and displayed in the right panel.
• The left panel presents 2D color-coded trajectory lines of these particles, simulated by the NorKyst800 model (red lines) or derived from observed ADCP measurements (black lines).
• The third panel animates the computed dilution of a regular discharge from an existing treatment plant in Trondheim. Discharge volumes are publicly available, and dilution is modeled using the SINTEF DREAM system, providing a 96-hour forecast based on the operational NorKyst800 ocean model from MET.

This product includes two associated components (below):