Sensors and Samplers

The newly developed, cost-effective CTD instrument comprises innovative, miniature thin film MEMS CT sensors and a certified Keller pressure sensor, supported by an all-in-one electronic unit installed in a rigid housing. The innovative mechanical design will allow instruments to be easily integrated into existing ocean observation systems. Low power consumption and smart operation algorithms support accurate long-term operation. The design of the instrument and communication protocols will allow user-friendly recalibration or replacement of sensors when required, without any change to the hardware of CTD electronics.

Measured parameters

Conductivity, Temperature, Depth

Expected final TRL

TRL 7

Demonstration Location

TBD

Point of Contact

Microplastic sampler and sensor system mounted onboard a FerryBox. Microplastic is cleaned from other bio-materials and stained with Nile red. Fluorescence of each individual particle is measured.

Measured parameters

Microplastic particles in surface water: particle count, size and polarity

Expected final TRL

TRL 7

Demonstration Location

Coastal Norway – NorSOOP FerryBox (NIVA) on M/S Trollfjord;

Point of Contact

The SuNaMips is a submersible device that can collect small plastic samples up to 600m waterdepth. The internal datalogger and control unit together with its integrated batteries allow an automatic user programmed sampling of multiple plastic samples over a period of time at great water depth.

Measured parameters

Collection of particles

Expected final TRL

TRL 9

Demonstration Location

HCMR/NIVA

Point of Contact

The WiSens TD-Do data logger measures and records dissolved oxygen, pressure and temperature over a depth range from 0 to 600 meters

Measured parameters

Dissolved Oxygen, Temperature, Pressure

Expected final TRL

TRL 8

Demonstration Location

Mediterranean Sea and French waters (Atlantic Ocean)

Point of Contact

The WiSens TD-Chl-a data logger measures and records chlorophyll-a, pressure and temperature over a depth range from 0 to 600 meters.

Measured parameters

Chlorophyll-a, Temperature, Pressure

Expected final TRL

TRL 8

Demonstration Location

Mediterranean Sea and French waters (Atlantic Ocean)

Point of Contact

A new generation of in-situ silicate sensor based on an electrochemical design can measure up to 2000 m depth at the measurement frequency of ~10 min. This sensor can be deployed on a profiled float or installed.

Measured parameters

Silicate concentration, in situ water temperature

Expected final TRL

TRL 8

Demonstration Location

Mediterranean Sea

Point of Contact

Sampler with bio-oxidation and fluorescent staining, detector measures

Measured parameters

microplastic count, size, plastic polarity

Expected final TRL

TRL 6

Demonstration Location

FerryBox of MS Colorline Ferry

Point of Contact

This sensor is adapted from the oxygen sensor 5FD-OEM-02) developed by Pyroscience and incorporated into a CTD Satellite Relayed Data Logger (SRDL) which can be deployed on diving marine animals (seals, turtles, etc.). The CTD SRDL is developed by the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU). The FD-OEM-O2 is an optical oxygen sensor module based on luminescence quenching of a sensor dye that is immobilized on a support foil (“sensor spot”). It can be used for gas measurements as well as for dissolved oxygen (DO). The sensor spot is excited with red light, and the properties of the emitted luminescence are measured in the near infrared. The presence of molecular oxygen quenches the luminescence, changing its intensity and lifetime fully reversibly.

Measured parameters

Oxygen in addition to pressure, temperature and salinity.

Expected final TRL

TRL 8

Demonstration Location

Argentina, Southern Elephant Seals

Point of Contact

A broadband sound recorder for monitoring the underwater soundscape

Measured parameters

Sound, noise monitoring

Expected final TRL

TRL 7

Demonstration Location

DIAM Buoy

Point of Contact

A marine mammal click recorder with clic train detection and associated sound recording

Measured parameters

Click recorder for marine mammal echolocation events

Expected final TRL

TRL 7

Demonstration Location

Swedish Sound/Kullaberg/Lysekil waters: Commercial Fisheries;
Italy: Portofino MPA cetaceans’ sanctuary

Point of Contact

An acoustic profiling sensor that acquires profiles of acoustic backscatter from material suspended in the water column at various frequencies in order to determine the characteristics of that material, including inorganic sediments and marine biota.

Measured parameters

Acoustic backscatter from suspended matter

Expected final TRL

TRL 7

Demonstration Location

HCMR Poseidon – AEGEAN – Cretan Sea

Point of Contact

Three carbonate sensors are being used within the NAUTILOS project: two pH sensors and one pCO2.
The two pH sensors, the Honeywell Durafet III electrode and the Endress Hauser ISFET probe are commercially available sensors. However, the probe themselves cannot be completely submerged and the modifications required for the probe to be used in seawater are very expensive (i.e., >~20,000 Euros). Therefore, further development performed under the scope of NAUTILOS tackles these challenges so that the sensors can be used for citizen science, aquaculture, and some oceanographic applications, at lower size and cost. Three main elements have been developed and they include a data logger and its electronics, a pressure housing, and a flow-through cell for underway deployment.
The pCO2 sensor is a CO2-HR sensor manufactured by Franatech. It is a membrane-based sensor manufactured in the EU. The CO2-HR was selected for its relatively low cost and small size.
Improvements made within NAUTILOS to meet the requirements of industrial, scientific, and citizen science communities:
– a pump head to increase the flow across the membrane and therefore the response time of the sensor. Without a pump head, the equilibration of CO2 across the membrane is too slow for some applications, reducing the sensor’s user-friendliness and ability to resolve key environmental gradients. This same pump head will also be used as a flow cell for flow-through applications such as FerryBoxes or autonomous surface vehicles.
– the pump head is equipped with additional temperature probe since the temperature sensor of the CO2-HR sensor was placed on the sensor on the opposite end from the membrane, making it unsuitable for flow-through application.
– a user-friendly logger with touch screen and a calibration cap have also been developed, allowing the users to calibrate the sensor themselves with CO2-free gas (e.g., ultrapure N2) and relevant air/CO2 mixtures, increasing accuracy, traceability, and reducing the costs of having to return the sensor to the manufacturer for calibrations.

Measured parameters

pH, pCO2

Expected final TRL

TRL 9

Demonstration Location

FerryBox (Baltic sea -Finland), fish farm (Noway), ASV (Portugal)

Point of Contact

An automatic multi-filter seawater particle sampler for use in FerryBoxes, fixed platforms and potentially autonomous vehicles.

Filtration is an essential sampling method in oceanography. Because of the need to ensure conservation shortly after water has been collected, traditional filtration has not been used much in autonomous observing platforms such as FerryBox systems. However, systems have been developed for submerged, in-situ filtering, such as the McLane Particle and Phytoplankton Sampler (PPS). The McLane PPS is an autonomous particulate sampler that can pump water sequentially through 24 individual 47 mm filters. The system comes mounted in a mooring frame and is designed for pre-programmed, stand-alone, battery-powered, submerged deployments down to 5500 m depth. The standard configuration also comprises a fixative fluid reservoir enabling chemical fixation of all or selected samples directly after a sample is taken.

Under NAUTILOS, the PPS is benchmarked, getting added functionality and integrated into a FerryBox observation system. Some components are re-purposed to dry each filter with pressurized N2 after sampling. Cooling is added as a preservation method by reconfiguring the system to fit into a portable compressor refrigerator/freezer. The system is powered externally instead of by batteries and is connected and integrated into the FerryBox online control and monitoring system. Instead of a pre-programmed sampling time schedule, sample triggering is based on vessel position, data from FerryBox sensors in the same vessel or any other online sensors, or remote manual control.

Measured parameters

Chla concentration, eDNA, TSM

Expected final TRL

TRL 8

Demonstration Location

Ferrybox (Noth Sea – Oslo)

Point of Contact

NAUTILOS is developing five downward-looking sensors. Four of the sensors are applications of commercially-available sensors – an infrared temperature sensor, a hyperspectral camera and a multispectral camera. The fifth sensor is entirely developed by NAUTILOS – a Laser Induced Fluorescence Light Detection and Ranging (LIF-LIDAR).
The infrared temperature sensor is a Calex PyroMiniBus which is a non-contact infrared sensor operating at 8 to 14 μm spectral range, measuring temperatures from -20 °C to 1000 °C with a 0.5 °C repeatability.
The hyperspectral cameria is a Specim AFX10; a visible and near infrared (VNIR) hyperspectral imager (400 to 1000 nm with a 5.5 nm spectral resolution) specially designed to be deployed from UAVs; it has a navigation System (GNSS) and an inertial measurement unit (IMU), included in its compact enclosure that weighs 2.1 kg.
The two multispectral cameras are an altum PT and a RedEdge-P dual from Micasense. The latest is a combinaison of two identical sensors measuring at different bands. Each instrument has five spectral bands, so in total there are 10 different bands: 444nm (deep blue), 475 nm (blue), 531nm (green), 560 nm (green), 650nm (red), 668 nm (red),705nm (red edge), 717nm (red edge), 842 nm (near infrared) and 842 (red infrared), plus a panchromatic and a thermal band for the altum PT(11000 nm).
Multispectral and hyperspectral cameras measure light that is not absorbed by seawater or by items of interest in seawater (e.g., phytoplankton cells, litter, etc.). This reflected light can be from the visible light spectrum, akin to what a human eye can see, and from the near-infrared spectrum which is not visible to the human eye. Infrared sensors can measure thermal radiation emitted from a surface. By measuring the light that is reflected (or radiation emitted), multispectral and hyperspectral imaging can provide information about what light is being absorbed and therefore provide insight regarding quantity and quality of seawater constituents, and seawater temperature.
The LIF LIDAR is being developped by ENEA and NIVA. It is based on the fluorescence response of many compounds that emit light in a broad wavelength range after excitation from UV-VIS light. Marine fluorosensor LIDARs exploit this characteristic to remotely determine the concentration of chl-a and CDOM by exciting molecules with a UV laser at several meters depth, and collecting the emitted radiation, wavelength resolved, onto a sensor able to record the intensity of light, installed above the water.

Measured parameters

Radiance, reflectance, SST, Chla, cdom, TSM

Expected final TRL

TRL 7

Demonstration Location

FerryBox (Mediteranen sea – Crete) , UAVs (Norway), ASV (Norway)

Point of Contact

The new radioactivity sensor for the deep ocean consists of a detection crystal, connected with a photomultiplier tube, preamplifier, amplifier and power supply, together with a multichannel analyser for data acquisition and storage. The electronic modules are especially constructed to fit inside the detector housing and the power consumption is relevant low (~1 W) in continuous mode of operation. The energy calibration is checked using the photopeak of 40K which is always present at the oceans as natural constituent of the seawater. A watertight cylindrical enclosure houses the above-mentioned modules together with the digital units. The enclosure offers continuous functionality up to 4500 m water depth and continuous operation since it is tested in a special laboratory for pressure tests. The selection criterion for the appropriate enclosure material is based on minimizing gamma ray absorption and maximizing the pressure tolerance. The subsea spectrometer was connected with a special battery to power the detection system. The enclosure of the spectrometer and the subsea battery box is also tested for high pressures using a special pressure tank. During the last face of pressure tests, the enclosure provided a tolerance up to 500 Atm. The radioactivity sensor is calibrated (energy, energy resolution and full energy peak efficiency) from energy threshold to 2800keV and tested for its stability to temperature variations. The efficiency calibration and quantification (in Bq/m3) evaluation were also performed in the calibration tank.

Measured parameters

gamma-ray emitters

Expected final TRL

TRL 6

Demonstration Location

The system will be demonstrated using the Research vessel AEGEAO. First, it will be integrated in the Rossete system of the vessel with an underwater battery and then to an independent lander for continuous measurements enabling the stand-alone mode.

Point of Contact

This system is based on the accurate measurement of time decay constant of a specific fluorescence quenched ba the presence of oxygen.

Measured parameters

Dissolved oxygen

Expected final TRL

TRL 7 – 8

Demonstration Location

AUV and floating buoy

Point of Contact

A new-to-market and cost-effective non-invasive towed marine animal tagging platform comprising a dissolved oxygen sensor, capable of archiving a diversity of animal behavior data and ocean habitat parameters (depth, satellite positioning, temperature, activity, velocity, and dissolved oxygen). Mission duration is up to one week, with an easy-swap and rechargeable battery. The platform will be deployed up to 2000m by expert biologists and professional divers from IMAR (Azores) team thus enabling non-invasive deployments on marine animals like Manta Rays and Blue Sharks, while at the same time novel ocean data is being collected.

Measured parameters

Dissolved oxygen meter
Depth
Temperature
Acceleration
Orientation
Velocity

Expected final TRL

TRL 8 – 9

Demonstration Location

Archipelago of the Azores Islands, Portugal

Point of Contact