Monitoring technology developer, Chelsea Technologies, has recently announced its research partnership with a transatlantic project named Mayflower.
Chelsea Technologies shared that it has “been selected as a research partner to an international effort led by marine research organization Promare and will deploy a ground-breaking next generation multi-parameter algae sensor aboard the unmanned Mayflower Autonomous Ship when it embarks on its historic transatlantic voyage from Plymouth, UK, to Plymouth, Massachusetts in May.”
Chelsea Technologies will be providing its services alongside 41 other companies, including IBM, NVIDIA, The Weather Company, and MarineAI.
The 15-meter Mayflower Autonomous Ship will use AI navigation technologies to navigate the waters and recognize any obstructions. The ship will also use a 6-channel sensor within a specially designed flow chamber to generate data on primary productivity and phytoplankton health.
The launch of this sonde technology bodes well for the detection and prevention of algal bloom for waterways across the globe.
Researchers are not yet able to directly detect the magnitude of cyanobacteria blooms. They instead offer indirect methods such as satellite images, or traditional field samples of biomass, compared over time. This new multi-channel sonde, Chelsea Technologies reports, will allow "many different types of photosynthesizing organisms to be detected, including red algae, diatoms and cyanobacteria."
The development of a sensor capable of detecting many kinds of bacteria could revolutionize the quantity and reliability of data used in water management.
It seems that Chelsea Technologies also sees the value this sonde will have for water management across the globe, and may plan to make this technology available for many other - as stated in the report, data from the voyage "will help the Chelsea development team evaluate the sonde for general manufacture."
More information about the project can be found at https://mas400.com/
