LanderPick, a Remote Operated Trawled Vehicle to cost-effectively deploy and recover lightweight oceanographic landers.

Landers are modular structures equipped with miscellaneous sensors and monitoring equipment which are positioned directly on the seabed to operate autonomously for a defined timeframe. A drawback of landers intended to operate for prolonged periods in the deep ocean is the high cost of recovery systems, typically depending on buoyancy modules plus expendable ballast, or requiring ROVs assistance. LanderPick concept consists of the design of a specific trawled vehicle to deploy and recover lightweight oceanographic landers not provided with recovery elements, but having a capture mesh that facilitates their hitching. The LanderPick vehicle is technically a ROTV (Remote Operated Trawled Vehicle) controlled through a standard coaxial electromechanical cable that allows real-time control from the vessel. Navigation is enabled by a low-light high-definition camera, aided by spotlights and laser pointers. Small propellers aid in the final precision approach maneuvers. A mechanical release allows the precise placement at the sea bottom of landers carried as a payload, as well as their recovery by means of a triple hook. First sea missions of the system were carried out successfully in 2021 in southern Biscay. A 4-month deployment of a lander array equipped with current-meters along an energetic canyon axis provided unprecedented detail in the progression of the internal tidal bore. Short (48-hours) deployments of a fully-instrumented lander, including lapse-time image and baits in a deep seamount summit within a marine protected area, provided insights on the biodiversity of a unique ecosystem. The LanderPick novel approach to cost-effectively and precisely deploy and recover lightweight oceanographic landers allows to conceive (i) monitoring systems based on the deployment of arrays or fleets of low-cost landers and (ii) experiments associated with deep habitats such as coral reefs in which it is necessary to locate landers with great precision

LanderPick, a Remote Operated Trawled Vehicle to cost-effectively deploy and recover lightweight oceanographic landers.

Landers are modular structures equipped with miscellaneous sensors and monitoring equipment which are positioned directly on the seabed to operate autonomously for a defined timeframe. A drawback of landers intended to operate for prolonged periods in the deep ocean is the high cost of recovery systems, typically depending on buoyancy modules plus expendable ballast, or requiring ROVs assistance. LanderPick concept consists of the design of a specific trawled vehicle to deploy and recover lightweight oceanographic landers not provided with recovery elements, but having a capture mesh that facilitates their hitching. The LanderPick vehicle is technically a ROTV (Remote Operated Trawled Vehicle) controlled through a standard coaxial electromechanical cable that allows real-time control from the vessel. Navigation is enabled by a low-light high-definition camera, aided by spotlights and laser pointers. Small propellers aid in the final precision approach maneuvers. A mechanical release allows the precise placement at the sea bottom of landers carried as a payload, as well as their recovery by means of a triple hook. First sea missions of the system were carried out successfully in 2021 in southern Biscay. A 4-month deployment of a lander array equipped with current-meters along an energetic canyon axis provided unprecedented detail in the progression of the internal tidal bore. Short (48-hours) deployments of a fully-instrumented lander, including lapse-time image and baits in a deep seamount summit within a marine protected area, provided insights on the biodiversity of a unique ecosystem. The LanderPick novel approach to cost-effectively and precisely deploy and recover lightweight oceanographic landers allows to conceive (i) monitoring systems based on the deployment of arrays or fleets of low-cost landers and (ii) experiments associated with deep habitats such as coral reefs in which it is necessary to locate landers with great precision

Describing Polyps Behavior of a Deep-Sea Gorgonian, Placogorgia sp., Using a Deep-Learning Approach

Gorgonians play a fundamental role in the deep sea (below 200 m depth), composing three-dimensional habitats that are characterized by a high associated biodiversity and playing an important part in biogeochemical cycles. Here we describe the use of a benthic lander to monitoring polyps activity, used as a proxy of gorgonian feeding activity of three colonies of Placogorgia sp. Images cover a period of 22 days with a temporal resolution of 30 min. In addition, this seafloor observatory is instrumented with oceanographic sensors that allows continuous monitoring of the hydrographic conditions in the site. Deep-learning is used for automatic detection of the state of the polyps registered in the images. More than 1000 images of 3 large specimens of gorgonians are analyzed, annotating polyps as extended or retracted, using the semantic segmentation algorithm ConvNeXt. The segmentation results are used to describe the feeding patterns of this species. Placogorgia sp. shows a daily pattern of feeding conduct, depending on the hours of day and night. Using a Singular Spectrum Analysis approach, feeding activity is related to currents dynamics and Acoustic Doppler Current Profile (ADCP) return signal intensity, as proxy of suspended matter, achieving a linear correlation of 0.35 and 0.11 respectively. This is the first time that the behavior of the Placogorgia polyps, directly related to their feeding process, is described

(árabe - العربية‎) 2024 الرزنامة الدراسية العلمية

El proyecto “Calendario Científico Escolar 2024” ha consistido en la elaboración de un calendario dirigido al alumnado de educación primaria y secundaria obligatoria. Cada día se ha recogido un aniversario científico o tecnológico como, por ejemplo, nacimientos de personas de estos ámbitos o conmemoraciones de hallazgos destacables. Además, el calendario se acompaña de una guía didáctica con orientaciones para el aprovechamiento educativo transversal del calendario en las clases, incluyendo actividades adaptadas a cada rango de edad y al alumnado con necesidades especiales. Se trata de la cuarta edición de este proyecto de divulgación científica.El proyecto “Calendario Científico Escolar 2024” ha consistido en la elaboración de un calendario dirigido al alumnado de educación primaria y secundaria obligatoria. Cada día se ha recogido un aniversario científico o tecnológico como, por ejemplo, nacimientos de personas de estos ámbitos o conmemoraciones de hallazgos destacables. Además, el calendario se acompaña de una guía didáctica con orientaciones para el aprovechamiento educativo transversal del calendario en las clases, incluyendo actividades adaptadas a cada rango de edad y al alumnado con necesidades especiales. Se trata de la cuarta edición de este proyecto de divulgación científica.Instituto Geológico y Minero de España (IGME); Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología de Salamanca (IRNASA); Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CBMSO); Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO); Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA); Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN); Centre d'Estudis Avançats de Blanes (CEAB); Institut d’Investigació en Intel.ligéncia Artificial (IIIA); Institut de Microelectrònica de Barcelona - Centre Nacional de Microelectrònica (IMB-CNM); Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM, CSIC). Discapacitodos; Mujeres con Ciencia; Comisión Mujeres y Ciencia de la Sociedad Geológica de España; Asociación Española para el Avance de la Ciencia (AEAC); PRISMA – Asociación para la diversidad afectivo-sexual y de género en ciencia, tecnología e innovación; Círculo Escéptico; Universitat de les Illes Balears (UIB); Asociaţia Secular-Umanistă din România; Civiencia; Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; Evento Ciencia; Europa Laica; Canaima; Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; Fundación Odón de BuenPeer reviewe