Development of Low-Cost Instrumentation for Comprehensive Global Ocean Monitoring

The high costs associated with traditional marine research instruments remain a significant barrier to conducting detailed studies, limiting the granularity and availability of oceanographic data. This directly affects the analysis of complex phenomena such as the impacts of human activities and climate change on coastal zones, which are particularly vulnerable to sea level variations, flash floods, and storm surges. These events, capable of causing irreversible damage, demand real-time monitoring with high spatial resolution to understand their evolution and mitigate their impacts. Furthermore, large-scale monitoring of marine species is crucial to better understand their behavior and distribution areas, providing valuable information for the conservation and management of marine ecosystems.

To address these limitations, we propose the development of a low-cost, robust, precise, and easy-to-implement instrumentation, ideal for citizen science projects. Our approach is based on a versatile, low-power data acquisition module built around the STM32L microcontroller. This module includes ports for connecting various sensors, as well as remote data transmission, geolocation, and memory storage capabilities. Its versatile design makes it suitable for a wide range of applications.

This work presents two innovative applications of this technology. The first innovation is a low-cost tide gauge based on ultrasonic sensors, designed to accurately measure water levels in seas and rivers. This device can integrate with early warning systems, facilitating the monitoring of changes in water levels and providing fundamental data to assess the impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems and coastal communities. The second is a new tracking device (TAG) for marine fauna, designed to gather key information about distribution areas, habitat use, and species behavior in relation to the physical and biogeochemical characteristics of the water column. This TAG incorporates, among other features, a multispectral sensor that enables the study of water quality and composition, as well as the monitoring of Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) at different depths.