The main objective of LAkHsMI is to build macroscopic scalable sensor arrays for hydrodynamic visualization and large-scale oceanography. With LAkHsMI sensors we expect to significantly improve the quality of benthic (near bottom) marine observations and reduce uncertainty of modelling ocean physics at a tolerable cost. Currently, the bottom layers of oceans are under sampled because there is no technology for recording motion of water under the surface with a sufficient resolution and scale.
Understanding the benthic flows in oceans is important for modelling and predicting the circulation in oceans. This is turn is important for the society to understand climate change, ocean productivity, pollution, weather, etc.
The overall objectives of LAkHsMI are:
Objective 1: Design of low-cost, scalable optical sensors for hydrodynamic imaging.
Outcome of Objective 1: two types of sensor arrays have been developed - optical and electrical - for measuring flow.
Objective 2: Prototyping of sensors, imaging, and fabrication methods.
Outcome of Objective 2: fabrication methods of the sensors and methods of data acquisition and analysis are developed.
Objective 3: Testing and performance assessment of the LAkHsMI sensor arrays under laboratory and pool conditions.
Outcome of Objective 3: the sensor arrays are demonstrated to be able to recognise objects moving in the flow on a laboratory scale (<1m) and pool scale (10 m).
Objective 4: Developing methods for data acquisition, storage and on-site real-time analysis ensuring compatibility with standards of existing operational observation systems as endorsed by the European Global Ocean Observing System organization (EUROGOOS) and further developed by Copernicus/MyOcean initiatives.
Outcome of Objective 4: online data streaming compatible with Copernicus Marine services has been demonstrated for oceanographic data acquisition on field trials.
Objective 5: LAkHsMI sensor data processing and data analysis for hydrodynamic imaging, classification of hydrodynamic environments, detection and classifications of objects.
Outcome of Objective 5: data acquisition, analysis and classification algorithms have been developed for detecting moving objects in water on lab (<1m scale), pool (10 m scale) and field (> 1km scale) scale.
Objective 6: Testing and performance assessment of LAkHsMI sensors in natural conditions.
Outcome of Objective 6: LAkHsMI sensors have been field tested for investigating flow and turbulence of high-energy flows (at marine renewables testsites), for oceanographic applications (dynamics of thermocline), for detection and analysis of shipwakes, measuring flows in harbour areas.
Objective 7: Implementation of dissemination and exploitation including IPR strategy, manufacturing methods, possible business models and use-cases.
Outcome of Objective 7: two patents have been filed on LAkHsMI technology, several use-cases have been tested for applications in oceanography, aquaculture, harbour safety and environmental monitoring. First commercial pilot installation has been deployed. Exploitation plan is completed and will be used for further commercialisation of LAkHsMI technology.
