NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and Aqua Satellite Inc. have signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to explore NOAA marine sanctuaries using small, low-cost Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) to optimize collection of ocean data, particularly images of the sea floor. Together, they will conduct demonstrations, tests, and missions that will enable NOAA to better manage marine protected areas.
NOAA’s National Marine Sanctuary System protects 18 underwater parks spanning over 629,000 square miles of ocean and Great Lakes waters that include some of America’s most iconic natural, cultural, and historical marine resources. Ocean data can be expensive to collect, particularly long-term ocean characterization and monitoring. Intelligent, autonomous underwater exploration may be the answer to improving ocean data collection while decreasing its cost.
Chris Mobley, superintendent of Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, said the partnership with Aqua Satellite will provide an opportunity to use the company’s AUV to map eelgrass meadows around Anacapa and Santa Cruz Islands.
“These habitats support a wide variety of important species such as commercially targeted spiny lobster. The AUV allows us to more efficiently monitor changes in eelgrass health and extent over time,” Mobley said. “Meanwhile, Aqua Satellite Inc. benefits from real-world field testing and detailed technical feedback from our scientists regarding their AUV system’s performance.”
Aqua Satellite Inc. is in the business of autonomous underwater exploration, using computer vision (CV) and machine learning (ML) on and off the AUVs to collect, process, and analyze data. The combination of CV-based data collection and ML-based analysis allows for more specific data collection than is typically possible for long-term NOAA missions. Results so far include image-based habitat maps for NOAA scientists showing where specific substrates are found; maps of seagrass beds; and videos of endangered species like the giant sea bass.
The CRADA allows Aqua Satellite Inc. to test its navigation and CV/ML systems in a variety of underwater terrain and gather images of diverse species and habitats, while acting as a test case for NOAA to develop ideas for AUV-based operations and applications that support NOAA’s mission.
“Working in a real-world environment and learning from knowledgeable partners has made this partnership invaluable,” says Dr. Margaux Filippi of Aqua Satellite Inc. “We are also grateful for the opportunity to work on applications like protecting marine life and habitats; NOAA’s ONMS has been a wonderful partner and a joy to collaborate with.” NOAA regularly partners with private sector companies through CRADAs to conduct research and development work that is mutually beneficial and helps to accomplish NOAA’s mission. NOAA CRADAs are coordinated through NOAA Research’s Technology Partnerships Office.