A marine monitoring system will help identify and stop the spread of oil pollution in the sea and prevent ecological disasters

The system that will be installed in the Mediterranean Sea includes sensors designed to operate at great depth, with an independent energy source and resistance to the harsh conditions. The system was developed in cooperation between Haifa University and Texas A&M University

Haifa University in collaboration with Texas A&M University is establishing an innovative marine monitoring system in Israel, at a cost of approximately NIS 23 million. As part of the project, an array of unique buoys will be built to which sensors will be connected that will reach a kilometer and a half in the sea depth. For the first time in the eastern basin of the Mediterranean, the sensors will transmit information about the currents of the sea, which will, among other things, make it possible to deal more effectively with the spread of oil pollution in the sea and reduce ecological disasters, such as the massive and ongoing oil spill that occurred in 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico and is considered the greatest environmental disaster in history .

Following the disaster, the University of Texas set up a similar array of buoys in the Gulf of Mexico, which is an area similar in many respects to the eastern basin of the Mediterranean, which is researched at the Charney School of Marine Sciences at the University of Haifa.
"The collaboration with one of the largest and most important universities in the United States further strengthens the fact that the University of Haifa is a leader in marine research in Israel. Our understanding of what is happening in the deep waters off the coast of Israel is of strategic importance, because the sea is the future of the State of Israel in particular and humanity in general," said Haifa University President Amos Shapira.

In addition, the sensor systems will continuously and over time collect various information from the surface of the sea and its depth regarding the climatic conditions, the temperature and warming of the sea, the salinity, the turbidity and the acoustic pollution, and will also be able to provide a picture of the situation regarding the marine animals such as dolphins, sea turtles and jellyfish. These and other data could help researchers understand the climatic changes taking place and their impact.

As part of the cooperation, two systems of buoys will be installed and sensors will be connected: one system will be located in the shallow waters, in Israel's territorial waters, and the second system, dozens of kilometers from the coast, will be more complex and reach a depth of one and a half kilometers. The great depth where great pressure prevails requires the use of modern and technologically advanced equipment.

According to the head of the Department of Marine Technologies at the University of Haifa, Prof. Morel Grofer: "The great depth makes it difficult to supply electricity to the sensors from the buoy, and unlike the system in the shallow water, the sensors in the deep water must come with their own power systems. Additional difficulties are related to the stability of the floats, the strength of the material, erosion, the transfer of data to the shore, and more. Working at such depths is similar in many ways to the technology used in space exploration. There is no doubt that the current project exposes us to advanced and unusual technology."

The new marine monitoring system joins the unmanned deep sea underwater robot, the first of its kind in Israel, recently purchased by the university. The robot is able to carry out tasks in the deep sea without the intervention of researchers, in a manner similar to the robots that NASA sent to Mars, including mapping the seabed and locating underwater objects, such as sunken ships and planes that crashed in the deep sea. These research tools will enable a more accurate and extensive study of the deep sea, which does not currently exist in Israel.

According to Prof. Zvi Ben Avraham, head of the Charni School of Marine Sciences at the University of Haifa and head of the Israeli Mediterranean Research Center: "A significant part of the changes in the sea are due to natural processes, which it is important that we understand in depth, especially in light of the large gas discoveries. But there is more and more evidence in the world that human activity also causes changes that undermine the delicate balance that exists in the ecosystems of the seas. Only through continuous and long-term monitoring will we be able to know what is happening in our sea."

The collaboration of the University of Haifa with Texas A&M University, which is the fourth largest in the US, will not only allow access to the technological and engineering knowledge of Texas researchers, who have already put in place similar systems, but also to the similar data they collect mainly from the Gulf of Mexico. According to Prof. David Farji, Rector of the University of Haifa: "The collaboration will advance our research in the field of marine research in a significant way, and is another significant step in the huge investment that we at the University of Haifa are giving to marine research. A few months ago we inaugurated our coastal laboratories which will allow Israeli research to obtain for the first time a reliable picture of the shallow waters and now we are deepening, literally, our capabilities. Together with the unmanned submarine we purchased, which can reach depths of up to three kilometers, and the underwater robot that is currently in the process of being purchased, we will be able to provide a much deeper and more complete picture of the waters under the economic control of the State of Israel."