PLOATECH has been successfully selected under the 2026 EMSO ERIC Physical Access Call with its project LoRa – Long-term Underwater Radioactivity Sensor Validation.
Led by PLOATECH, with participating researchers from the Remote Sensing Lab of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), the LoRa project aims to support the long-term validation of an innovative underwater gamma-radiation sensor developed through a previous H2020 FET Proactive project.
The sensor is deployed at the OBSEA Underwater Observatory, hosted by the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), where long-term operation under real marine conditions will allow the research team to assess its performance, stability, and reliability.
Over the planned six-month monitoring campaign, the team will evaluate the sensor’s operational stability, measurement performance, and long-term reliability, as well as its integration with a permanent ocean observing infrastructure. OBSEA’s cabled infrastructure provides continuous electrical power, real-time communications, and remote access to deployed instruments.
Radionuclides remain significantly under-measured in the marine environment, despite their relevance to environmental monitoring, nuclear waste management, tectonic activity, and large-scale accidental releases.
For PLOATECH, this project represents an important step in advancing its novel underwater sensing technology from development towards validated, long-term operation in the ocean.
PLOATECH would like to thank EMSO ERIC and OBSEA, hosted by the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, for providing access to the infrastructure needed to test this emerging marine technology under real-world conditions.
Further Information
- EMSO ERIC Physical Access Programme: https://lnkd.in/dvJve6PG
- OBSEA Underwater Observatory: https://www.obsea.es/
- PLOATECH LoRa Project: https://lnkd.in/d_Kvc-yt
LoRa Research Team: Angelos Mallios, Konstantinos Karantzalos, Rich Camilli
Linkedin post: https://lnkd.in/p/dSWfBrRa
