Project MELOA monitors ocean currents and makes its 1st demonstration

The MELOA project team carried out his first Portuguese demonstration on surviving rip currents, which took place at the Cabedelo beach in Viana do Castelo on 16 and 17 June, being promoted by the Portuguese Life Saving Institute (ISN).

The MELOA - Multi-purpose/Multi-sensor Extra Light Oceanography Apparatus project aims to provide an effective and low-cost solution capable of monitoring surface ocean currents and their dynamic characteristics in any place of the world.

Coordinated by DEIMOS Space, MELOA intends to develop a tool based on low-cost, easy-to-handle, resilient and multi-purpose surface drifters capable of being used in all water environments, ranging from deep-sea to terrestrial areas, including coastal areas, small rivers and water sports zones.

This work involves a wide set of partners, in particular with the collaboration of INESC TEC’s Centre for Information Systems and Computer Graphics (CSIG), which is responsible for software development for the management of the data collection campaigns. It also features the participation of the Underwater Systems and Technology Laboratory, the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto and of the Hydrographic Institute,

DEIMOS Engenharia, Institute for Systems and Robotics , Ocean Scan, Composite Solutions, Collecte Localisation Satellites, which manages the Argos satellite, Polytechnic University of Catalonia and of SmartBay Ireland.

MELOA is a European project funded by the EU Horizon 2020 programme until February of 2021.