The Port of Gdansk already has an air quality monitoring system based on fixed sensors located at 7 points. And soon the monitoring of water bodies with the use of water drones will be tested.

As part of cooperation with the Port of Gdansk Authority S.A. regarding air quality monitoring, representatives of SeaData from Gdynia and Western companies BGEO and Water Robotics, that together form the Coral consortium, visited the port areas.

They had the opportunity to see the port from the water during a cruise, and from the perspective of the top floor of the Northern Port Harbor Master's Office. During the meeting, the YetiAir drone for monitoring PM10 and PM2.5 dust concentrations was tested. Participants also discussed issues related to testing and implementation of new solutions in the field of environmental protection in the port.

– We are very pleased that the Port of Gdansk will be able to regularly monitor the quality of port waters. Cooperation between SeaData and Port of Gdansk Authority started at the end of 2017 during the Space3ac acceleration program for start-ups. The Port of Gdansk Authority participated in it as the so-called "Big entrepreneur" who presented a list of problems to be solved for start-ups. SeaData undertook to provide an air quality monitoring system for the port. This task was successfully completed and I am full of enthusiasm that it will be similar with the new project – explains Agnieszka Roszkowska, environmental protection specialist at the Port of Gdansk Authority S.A.

The Port of Gdansk participates in the CORAL project as the so-called demonstration site, a place where the consortium will test and demonstrate the operation of the environmental monitoring system, which is part of the CORAL platform. The following companies are involved in the project: SeaData from Gdynia, BGEO from Spain and Water Robotics from France. They form a comprehensive Coral platform consisting of an interactive database, an environmental monitoring system and an application for managing vessel traffic in the port / marina.

- As part of the CORAL project, by the end of 2021, it is planned to create and deliver to the Port of Gdansk a water drone, built by Water Robotics, which will be used for regular water quality monitoring and bathymetric measurements, along with a system for analyzing the collected data. This device will measure the properties of water in port waters, including the presence of contaminants. The port will also have a buoy equipped with sensors that will constantly measure the most important – in terms of environmental monitoring – water parameters – explains Dr. Marta Wenta from SeaData in Gdynia.

Data from the drone and the stationary buoy will be sent to the online system, where it will be visualized and made available for analysis in the form of maps, graphs, reports.

In the first half of 2022, several test flights with a flying drone equipped with air quality sensors will also be carried out at the Port of Gdansk. On this basis, a map of air quality in the port and detection of potential PM10 / PM2.5 dust sources will be developed. As with measurements in water, flight data will also be available online.

Completion of the project with the presentation of the results and a fully functional system will take place in June 2022.

The CORAL project is carried out under the GALATEA, Blue Growth Accelerator program, operated in Poland by the Baltic Sea and Space Cluster. The project is financed by the European Union from the funds of the Horizon 2020 program.