Barcelona Coastal Monitoring with the “Patí a Vela”, a Traditional Sailboat Turned into an Oceanographic Platform

Shelf waters near large cities, such as Barcelona, are affected not only by meteorological episodes but also by anthropogenic influence. Scientists usually use data from on-site coastal platforms to analyze and understand these complex water ecosystems because remote sensing satellites have low spat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Journal of marine science and engineering Vol. 10; no. 5; p. 591
Main Authors:	Ortigosa, Inmaculada, Bardaji, Raul, Carbonell, Albert, Carrasco, Oriol, Castells-Sanabra, Marcella, Figuerola, Rafel, Hoareau, Nina, Mateu, Jordi, Piera, Jaume, Puigdefabregas, Joan, Salvador, Joaquín, Simon, Carine, Vallès-Casanova, Ignasi, Pelegrí, Josep L.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Basel MDPI AG 01-05-2022
Subjects:	Accuracy Air temperature Anthropogenic factors Boats Catamarans citizen science Climate change Coastal waters Coastal zone Cruises Environmental monitoring Human influences Instrumentation Instruments Low cost low-cost sensors Monitoring instruments Platforms Prototypes Remote sensing Sailing Sailing & sailboats Salinity Satellites scientific sailing boat Sensors Spaceborne remote sensing Temperature data Temperature profile Temperature profiles temperature-depth profiler Water properties Water temperature Work platforms
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Summary:	Shelf waters near large cities, such as Barcelona, are affected not only by meteorological episodes but also by anthropogenic influence. Scientists usually use data from on-site coastal platforms to analyze and understand these complex water ecosystems because remote sensing satellites have low spatiotemporal resolution and do not provide reliable data so close to the coast. However, platforms with conventional oceanographic instrumentation are expensive to install and maintain. This study presents the scientific adaptation and initial measurements from a “patí a vela”, which is a very popular unipersonal catamaran in Barcelona. This versatile sailing vessel has been adapted to contain several low-cost sensors and instruments to measure water properties. Here, we describe the setup of a multi-parameter prototype, and then focus on results obtained using a low-cost temperature profiler. First, the temperature data are compared and validated with another conventional oceanographic instrument used in monthly oceanographic cruises. Then, field measurements between July and November 2021 are used to explore the relationship between air and water temperature in the Barcelona coastal area, showing the seasonal evolution of the temperature profile. We conclude that citizen sampling from fully sustainable sailing boats may turn into an effective strategy to monitor the urban coastal waters.
ISSN:	2077-1312 2077-1312
DOI:	10.3390/jmse10050591