Autonomous pop-up buoys for near-real-time data transmission in deep-sea stand-alone seabed observatories

Le résumé fourni par la source

Seabed observatories provide long-term, multiparametric ecological data but typically lack near-real-time communication capabilities. This limitation constrains adaptive environmental monitoring and early fault detection. To address this gap, we present a new generation of autonomous pop-up system composed of a server plus a group of buoys designed to be integrated on stand-alone benthic observatories. Each pop-up system wirelessly downloads sensor and imagery datasets from the seabed node via short-range Wi-Fi into a pop-up buoy, detaches using a low-power electro-permanent magnet release system, ascends to the surface, and transmits data through the ultra-low-bandwidth, ARGOS satellite constellation. The system includes synchronized low-power routines, data management protocols, and a dedicated JPEG reduction and segmentation workflow. Laboratory tests validated underwater Wi-Fi performance up to 40 mm separation, achieving transfer rates of up to 1.35 Mbit/s for 1 MB payloads, as well as reliable magnet release under varying buoyancy conditions. Field trials at 118 m depth within a Mediterranean Marine Protected Area provided a proof-of-concept demonstration of the complete end-to-end operation, including periodic buoy wake-ups, successful seabed data download, accurate timed release, rapid ascent, satellite telemetry, and recovery. These results demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach and support its future integration into deep-sea observatories as an energy-efficient and scalable solution for near-real-time ecological monitoring.

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