Nucleic Acids (NAs, including DNA and RNA) can be used to survey and monitor the types and functional capacities (including those that pose risks to humans and industries such as aquaculture) of all organisms. Indeed, NA sequencing is the only viable technology to assess the state and functioning of the marine microbiome at scale, with its critical roles in regulating ecosystem health, food webs, climate, and many more planetary processes.

However, while many NA sensors currently exist, only a few can be deployed in marine environments and those that can are prohibitively expensive or limited in performance capabilities.

TechOceanS has developed a novel NA sensing concept and system "Flexible Fluidics" which allows for high numbers of discrete NA amplification tests to be carried out on autonomous vehicles and other in situ platforms, including those in the deep ocean. The minimal material use and compact storage offer a far more cost-effective solution for field NA analysis.

Ecogenomic Samplers allow researchers to process samples of ocean water in situ in order to identify the presence or absence of different organisms. Autonomous marine ecogenomic samplers currently exist, but each of the leading technologies involve significant trade-offs in operational costs (must be retrieved monthly), capacity (adding sample capacity greatly increases size requirements) or operating restrictions (cannot be deployed to deep sea environs). While TechOceanS explored the production of an entirely new system, in order to meet targets of cost reduction the project opted to focus on improving the capacity and robustness of the existing RoCSI technology. Through TechOceanS, this system has been hardened and the pressure housing significantly reduced, allowing the system not only to operate at greater depth but also expanding the scope of platforms upon which it can be deployed.

The improvement in underwater optics has revealed a new limitation on undersea imagery – images are now too large to transmit over available acoustic and satellite bandwidths. This means they require either a tether or physical recovery to offload the terabytes of image data they collect, and, once recovered, image analysis requires labour-intensive manual verification by a taxonomy specialist. The human effort limits the information throughput and introduces latencies of months to years. Through the use of machine learning concepts, TechOceanS used trained feature encoders to enable significant dataset and image compression through on-board data processing and transmission directly from deployed AUVs back to the shore-based researchers via ultra-low bandwidth satellite communications. This allows researchers to make real time decisions for over-the-horizon platforms.

To fully exploit the capability of emerging optical devices and provide global ocean coverage, there is a need to decrease the size and power consumption requirements of commercial devices and develop robust, calibrated end-to-end workflows that allow integration on a wide range of autonomous vehicles. TechOceanS has improved the previously existing Underwater Vision Camera UVP6 through a new light system and embedded image classifier. This new version, UVP6m, will be capable of focussing on targets an order of magnitude smaller than its predecessor, greatly expanding the research applications of the UVP systems. TechOceanS has also advanced the deployable Single Turnover Active Fluorometer (AutoSTAF) prototype, bringing the now-called MicroSTAF to commercialisation stage while greatly reducing the power requirements, volume and mass and expanding its operational depth from 600m to 2000m.

Over the last 20 years, flow cytometric analysis of phytoplankton based on chlorophyll fluorescence and scattered light has enabled their enumeration and quantification, with a degree of taxonomic discrimination. Yet despite the wealth of data provided by these instruments, the scarcity of sampling is either limited to on-ship or confined to discrete geographical points. For widespread deployment, the instrument needs to be small, consume a few watts of power and be capable of operating at depth.

TechOceanS has successfully demonstrated a prototype cytometer upon submerged pontoons in both Gran Canaria and Naples. This cytometer uses a microfluidic impedance chip to sense particle size in combination with fluorescence sensing to detect and distinguish microplastics from plankton in seawater.

Quantifying marine pollutants in the ocean is becoming increasingly important as anthropogenic activities continue to fundamentally change our marine environment. Current approaches for monitoring such targets require spot samples and analytical separations, complex fluid handling and sub-zero reagent storage, yet this approach does not allow for (near) real-time monitoring. Delays between sampling and analysis make for unrepresentative results; and a lack of automation requires high levels of effort in personnel, ships, and labs to acquire and process samples. TechOceanS has made great strides towards autonomous submersible Lab-on-Chip (LOC) sampling by incorporating multiple new immunoassays into the patented flexible fluidic design. A benchtop trial with environmental samples proved capable of evaluating dozens of samples of varying pollutant types while submerged.

Macro-nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, silicon) are essential for the growth of aquatic organisms and of key importance to understanding biogeochemical cycling. Measurements of their dominant inorganic forms are routine in oceanographic studies, they are included in models of the global climate and carbon systems, and they also feed into ecosystem and fisheries models. The importance of the oceanic distribution of these variables requires systematic investigations of high spatial-temporal resolution, which cannot be achieved through ship-based measurements alone.

TechOceanS recognised that a major limiting factor in seeking to deploy a range of biogeochemical sensors for long-term observation is the lack of power and space capacity on autonomous platforms. The project developed new pumps allowing for two assays to be combined within a single device for the first time - delivering both a dual Nitrate/Phosphate and Silicate/Phosphate sensor, each capable of deployment to 2000m. The project has also produced an advanced autonomous carbonate sensor based on previous lab-based LOC designs that is capable of simultaneously measuring total alkalinity and dissolved inorganic carbon (TADIC) down to 6000m.

Synchronised best practice development for cross-cutting themes in complex technological and scientific fields is a substantial challenge. Disciplinary boundaries, varying terminologies, and inaccessibility of key methods in metrology, uncertainty quantification, performance diagnostics and quality control / assurance are major impediments to scalable progress. Since 2018, the IOC-UNESCO Ocean Best Practices System (OBPS) has intensified efforts to create a technological and community-based solution to address such issues, combining a long-term archive of methodological documents with natural language processing and semantic technologies to promote dissemination, interaction, and alignment of best practices across the ocean value chain.

For testing and demonstration, TechOceanS has selected two different sites, the Canary Region (PLOCAN) and the official augmented observatory of the EuroSea project at Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (SZN), Naples, which offer coastal and open ocean environments with a range of anthropogenic influences, to demonstrate fully the application of this new technology whilst maximising scientific output and value for money.

Lab-on-chip and imaging sensors developed in Themes 1-3 will be integrated and made available for harmonious functioning across a variety of deployable platforms, such as Automated Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) and sea gliders.