The EU project RAMONES – continuous, long-term autonomous monitoring of underwater radioactivity

Nikolopoulos, K

Abstract

While radioactivity has always existed in the marine environment due to natural phenomena, artificial sources have made their way into the oceans more recently, either through low-level liquid discharges from reprocessing plants, more threatening large-scale spills due to nuclear disasters, or smaller-scale radiological events. Unchecked, radioactivity poses life-threatening risks to marine ecosystems and, ultimately, to humanity. Notwithstanding, radioactivity in the oceans is, to a very large extent, undersampled. The main goal of the RAMONES project is to offer a novel systematic solution for long-term, continuous in situ monitoring of radioactivity in the oceans, contributing also towards novel environmental intelligence policies. In this communication, an overall in-depth description of the overall robotic architecture is offered. This includes a fleet of an autonomous surface vehicle, two autonomous underwater gliders, and a static benthic laboratory, all equipped with radiological instruments: high resolution instruments installed on the fixed node and gamma-sniffers onboard the mobile nodes.

Citation

Nikolopoulos, K. (2022). The EU project RAMONES – continuous, long-term autonomous monitoring of underwater radioactivity. In P. Batista, D. Cabecinhas, L. Sebastião, A. Pascoal, T. Mertzimekis, K. Kebkal, …L. Maigne (Eds.), . Hydrographic Institute

• Publication Date: 2022
• Deposit Date: Nov 28, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 2, 2023
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1619589
• Publisher URL: https://jornadas.hidrografico.pt/recursos/files/documentos/2022/7JEH-Livro_Atas.pdf