From Satellites to the Seafloor: SARTI-UPC and OBSEA Advance Multiscale Monitoring of Posidonia Meadows Along the Garraf Coast

2026-11-10

The SARTI research group at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), through the OBSEA Underwater Observatory, continues to expand its technological capabilities to study and monitor Posidonia oceanica meadows along the coast of Vilanova i la Geltrú and Sitges, combining different marine observation platforms, robotics, and advanced data processing techniques.

Posidonia oceanica meadows are among the Mediterranean's most valuable habitats. This marine plant, endemic to the Mediterranean Sea, plays a fundamental role in supporting biodiversity, capturing carbon, and protecting coastlines from erosion. These underwater meadows also provide shelter, feeding grounds, and nursery habitats for numerous marine species, including several of commercial interest to small-scale fisheries.

Along the Garraf coast, these ecosystems are closely linked to traditional fishing activities. Understanding their extent, spatial distribution, and conservation status is essential for assessing changes in coastal habitats and providing valuable information to support the sustainable management of marine resources.

Complementary Technologies for Marine Observation

To address these challenges, SARTI-UPC is developing and testing a multiscale observation approach that combines different technologies to collect information about the marine environment, from the surface to the seabed.

Satellite remote sensing provides a broad perspective of coastal environments, while aerial drones enable the acquisition of high-resolution imagery of the study areas. During recent monitoring campaigns in Vilanova and Sitges, drone images have been processed using photogrammetric techniques to generate detailed seafloor orthomosaics, facilitating the analysis of the spatial distribution and boundaries of seagrass meadows.

These observations are complemented by other technologies, including uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs), acoustic bathymetric systems, and remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs), which enable the exploration and characterisation of areas where aerial observation is limited.

The OBSEA Underwater Observatory, located approximately four kilometres off the coast of Vilanova i la Geltrú at a depth of 20 metres, provides a permanent infrastructure for real-time oceanographic data acquisition. In addition, instrumented seabed platforms (landers) and in situ inspections complement these observations, providing information on environmental conditions across the monitored areas.

Combining these technologies creates new opportunities to characterise benthic habitats, compare observations across different spatial and temporal scales, and develop long-term monitoring methodologies.

Towards Data Integration and Digital Twins of the Ocean

These monitoring activities are also connected to research carried out within European and national projects, particularly in the fields of data integration, artificial intelligence, and digital twins.

In this context, the European DIGI4ECO project, funded through Horizon Europe, is developing ocean digital twin tools that integrate environmental data, observations, and models to improve our understanding of marine ecosystems and support their management and restoration.

In parallel, the AI4SEA project focuses on applying artificial intelligence and data processing techniques to advance marine observation and environmental monitoring.

These research activities offer opportunities to combine information collected by different observation platforms with advanced analytical tools, contributing to the development of more integrated and automated monitoring systems.

Technology and Knowledge Supporting Coastal Communities

Beyond data acquisition, these activities aim to validate innovative technologies under real-world conditions and generate knowledge that can benefit the scientific community, public authorities, and marine-related sectors, particularly small-scale fisheries.

Through this approach, SARTI and OBSEA continue to strengthen their role as a technological testing environment for marine ecosystem observation, contributing to a better understanding and conservation of Posidonia oceanica meadows along the Garraf coast.

Initiative developed with the support of the Costa Central Local Fisheries Action Group

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