KIMERA
Artificial Intelligence for Seabed Mapping and Marine Spatial Planning
Four central maritime use cases will be considered over the course of the project, from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2024: Internet of Underwater Things (IoUT), Offshore Wind Energy, Munitions in the Sea and Biological Climate Protection.
- Internet of Underwater Things (IoUT): Data-driven underwater technologies and sensor networks are central to the future digital blue economy. The aim is to develop sensor technologies that capture a digital twin of the underwater world in real time and create Gaia-X-compatible structures for data processing. A feasibility study at Fraunhofer IGD's Ocean Technology Campus is driving this project forward.
- Offshore Wind Energy: Offshore wind farms are crucial for climate neutrality. Marispace-X is developing solutions for collaborative data collection and efficient asset handling. The aim is to create data-driven applications and trusted data spaces to improve the efficiency of offshore wind farms. This includes tools for data collection and analysis as well as empowering end users for long-term data management.
- Munitions in the Sea: There are over 1.6 million tonnes of old munitions in German waters, which requires new, intelligent ways of analysing and managing data. The use case strives for improvements through cloud, edge and fog computing to make munitions clearance more efficient. This includes the integration of intelligent analyses in a secure cloud environment and the Gaia-X-compliant implementation of identity and trust services.
- Biological Climate Protection: Marine plants have a high CO2 storage capacity, and the use case aims to determine and optimise the CO2-saving potential of macrophytes. The aim is to improve the CO2 storage capacity of the oceans through new analysis methods and AI-based predictions. This includes the use of sensor fusion from optical remote sensing and acoustic underwater data.
Our Contribution
Over the next three years, the KIMERA project will develop an AI to create predictive maps for spatial planning in the deep sea. These maps will provide a data-supported and knowledge-based basis for the urgently needed designation of marine protected areas and potential areas of use. Under the leadership of the GEOMAR – Helmholtz-Center for Ocean Research Kiel, north.io GmbH will help with data collection and handling, as well as the training and verification of AI algorithms. In the final step, the trained AI models will be integrated into TrueOcean and made available.
Ensuring the long-term productivity of the ocean and protecting marine ecosystems, central to UN Sustainable Development Goal 14: Life Below Water, is essential. Economic activities like fishing, sand extraction, and tourism are harming biodiversity and underwater habitats.
Simultaneously, there is increasing interest in deep-sea resources for critical metals (e.g., copper, cobalt, nickel) vital for energy and mobility transitions. These metals are found in iron manganese nodules and polymetallic massive sulphides in largely unexplored deep-sea areas. Effective spatial planning aligned with Goal 14 is necessary to utilise these resources sustainably. However, this is hindered by our limited knowledge of the deep sea.
Over three years, the KIMERA project aims to create an AI to extend habitat and raw material research findings to the entire deep sea in a data-based, controlled manner. The resulting predictive maps provide a crucial basis for the planning and designation of marine protected areas and potential areas of utilisation. Led by GEOMAR Helmholtz-Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, north.io GmbH assists in data collection and AI development.
Image source: GEOMAR Helmholtz-Centre for Ocean Research Kiel