The project will improve the automatic detection of potentially harmful marine events using satellite imagery, artificial intelligence and high-resolution hydrodynamic models
The initiative will incorporate oceanographic surveys, buoys and autonomous surface vehicles to collect environmental data and validate its prediction systems
SIRENA 2 will be carried out between 2026 and 2027 as a follow-up to the SIRENA project
The SIRENA 2 project, a scientific initiative involving the Physical Oceanography and Applied Geophysics research group (OFYGA), led by Ángel Rodríguez Santana, of the ECOAQUA University Institute at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC). The project focuses on developing new technological tools to optimise the monitoring, detection and prediction of marine events – both natural and man-made – that may affect Gran Canaria’s offshore aquaculture farms and their marine environment.
Entitled ‘Integrated Remote System with New Tools for the Monitoring, Detection and Prediction of Risks from Potentially Harmful Marine Events of Natural or Anthropogenic Origin in Offshore Areas Dedicated to Aquaculture’, this initiative builds on the SIRENA project, which was completed in early 2026.
This new phase, which will run from 2026 to 2027, aims to consolidate and expand the tools developed for the environmental monitoring of aquaculture facilities, increase their level of automation, and facilitate their transfer to the productive sector, public administrations, the scientific community and society.
Advanced monitoring using satellites and artificial intelligence
One of the central pillars of SIRENA 2 will be the optimisation of the automated system for identifying environmental risks in the vicinity of aquaculture areas. To achieve this, the research team will use remote sensing imagery from the European Sentinel satellite constellation.
Through automated processing techniques, spatial segmentation and artificial intelligence models based on deep learning, the system will be capable of the early detection of critical phenomena such as:
? Potentially harmful algal blooms.
? Anthropogenic discharges into open waters.
? Episodes of abnormal turbidity that compromise water quality.
All the information gathered will be processed immediately to feed into the mathematical models responsible for predicting the evolution and movement of these threats.
In situ observation using robotics and autonomous sensors
To ensure the system’s reliability, space-based observation will be directly complemented by in-situ measurements. In addition to traditional oceanographic surveys, SIRENA 2 will incorporate state-of-the-art technology through the deployment of autonomous platforms, buoys and surface vehicles.
These tools will enable the collection of high-resolution data on environmental conditions in the marine environment. Such data are essential both for validating and refining numerical prediction models and for rigorously assessing the interactions between aquaculture activity and the coastal ecosystem.
Early prediction and analysis of the ‘oceanic footprint’
SIRENA 2 will improve and apply high-resolution hydrodynamic models in the areas surrounding the aquaculture farms in Gran Canaria. These models will integrate data from satellites and from observations made directly at sea.
The aim is to advance the prediction of the potential impacts and trajectories of harmful marine events, as well as the automated generation of early warnings to improve the capacity to respond to high-risk situations.
The project will also analyse the so-called ‘oceanic footprint’ of aquaculture activity, understood as the way in which this activity interacts with the marine environment and the extent of that interaction. In this way, the system will study both external events that may affect the facilities and the influence that the farms themselves may exert on their surroundings.
A new phase of the SIRENA project
The SIRENA project laid the foundations for a monitoring system based on three main strands: remote sensing using satellite imagery, oceanographic observations and the development of mathematical models to predict the transport of potentially harmful events.
SIRENA 2 will build on these pillars by incorporating artificial intelligence, process automation, the use of new observation platforms and the development of remote communication systems for issuing alerts.
These advances aim to contribute to a more informed, resilient and sustainable offshore aquaculture sector, providing tools to facilitate decision-making and the preventive management of environmental risks.
Participating organisations
The Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), through the Institute of Mathematical Sciences (ICMAT-CSIC), is the project coordinator.
Other beneficiary organisations include the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC), through the University Institute for Research into Sustainable Aquaculture and Marine Ecosystems (ECOAQUA) and the University Institute of Cybernetics, Business and Society (IUCES), and the Canary Islands Oceanic Platform (PLOCAN).
The Gran Canaria Coastal Action Group will lead communication, dissemination and knowledge transfer activities amongst stakeholders linked to the Canary Islands’ aquaculture sector and the wider public.
The Spanish Aquaculture Business Association (APROMAR) will take part in dissemination and knowledge transfer activities aimed at the national aquaculture sector, helping to broaden the project’s reach and impact.
This project is being carried out in collaboration with the Biodiversity Foundation and the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, through the Pleamar Programme, and is co-financed by the European Union via the EMFF (European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund).
Further information:
https://www.programapleamar.es/proyectos/sirena-2-sistema-integral-remoto-con-nuevas-herramientas-para-la-monitorizacion-deteccion.