Through funding provided by the European Space Agency (ESA), Hatfield demonstrated an information framework for future Near Real Time (NRT) data integration of environmental and spatial data to improve management and monitoring of aquaculture facilities. The Chilean Aquaculture Project (CAP) was designed for the rapidly expanding aquaculture industry, specifically monitoring programs of multinational companies, such as Mainstream Chile, as well as industrial associations.
“The benefits of the CAP project are directly related to the operation of our company. The environmental monitoring and harmful algal bloom (HAB) detection is part of our daily operation procedures. Also, historical environmental information supports our strategic decisions for farm site locations.” Francisco Puga, Development Manager for Mainstream Group.
The products delivered under the project include daily composites of:
- Chlorophyll-a pigment concentration created from maps merged from MERIS and MODIS.
- Sea Surface Temperature (SST) from MODIS.
- Transparency (Secchi depth) from MERIS reflectance.
- Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM) from MERIS.
In addition, a hydrodynamics model has been set up and validated to study zones of low or high circulation.
A simplified version of the portal can be accessed by the public here.
