MERMAID: Marine Environmental Remote-controlled Measuring and Integrated Detection

THE BASIC INFROMATION ABOUT MERMAID Project.

MERMAID is an integrated monitoring system for the measurement and detection of pollutants in rivers and coastal waters. It consists of several modules which can be used on different stationary carrier systems (buoys, piles, platforms etc.). The data management developed within MERMAID can be used for other monitoring purposes as well, e.g. in ferry systems, "ships of opportunity" and in research vessels.

The CANVAS-project is a follow-up of the MERMAID-project, coordinated by the BSH.

The overall system will be consists from several subsystems such as:

• Coastal Zone System (for example: on buoys, piles, platforms or light ships sensors for meteorology, oceanography and biology, other sensors from reliable manufacturers. It will also contains analysers for nutrients or sampling)
  
• Waste Water System (It will be modular systems for control of emissions from waste water effluents and should have additional chemical analysers for specific effluents, e.g. metals or organics. Development of special analysing procedures is also part of this sub-system)
  
• River System ( System in a container at the banks of the river, sensors for standard water quality parameters, analysers for nutrients, total organic carbon TOC and controlled sampling)
  
• Ferry System ( System on ferries or ships-of-opportunity continuous pumping. Also modules in metal racks, according to safety regulations and sensors for oceanographic, biological and chemical parameters)