SEA-GAS EXCHANGE ECOLOGICAL

OBSERVATION BUOY

TECHNICAL PROPOSAL

Envirtech SpA
Venice, 26th May 2009

Envirtech Code: 29120-REL-005

This document or parts of it cannot be used without permission by Envirtech S.p.A. that
will protect its rights.

Envirtech S.p.A.
Branches:
Italy 16121 Genova - 37, Via XX Settembre
Italy 00168 ROME 23, Via Cogoleto
Ge/385031 - VAT IT03852470107
Italy 30175 Venice 4A, Via Pacinotti
Capitale sociale 500.000€ i.v.
Italy 90135 Palermo 31-37, Via C. Amore
Italy 31020 Vidor (TV) , 6/8 Via Sartori
Management :
Italy 17031 Albenga (SV) 69/2, Via Patrioti
e-mail info@envirtech.org
Phone +39 0182 559643
web-site www.envirtech.com
Fax +39 0182 570976
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INDEX

1 SYSTEM DESCRIPTION ...........................................................................................................................3

1.1 SYSTEM OVERVIEW ................................................................................................................................4
1.2 TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED SYSTEM ...............................................................................5
1.2.1 Surface Buoy .....................................................................................................................................6
1.2.2 CTD ..................................................................................................................................................7
1.2.3 Current Meter....................................................................................................................................8
1.2.4 Nitrate Analyzer Sensor .....................................................................................................................8
1.2.5 Hyperspectral ocean colour radiometer sensor...................................................................................9
1.2.6 CO2 Sensor .....................................................................................................................................10
1.2.7 Buoy Electronic Module...................................................................................................................10
1.2.8 Battery Pack ....................................................................................................................................11
1.2.9 Mooring line....................................................................................................................................11
1.2.10 Satellite Modem...........................................................................................................................11
2 ASHORE DATA CENTRE........................................................................................................................13

3 ACTIVITIES..............................................................................................................................................14
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1 SYSTEM DESCRIPTION

The Sea-Gas Excange Ecological Observation Buoy is composed of:

• A surface buoy body with a diameter of 3m;

• A Mooring line composed of mixed chain-cable and anchor;
• Two acoustic releases in tandem configuration;
• Nitrate Sensor;
• CTD with Dissolved Oxygen, Turbidity Sensor and Fluormeter.
• Hyper Spectral Ocean Color Sensor;
• Single point current meter;
• Meteorological station;
• CO2 sensor;
• Data acquisition electronics and battery pack hosted in a protective housing for
meteorological and underwater sensors data acquisition and data transmission.

The block diagram with datalogger, sensors and related connections is depicted in the this
figure.

O2

CTD Flu
GSM
Data acquisition, GPRS
UMTS Tur
processing, storage platform HSDPA

Hyper Spectral
Ocean Color

Wind N. 5 RS 232

Temp.
Humid.
ANALOGUE
LINKS ENVIRTECH SERIAL LINKS

TMF 500 Nitrate

Bar.

RS 232 RS 232

GPS+SAT
Pir CO2

SINGLE POINT
CURRENT METER
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1.1 System Overview

Lamp
wind speed
wind direction
pressure
temperature
humidity
intensity of insolation
Datalogger for The Buoy is equipped with:
meteo sensors GPS
and wave Solar Panels
measurements Radar reflector
Compass
CO2

Nitrate Hyper-spectral Ocean Color Sensor

Current meter Multiprobe:

CTD
Oxygen-sensitive electrode
Thermohaline Sensor
Turbidity
Chlorophyll (Fluormeter)

2 moored acoustic releases

in Tender Configuration
300 m depth

Anchor Ligths
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1.2 Technical Description of the proposed system

Basically it is a surface buoy with a diameter of 3 m, integrating all sensors, datalogger,

communication system and battery pack connected through a metal line attached to a ballast by
means of a double release unit in tender configuration.
The buoy has 3 solar panels 50W each and batteries able to supply the buoy for continuously
30 rainy days (without sunlight) without affecting normal operations. The solar panels offered
are high efficiency, seawater corrosion resistant, anti-wind, wave, collision and scratch
resistance with long life.
Gel Battery pack is provided with 8x100 Amp hrs capacity. Power distribution system uses
solid-state charger and regulator to prevent over charging.
The Buoy is equipped with GPS System, radar reflector, light (3Nm of visibility range) and
compass. In case the buoy leaves a safety circle centred in the mooring position, an alarm is
sent automatically via e-mail and to dedicated phones.
The buoy is equipped with status sensors board to monitor:
• battery voltage and current
• internal temperature and pressure
• water intrusion in the electronic/battery housings.
and to generate automatic alarm in case of detection of anomalous conditions.

Data acquisition, processing and data storage functionalities are provided by the data logger.
Moreover the communication devices allows the transfer of collected data to the ashore station
and the reception in real time of commands for configuration and data requests.
On the upper pole of the buoy the following sensors are installed:
• wind speed,
• wind direction,
• pressure,
• temperature,
• humidity,
• radiance degree.

The wave height/direction sensor is integrated in the electronic unit.

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The CTD instrument (with Dissolved Oxygen sensor, Turbidity sensor and Chlorophyll sensor)
the Current Meter, the Nitrate Sensor, the Hyper spectral Ocean Color sensor, the CO2 sensor
are fixed on the lower pole by means of dedicated clamps.
The 300m mooring line is composed of an upper short part of chain and the main part of
stainless steel cable plastic impregnated. The whole system is designed to operate up to 300m
water depth.
The sensors are equipped with a self-cleaning system than does not discharge any pollutants to
the surrounding environment.
The surface buoy is equipped with GPRS-UMTS-HSDPA modem to ensure the confidentiality
and reliability of the data transmission. This device implements a two-way data transmission,
with the ashore station. Moreover an Inmarsat MiniC satellite transceiver is integrated as back-
up communication system in case of alarm and unavailability of the GPRS coverage.
Buoy Light complies with relevant international standards of navigation lights buoys; the radar
reflector has a RCS of 10 m2 and the lamp has a range of 3 nautical miles.
Details of main components are reported in the following sub-sections.

1.2.1 Surface Buoy

The whole System is hosted in a steel buoy body with external marine-grade epoxy paint, anti-
corrosion, collision-resistant, long-term service, not easily attached by marine organisms; with
sealed compartment which can store a whole set of partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2)
observation equipment and the other payload (datalogger, battery pack and
GPRS/UMTS/HSDPA modem).
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Surface Buoy

1.2.2 CTD

The CTD instrument in addition to the usual conductivity, temperature and pressure sensors
integrates also:

• Fluorescence Chlorophyll Meter

• Turbidity sensor
• Dissolved oxygen sensor

The CTD is equipped with a RS232 interface and it is able to provide data with a rate of 20 sps.
For specifications, see the Compliance Sheet (Annex 4).
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1.2.3 Current Meter

The single point 3-axis current meter uses the most accurate and stable current measurement
techniques available today. The instrument incorporates an internal flux-gate compass and tilt
sensors to provide true current vector direction.
For specifications, see the Compliance Sheet (Annex 4).

Current Meter

1.2.4 Nitrate Analyzer Sensor

Envirtech Submersible Ultraviolet Nitrate Analyzer

provides real time, chemical-free nitrate calculations in
coastal and freshwater environments using advanced UV
absorption technology.

Nitrate Sensor

Nitrate sensor incorporates the proven nitrate measurement technology, which is in extensive
use worldwide. It is the latest advance in accurate and cost-effective nutrient
monitoring. Features include:
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• Real time nitrate calculation

• Full UV spectrum for maximum accuracy

• Simple software based in-field calibrations

• Includes easy to use Windows software package

Nitrate sensor is the economical choice for routine nitrate measurements in virtually any aquatic
environment:

• Lakes and rivers

• Coastal estuaries

• Drinking water reservoirs

• Agricultural drainage systems

1.2.5 Hyperspectral ocean colour radiometer sensor

Hyperspectral ocean colour radiometer sensor is a precision optical sensor for applications where
performance, size and power are key constraints.
This innovative Sensor provides 136 channels of factory calibrated optical from 350 to 800 nm.
Our hyperspecteral radiometers can be mounted on real-time profilers, moored on autonomous
deepwater buoys, autonomous underwater vehicles as well as on ships and airplanes for above-water
optic applications. Applications include hyperspectral determination of ambient above-water irradiance for
aquatic photosynthesys studies and bio-optical analysis of natural water bodies. Additional applications
can include estimations of ultraviolet radiation levels and hyperspectral measurements in agricultural and
foresty research.

Hyper Spectral Ocean Color Sensor

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1.2.6 CO2 Sensor

The offered sensor is a unique underwater carbon dioxide sensor solving the global problems of
the in-situ measurements of CO2. Applications include offshore inspections, green house
effects, oceanographic applications and water & waste water treatment tasks.
It is an High-precision optical analysing system maintenance free.
Dissolved CO2 diffuses from the liquid through a special silicone membrane (patented) into the
detector chamber (patented). The absorption of light depends on the gas concentration (CO2
molecules) and it is measured electronically

CO2 Sensor

1.2.7 Buoy Electronic Module

The buoy electronic module integrates the following main devices

Ø CPU TMF500
Ø SWITCH board
Ø STATUS Sensors board
Ø Tilt sensor board
Ø Wirless LAN WiFi bridge for local wirless connection
Ø GPS receiver

in a protective box equipped with marine connectors to interface the external sensors, WiFi
antenna, Satellite modem and GPS antenna.
The software in the TMF implements the following functionalities:
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Ø Acquisition of meteorological data.

Ø Acquisition of sea wave data.
Ø Acquisition of sea current data.
Ø Acquisition of status sensors tilt and heading data
Ø Transfer of sensors data to the Data Centre.
Ø Logging of all collected data

It is written in ANSI C code. It is fully portable and can be adapted for different hardware
platforms. It can be updated in case additional functionalities are requested by the Customer.
This software can be updated via WiFi using a Laptop PC.

1.2.8 Battery Pack

The battery pack is placed in the central canister of buoy body where it is installed the housing
of the electronics unit. It consists of 8x100 Ah 12 V battery pack. Its capacity is 800 Ah, allowing
the system to be autonomous for much more than one year.

1.2.9 Mooring line

The mooring line consists of a 300m stainless steel plastic impregnated cable, a ballast of 4
tons (concrete and metal) and a double release unit in tandem configuration. The unit is
designed to allow the system to be released if at least one of the two devices works, with a
reliability of 100%. They are provided with their own independent battery pack with autonomy of
2 years.

1.2.10 Satellite Modem

The Satellite modem provides a reliable data link. The modem include a 12-channel GPS
receiver in one single unit that weighs 1.1 kg and is only 15 cm high with a diameter of 163 mm.
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Satellite Modem with GPS

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2 Ashore Data Centre

The offer includes the hardware and software facilities of the Ashore Data Centre. It is
composed of
- A computer Server Class for normal operation of data reception, storage, organization
in a Database and Visualization (processor core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz, 2G internal memory,
250GB hard disk capacity, 256 MB independent graphics card, CD-ROM / DVDRW);
- A portable computer (processor core 2 Duo 2.0GHz, 1 GB internal memory, 160GB
hard disk capacity, 256MB independent graphics card / CD-ROM Rambo);
- Color laser printer (A4 paper, 3600dpi resolution, 128M internal memory, 360MHz
processor and USB2.0 transmission);
- dedicated mobiles, batteries, antenna, protective pipelines and other necessary
equipment, as well as specific tools for on-site maintenance.
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3 Activities

The activities included in the quotation are the following:

A100 – Management
A200 – Mechanical customization
A300 – Hardware customization
A400 – Software desing/customization and Implementation
A500 – System Integration
A600 - Internal test
A700 – Technical Documentation
B100 – Training and installation
C100 – Data Centre Installation and customization of related software applications.

End of Document