MACROCOSME, An Innovative Buoy To Assess Marine Environment Ecological Health

The installation and operation of marine infrastructures require environmental monitoring to assess their impact on marine organisms, habitats and therefore the overall function of the ecosystem. To go beyond the traditional methodology and existing regulatory framework, IFREMER and TOTAL signed a research and development collaboration contract in November 2019. The objective of the MACROCOSME project is to develop an innovative monitoring tool to assess the impact of anthropogenic pressure, such as produced water on the global marine ecosystem in the vicinity of offshore oil and gas platforms. This paper describes a new approach proposed to focus on biological indicators and details the technological parts of the buoy designed to support the associated sensors and to provide them with all the services needed. It also shows how this innovative system can be easily adapted to oversee other anthropogenic pressures from O&G exploitation or to different applications such as the monitoring of marine renewable energy parks or harbour environments.