The Department of Geosciences is pleased to announce the start of a Geoscience Seminar Series. The first seminar will be held on Wednesday 20 April, and will present recent work by the Physical Oceanography Research Group. The seminar will be held in Room MP101, Math and Physics Building, at 13:00.
KAPTAN – A smartphone application for mariners
KAPTAN – A smartphone application for mariners
Aldo Drago, Physical Oceanography Research Group
As the CALYPSO Follow On project came to completion in December 2015 with the addition of a fourth HF radar station in Ragusa Harbour, another major milestone was being accomplished with the launching of KAPTAN, an integrated service of met-ocean information delivered online and on smartphone to aid sea farers navigating in the proximity of the Maltese Islands and south of Sicily for planning their journeys and ensuring safer trips.
The initiative follows the trail of efforts by the Physical Oceanography Research Group (ex PO-Unit) of the Department of Geosciences within the University of Malta to deliver services deriving from operational oceanography and meteorology to users, not only at the level of national stakeholders that require data and information for their routine operations, but also to the general public by making use of popular media and affordable smart technologies.
Tracking the jellyfish phenomenon in Maltese waters through a combination of citizen science and innovative techniques
The initiative follows the trail of efforts by the Physical Oceanography Research Group (ex PO-Unit) of the Department of Geosciences within the University of Malta to deliver services deriving from operational oceanography and meteorology to users, not only at the level of national stakeholders that require data and information for their routine operations, but also to the general public by making use of popular media and affordable smart technologies.
Tracking the jellyfish phenomenon in Maltese waters through a combination of citizen science and innovative techniques
Alan Deidun, Physical Oceanography Research Group
The blooming of jellyfish has become a more frequent phenomenon in coastal waters worldwide, resulting in an array of environmental and socio-economic impacts within such areas, not least along Mediterranean coastlines. Citizen science has proven to be an invaluable tool in tracking such a stochastic phenomenon and, against this background, the Spot the Jellyfish campaign was launched in June 2010. Through such a campaign, which is conducted within the IOI-KIDS initiative of the Physical Oceanography Research Group (ex PO-Unit) and partly supported by the International Ocean Institute (IOI) and a variety of public partners, including the Malta Tourism Authority, reports of jellyfish sightings are submitted through different avenues (e.g. through www.ioikids.net/jellyfish) to a dedicated database after quality certification. Phenological aspects of different jellyfish species occurring in Maltese coastal waters are being elucidated through the analysis of the resulting database, whilst possible correlations with water physico-chemical parameters (ocean colour, nutrients, surface temperature, salinity) are being investigated. A series of new jellyfish species (e.g. the nomadic jellyfish, the compass jellyfish) have been recorded from our waters through the same initiative. Through the MED-JELLYRISK project, within which the same Research Group was a partner, a jellyfish dispersion model, currently publicly available through www.jellyrisk.eu, was developed, so as simulate the trajectory of a jellyfish bloom, once it is sighted, for the successive 3-4 days.
Refreshments will be served after the talks.