BathMalta

The 2 year project called BathMalta will entail the use of satellite systems, in particular SENTINEL2 and SENTINEL3 from the European space program Copernicus, to retrieve detailed images of the seafloor in the nearshore and coastal areas of Malta, with an average maximum depth of 25 to 30 m. Satellite Derived Bathymetry (SDB) has been supporting hydrographic surveys for the last 30 years, but it is only in the last decade that there has been the most rigorous scientific development. Satellite derived bathymetry is cost-effective because it avoids the use of large vessels in shallow areas where surveys are unpractical.

The methodology put in place by the research team will exploit the penetration depth of light in the water column to reconstruct the depth of the seafloor (bathymetry) and its morphology. This type of work will benefit from machine learning techniques and from the collaboration with European earth observation specialists from research and industry.

The project is led by Dr Adam Gauci and Prof Aaron Micallef, both from the Department of Geosciences, within the Faculty of Science.

Local companies and agencies will benefit from the outcome of this research since it will support work and commercial operations in the areas of Malta that are characterised by shallow depth (e.g. Valletta Harbour).

End Members users that are directly involved in this project are Transport Malta (Hydrographic Office), Continental Shelf Department, and a local consultancy firm ‘AquaBiotech Group’

Aaron Micallef

Professor, University of Malta

He is the leader of the Marine Geology and Seafloor Surveying group and is a full-time Professor at the Department of Geosciences, University of Malta (UM). He holds a PhD in marine geology from the University of Southampton. Prof. Micallef is currently holder of a ERC Starting Grant and former holder of a Marie Curie Career Integration Grant and Intra-European Fellowships, and a Fulbright Scholarship. Throughout his research career, Prof. Micallef has developed novel methodologies for the quantitative analysis of seafloor data and applied these to study a range of seafloor phenomena, including slope instability (especially spreads), submarine canyons and habitat mapping. Prof. Micallef has co-published more than 70 papers in peer-reviewed journals and book sections on these themes. Through participation in more than 25 research cruises around the world, Prof. Micallef is experienced in oceanographic cruise planning as well as the acquisition, processing, interpretation and analyses of marine acoustic and sedimentological data using a wide range of specialised instruments and software. Prof. Micallef has supervised 10 post-doctoral research associates, 5 PhD students, 3 MSc students and 1 undergraduate student, and has hosted graduate students and post-doctoral research associates on research visits. He has been running training courses on seafloor surveying since 2013. Prof. Micallef is chairman of the Submarine Geomorphology working group within the International Association of Geomorphologists, national representative on three COST actions, and session convener at numerous international conferences.

Adam Gauci

Lecturer, University of Malta

He is a resident academic lecturer with the Oceanography Malta Research Group within the Department of Geosciences, at the University of
Malta. His role involves the implementation of all the technical as well as the administrative tasks needed to successfully carry out EU-funded research in which the institute is a collaborating partner. He has been entrusted to manage and coordinate a number of projects including the setting up and calibration of an HF Radar System to monitor in real-time sea surface currents across the Malta Channel, the installation of a number of meteo-marine observation stations, as well as the organisation of international courses delivered by experts in the related fields of research. I gained experience in FP7, Italia-Malta, MED and MCST Programs by being involved in consortium negotiation, budgeting, procurement, tendering, technical installations, setup of data transfer protocols, and the implementation of added value services and their respective validation. His duties at the university also involve lecturing and student supervision at undergrad and postgrad levels. The study units he coordinates are related to Data Management, Earth Observation, Remote Sensing, Machine Learning and Image Processing.

Monica Giona Bucci

Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Malta

Monica is currently is currently employed as full time postdoc under the
Marine Geology and Seafloor Surveying (MGSS) Group at the Department of Geosciences, University of Malta (UM), with the funding of the MCST project BathMalta (2022). She holds a PhD in Soil Science from Lincoln University in New Zealand (Christchurch, Canterbury), and a Master degrees in Earth and Environmental Sciences from La Sapienza University of Rome. Dr Monica Giona Bucci previously held a research assistant-technical surveyor position at the University of Bari (Department of Geoenvironmental Sciences).
Then she was awarded a Roger E. Deane Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Toronto (Ontario, Canada). She held a Marie Curie Individual Fellowship (Widening fellowship, call 2019) for the period 2021-2023 which took her to collaborate with GEOMAR (Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel), and then to be employed by the University of Malta under the supervision of Prof. Aaron Micallef on submarine geohazards. She has co-authored 12 research papers (including 1
book chapter), 7 of which as first author (h-index 8). She has 6 years of postdoctoral experience. She is currently supervising a Master student within the Department of Geosciences and has contributed in lecturing geomorphology classes for the Bachelor of Sciences at the University of Malta, alongside Prof. Aaron Micallef. Her research is focussed on geohazards, both onshore and offshore, and she has expertise in a series of Quaternary Geology techniques for investigating paleoearthquakes, landslides, lateral spreading, canyon and gullies. She is trained for conducting field campaigns on land (trenches, piston and vibro-coring, thin section analysis, stratigraphic analysis, and near
surface geophysics), and since she has joined the Marine Geology and Seafloor surveying team (2021), she has acquired experience of bathymetric data and coring acquisition on board of research vessels.

Gareth Darmanin

Master Student, University of Malta

Gareth Darmanin is a postgraduate student at the University of Malta pursuing a Masters by Research with the Department of Geoscience, having recently graduated from a B.Sc. (Honours) degree in Earth Systems. He is highly enthusiastic about actively contributing to the monitoring and protection of coastal regions against both human-induced and natural disturbances. As a result, over the past few years, He has been engaged in research projects focused on utilising satellite-derived bathymetry to acquire accurate depth measurements of various regions encompassing the Maltese Islands. Currently, in addition to furthering my bathymetric studies, he is also investigating changes in salinity and temperature around the Maltese Islands, seeking to comprehend the spatial and temporal variations of these parameters and the underlying factors driving such fluctuations. Looking ahead, he is eager to further my academic studies within this field, embracing new challenges and opportunities along the journey.

Check here updates on our surveys for this project

First Multibeam Survey