Habitat 4.0: monitoring reef-lagoon habitats using new technologies and artificial intelligence

The Habitat 4.0 project (2024-2026) aims to develop a tool for monitoring the health of reef-lagoon habitats, using automatic processing of underwater images through photogrammetry and artificial intelligence. Led by Ginger Soproner, this research is being conducted in New Caledonia. TerrOïko is responsible for developing the final software tool and the web platform for data visualization.
 

The assessment of the health status of the reef-lagoon ecosystem in New Caledonia relies on the characterization and monitoring of coral habitats. Currently, this monitoring is primarily conducted using methodologies developed in the 1980s, which are based on visual observations made by divers. These processes are time-consuming, require field taxonomic expertise, introduce biases in the collected data, and do not allow for comprehensive coverage of all coral areas to be monitored (especially at certain depths).

Habitat 4.0 aims to design a method and an operational next-generation tool to monitor the health status of the reef-lagoon habitat, share results with all users through a dedicated dashboard, and thus enable adaptive management of the coral ecosystem to ensure its preservation.
 

Led by Ginger Soproner, the work to be undertaken is based on three main pillars:

• acquisition of images of the seabed, both by divers and by underwater robots.
• development of automatic processing tools for underwater images (photogrammetry and artificial intelligence) aimed at qualifying the nature and structure of the natural environment. The processed images will serve to establish the health status of the reef-lagoon ecosystem, determined by previously defined ecological indicators.
• creation of a professional software tool for the integration of data flows and processing, along with the design of a community and interactive web interface for the advertisement and visualization of results, intended for all stakeholders involved in reef-lagoon environments (economic activities, biodiversity preservation, research, associations, general public).

TerrOïko will be responsible for creating these two software components, which will be developed by building on the work already done in the Psi-Biom and Ocapi projects dedicated to monitoring biodiversity in terrestrial environments. The professional data processing software will take the form of a module dedicated to monitoring reef-lagoon habitats, which will be integrated into TerrOïko's Ecological Engineering Studio (EES).
 

The Habitat 4.0 project will be conducted iteratively around a full-scale demonstrator within the New Caledonian coral environment. The solutions resulting from the project may then be deployed throughout New Caledonia, as well as at a regional and international scale.